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</td></tr> <tr><td class="msgtxt">Vicky’s report on Political Dialogue @NUSS forum
November 26th, 2010 |
Author: Online Press |
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The political dialogue organized by NUSS was well attended by more than four hundred members. The impending election is a key reason that I attended as well. The speakers were new to me, but not unfamiliar. There was NMP Mr Calvin Cheng, Christopher De Souza from PAP, Kenneth Jeyaretnam from The Reform Party, Chee Soon Juan from SDP, Lina Chiam from SPP and Sylvia Lim from Worker’s Party.
Past NUSS Chairman and Ex-NMP Chandra Mohan did a good job as a moderator, providing some comic relief to the otherwise serious event. (Even reading the house rules was funny.)
Chandra Mohan started by quoting Sir Winston Churchill – Politics are almost as exciting as war, and quite as dangerous. In war you can only be killed once, but in politics many times. So the speakers on stage are really brave to enter politics. That I agree.
As this was a close door event with ‘members only’ rule, there was no jeering or rowdiness that had been present in the last dialogue four years ago. The atmosphere was ‘peaceful, friendly, with people agreeing to diagree.’
Mr Calvin Cheng, a graduate of Oxford (‘Just as good a University as NUS’, said Mohan) spoke about the new generation electorates which are internet savvy and have a higher hierarchy of needs that are quite different from the bread and butter issues from past generations. He does not see any new change in the political playing field.
MP Christopher de Souza is from Bukit Timah/Sunset Way ward. He spoke of the contribution the ruling party had brought since the last recession, which Europe and US are still trying to recover. His speech, shown with charts and statistic, is typical like that of civil servants. He assured a member living at Sunset Way - who had complaint that the member had never met his MP- that he had been to every single HDB household and Sunset Way landed properties. It was too bad that the member was not around when he visited.
The next speaker was Kenneth Jeyaretnam, the son of late opposition MP, who had spent 40 years overseas because he couldn’t get a job in Singapore despite getting a first class degree from Cambridge (‘Another University as good as NUS’: Mohan). He mentioned a valid point. Myanma had its first election after two decades recently, but there are people in Singapore who had never voted in 40 years. He put up a slide with a quote from a resident that said, ‘I just want a chance to vote before I die.’ We all had a good laugh. Alas for him, it was weird hearing a British accented man speaking about foreign talents taking away jobs. (He had served NS and is a Singaporean, despite his accent.)
Chee Soon Juan spoke about the vision of SDP. His accent made him sound fake and insincere. Perhaps it’s just my prejudice against him from the press reports. His speech ended with a whole lots of ‘I want…, I want…, I want…’ To him, Singapore is morally corrupt and just plain materialistic. To me, he is idealistic and not realistic. Someone asked him, with all the ‘I want…’, where is the ‘how?’ Well, go to SDP website to find out.
Mrs Lina Chiam, wife of Potong Pasir opposition MP Chiam See Tong, is hoping to continue what her ailing husband has set out to do for Potong Pasir. Her inexperience as a politician was obvious, with her reading her speech and apologising when she read wrongly to repeat the sentence again. Why is she not enjoying her retirement and doing this at her age (61)? She enjoys it and want to continue her husband’s legacy. We must give her credit for that, if nothing else.
Sylvia Lim was the last speaker. She was an eloquent speaker, clear and easily understood. It was no surprise that she had garnered 44% votes in the last election. She spoke about level playing field in the election, and the need for an alternate voice. In answering the question from a member about forming an opposition alliance, she replied that it was difficult as the parties do not share the same manifesto. Having said that, they do cooperate with each other and do not engage in three corner fights with the ruling party.
The three-hour dialogue ended with Q & A thrown by the same few members. The rest of us are contented to sit and comment privately on the side.
The last dialogue post election four years ago was an eye opener and had shown me the wide disparity between the opposition and ruling party. The gap is narrower this time. Chris de Souza, as expected bore the brunt of defending government policies and he did that brilliantly with logic and conviction. He was the most impressive of the lot, in my opinion.
.
Vicky
.
