Bear in mind when I first posted the list, it was straight cut from his own CV on the Parliament website with no editing whatsoever. He did not feel the need to provide context but happily listed everything like a glutton gulping plate after plate. It sure made the PM Prudence Rules look silly. What an imbecile. This is a guy who did not go to any Ivy League or Oxbridge institutions. Stringing a sentence that was grammatically correct was an achievement by itself.
"glutton" reminds me very much about curry and this guy's forte is currying favours for people he is affiliated to. Appears his main job is to carry balls and curry favours, you scatch my back and I will scratch yours in return.
Obviously he too and the Party must have realised how stupid the list would like. As I said before, from eggs to taxis to water technology. He also garnered both Taoist and the Buddhist bodies else. I won't be surprised if he tried the Hindu Endowment Board and MUIS.
Someone who embraces all religions as long as it is worth his while.
Clearly quantity overrides quality. And this is the best that PAP could find.
MP Yeo Guat Kwang replies
May 31st, 2011
Mr Yeo Guat Kwang
Dear Editor,
I read with interest the article “Yeo Guat Kwang – PAP MP with 64 other jobs” published on your website.
I would like to clarify the points made in this article, which I feel do not fairly reflect my current duties as a Member of Parliament and have been taken out of context.
I have three main duties; As the Director for Quality Work-life and All Nationalities at NTUC which champions Workplace Health and Workers’ Safety and Fair Treatment for all workers including migrant workers, as a Member of Parliament for Ang Mo Kio GRC; and an honorary duty as the Elected President for Consumers Association of Singapore (CASE).
Pray tell exactly what you do as Director? The term Directorship in such organisations are used very loosely without any specific responsibilities. We know CASE which is practically toothless and rarely in the news. I am very sure as an organisation, CASE should be having a very much higher profule then say SPCA or AWARE. Everyone in this country is a consumer, and how is it there are hardly any big cases for a watchdog organisation?
In fact a two years ago, I wrote to CASE and the Ministry of Trade and Industry about the proliferation of cheap and dangerous toys in Singapore. Countries such as Thailand and Philippines has banned the importations of these toys but nothing was done about the situation here. Only just recently was there some news about this and it took 2 years before it comes under the purview of CASE. MTI responded and said it was not under their area of responsibility but I never got a response from CASE. SO please tell me what the heck you have been doing for Singapore consumers all these years?
My other affiliations listed on both the Parliament website and your article are memberships and advisory roles. I wish to clarify that apart from my job as NTUC director and as Independent Director to the few companies stated. I do not receive remuneration for these other roles.
I see these roles as affiliations which help me to improve my understanding of the ground, in the context of my duties as either an MP, CASE President or NTUC Director. These are platforms that help me to reach out to and serve people from all walks of lives.
For that desire to improve your UNDERSTANDING OF THE GROUND (whatever the f**k it really means), you need to have these connections, all 61 of them.
These platforms that help you to serve the people, we have absolutely no knowledge of how you serve the people . In fact, are you able to serve the people in the fist place, having so many other important roles and having to listen to all the 61 platforms to understand the ground?
For instance, it is part of my MP duties to sit on two GPCs; As a labour MP, I am supposed to play an advisory role to several unions, and this in turn give me opportunities to be with the workers at the ground. Same as these, as part of my duties as CASE president, I was invited to advisory position of the respective trade associations. I undertake these duties pro-bono.
I also participate actively in what may seem like many committee memberships. These may be standing or ad-hoc committees that were convened for specific purposes. Some of these committees have since adjourned because the project is completed.
Why don't you be more specific? Why did you not remove these completed projects but let it remain on the website? It is not "seemed to be many" but in fact so many it left us wide-eyed.
For my advisory positions in VWOs, I was invited to sit on their board in my personal capacity and I undertake these meaningful roles on a pro bono basis too. In this capacity, I have helped these VWOs raise funds and grow. I see this as an important way for me to further strengthen my role in serving the community and Singaporean.
There are enough charitable organisations that does the job of raising funds and you should focus more on serving the needs of your community rather than spent the time doing charity work. Who are you working for as an MP?
I wish to emphasise that the many roles listed in the article should not be taken out of context. They represent my affiliations and networks and are episodic in nature. I am fully committed to my duties as an MP, as a union leader and as a consumer advocate. I believe that these affiliations and networks should be seen as my attempts to connect with the many good people and organisations that have and are doing their part to better the lives of Singaporeans. I think of it as a large network of family and friends, with whom I have connections with and with whom we share mutual resources, advice and support.
I thank you for publishing this response on your website as a sign of good faith. I would like to invite the Temasek Review editors, writers and readers to join me at my Meet the People Session or social events to see for themselves the work I and my team do on the ground.
Yours Sincerely,
Yeo Guat Kwang