* The writer blogs at http://vickychong.wordpress.com/http://vickychong.wordpress.com/
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</td></tr><tr><td> </td><td> </td></tr></tbody></table></td></tr></tbody></table> <table width="100%" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tbody><tr class="msghead"><td class="msgbfr1" width="1%"> </td><td> <table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"> <tbody><tr class="msghead" valign="top"> <td class="msgF" width="1%" align="right" nowrap="nowrap">From: </td><td class="msgFname" width="68%" nowrap="nowrap">torch_bearer <nobr></nobr> </td><td class="msgDate" width="30%" align="right" nowrap="nowrap">Nov-25 11:10 pm </td></tr> <tr class="msghead"><td class="msgT" width="1%" align="right" height="20" nowrap="nowrap">To: </td><td class="msgTname" width="68%" nowrap="nowrap">kojakbt89 <nobr></nobr></td> <td class="msgNum" align="right" nowrap="nowrap"> (2 of 12) </td></tr></tbody></table></td></tr><tr><td rowspan="4" class="msgleft" width="1%"> </td><td class="wintiny" align="right" nowrap="nowrap">41570.2 in reply to 41570.1 </td></tr><tr><td height="8">
</td></tr> <tr><td class="msgtxt"><<Chee Soon Juan spoke about the vision of SDP. His accent made him sound fake and insincere. Perhaps it’s just my prejudice against him from the press reports. His speech ended with a whole lots of ‘I want…, I want…, I want…’ To him, Singapore is morally corrupt and just plain materialistic. To me, he is idealistic and not realistic.>>
Here's the actual transcript of the speech:
When someone persists in hearing the wrong word more than 20 times, you know the problem lies with her, not with the speaker.
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</td><td class="wintiny" align="right" nowrap="nowrap">41570.1 </td></tr><tr><td height="8">
</td></tr> <tr><td class="msgtxt">Vicky’s report on Political Dialogue @NUSS forum
The political dialogue organized by NUSS was well attended by more than four hundred members. The impending election is a key reason that I attended as well. The speakers were new to me, but not unfamiliar. There was NMP Mr Calvin Cheng, Christopher De Souza from PAP, Kenneth Jeyaretnam from The Reform Party, Chee Soon Juan from SDP, Lina Chiam from SPP and Sylvia Lim from Worker’s Party.
Past NUSS Chairman and Ex-NMP Chandra Mohan did a good job as a moderator, providing some comic relief to the otherwise serious event. (Even reading the house rules was funny.)
Chandra Mohan started by quoting Sir Winston Churchill – Politics are almost as exciting as war, and quite as dangerous. In war you can only be killed once, but in politics many times. So the speakers on stage are really brave to enter politics. That I agree.
As this was a close door event with ‘members only’ rule, there was no jeering or rowdiness that had been present in the last dialogue four years ago. The atmosphere was ‘peaceful, friendly, with people agreeing to diagree.’
Mr Calvin Cheng, a graduate of Oxford (‘Just as good a University as NUS’, said Mohan) spoke about the new generation electorates which are internet savvy and have a higher hierarchy of needs that are quite different from the bread and butter issues from past generations. He does not see any new change in the political playing field.
MP Christopher de Souza is from Bukit Timah/Sunset Way ward. He spoke of the contribution the ruling party had brought since the last recession, which Europe and US are still trying to recover. His speech, shown with charts and statistic, is typical like that of civil servants. He assured a member living at Sunset Way - who had complaint that the member had never met his MP- that he had been to every single HDB household and Sunset Way landed properties. It was too bad that the member was not around when he visited.
The next speaker was Kenneth Jeyaretnam, the son of late opposition MP, who had spent 40 years overseas because he couldn’t get a job in Singapore despite getting a first class degree from Cambridge (‘Another University as good as NUS’: Mohan). He mentioned a valid point. Myanma had its first election after two decades recently, but there are people in Singapore who had never voted in 40 years. He put up a slide with a quote from a resident that said, ‘I just want a chance to vote before I die.’ We all had a good laugh. Alas for him, it was weird hearing a British accented man speaking about foreign talents taking away jobs. (He had served NS and is a Singaporean, despite his accent.)
Chee Soon Juan spoke about the vision of SDP. His accent made him sound fake and insincere. Perhaps it’s just my prejudice against him from the press reports. His speech ended with a whole lots of ‘I want…, I want…, I want…’ To him, Singapore is morally corrupt and just plain materialistic. To me, he is idealistic and not realistic. Someone asked him, with all the ‘I want…’, where is the ‘how?’ Well, go to SDP website to find out.
Mrs Lina Chiam, wife of Potong Pasir opposition MP Chiam See Tong, is hoping to continue what her ailing husband has set out to do for Potong Pasir. Her inexperience as a politician was obvious, with her reading her speech and apologising when she read wrongly to repeat the sentence again. Why is she not enjoying her retirement and doing this at her age (61)? She enjoys it and want to continue her husband’s legacy. We must give her credit for that, if nothing else.
Sylvia Lim was the last speaker. She was an eloquent speaker, clear and easily understood. It was no surprise that she had garnered 44% votes in the last election. She spoke about level playing field in the election, and the need for an alternate voice. In answering the question from a member about forming an opposition alliance, she replied that it was difficult as the parties do not share the same manifesto. Having said that, they do cooperate with each other and do not engage in three corner fights with the ruling party.
The three-hour dialogue ended with Q & A thrown by the same few members. The rest of us are contented to sit and comment privately on the side.
The last dialogue post election four years ago was an eye opener and had shown me the wide disparity between the opposition and ruling party. The gap is narrower this time. Chris de Souza, as expected bore the brunt of defending government policies and he did that brilliantly with logic and conviction. He was the most impressive of the lot, in my opinion.
.
Vicky
.
* The writer blogs at http://vickychong.wordpress.com/http://vickychong.wordpress.com/
</td></tr> <tr><td> </td></tr> </tbody></table><table width="100%" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tbody><tr><td class="msgleft" width="1%"> </td><td class="msgopt" width="24%" nowrap="nowrap">
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</td></tr><tr><td class="msgtxt">Sax RepairTools, Supplies, Parts & Books Free shipping, great prices
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</td></tr><tr><td> </td><td> </td></tr></tbody></table></td></tr></tbody></table> <table width="100%" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tbody><tr class="msghead"><td class="msgbfr1" width="1%"> </td><td> <table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"> <tbody><tr class="msghead" valign="top"> <td class="msgF" width="1%" align="right" nowrap="nowrap">From: </td><td class="msgFname" width="68%" nowrap="nowrap">torch_bearer <nobr></nobr> </td><td class="msgDate" width="30%" align="right" nowrap="nowrap">Nov-25 11:10 pm </td></tr> <tr class="msghead"><td class="msgT" width="1%" align="right" height="20" nowrap="nowrap">To: </td><td class="msgTname" width="68%" nowrap="nowrap">kojakbt89 <nobr></nobr></td> <td class="msgNum" align="right" nowrap="nowrap"> (2 of 12) </td></tr></tbody></table></td></tr><tr><td rowspan="4" class="msgleft" width="1%"> </td><td class="wintiny" align="right" nowrap="nowrap">41570.2 in reply to 41570.1 </td></tr><tr><td height="8">
</td></tr> <tr><td class="msgtxt"><<Chee Soon Juan spoke about the vision of SDP. His accent made him sound fake and insincere. Perhaps it’s just my prejudice against him from the press reports. His speech ended with a whole lots of ‘I want…, I want…, I want…’ To him, Singapore is morally corrupt and just plain materialistic. To me, he is idealistic and not realistic.>>
Here's the actual transcript of the speech:
It is a vision that calls on the best in each and every one of us, a vision that lifts our nation up into a truly developed society where an intelligent and informed people partake of a process that is open, civil and democratic.
In other words a vision that celebrates who we are as a people.
We reject the PAP's elitist system where a few enjoy unimaginable riches and power while leaving the many disenfranchised. We want a more egalitarian society where all - women and men, young and old - prosper together, one which nourishes our weak and poor even as it drives economic prowess. When we care, we all win.
We want a government that is transparent and accountable. We want enlightened governance where differences in opinion are valued. We reject detention without trial. It is only when citizens dine from the full menu of constitutional rights, and not merely eat the crumbs that fall off the ruler's table, that we can hold our government accountable and truly call ourselves citizens of this Republic.
We want leaders who are humble in spirit, leaders who do not see saying sorry as a sign of weakness but an emblem of courage. For it takes courage to acknowledge one's shortcomings and it is courage that makes leaders wise.
We want a country where our youths are involved and engaged in the nation's affairs, not alienated and lost. A youth community dislocated is a youth community that is self-centred and indulgent, one that knows the price of everything but the value of nothing, and one that is prone to violence. We want our youths to be loyal to Singapore. We want them to care for the community, and imbibe values of compassion and justice.
We want a society where our children go to school to learn, not just study; to discover the geniuses in themselves. We want them to know the joy of reading and pleasure of writing because these are not just skills to be acquired but pleasures to be experienced. They will learn just as much outside the classroom as in them. Creativity and innovativeness will be second-nature, not secondary. Most of all, we want them to strive to better themselves and, in so doing, better the people and society around them.
We want a society where our elderly do not have to to clean tables, sell tissue and pick up tin cans just so that they can eke out a living. We want our Ah Kongs and Ah Mas, having worked hard for all of their lives, to live contentedly and comfortably during their retirement years.
We want a society that truly values the family, one where parents don't have to choose between work and children. We want mothers and fathers to have the opportunity – and the means – to experience the indescribable joy of parenthood. For there is no greater curse in life than to slave over our work only to lose the chance to love, and be loved by, the little ones we bring into this world.
We want an economy where we work to live, not live to work. We want a smart economy where we encourage and value creative employees, not a slave economy where we see workers as digits good only for production. We reject an exploitative economy, one fueled by greed and sustained by wasteful monopoly of state resources. We want an innovative economy that thrives on Singaporean entrepreneurship and know-how.
We want a nation where foreigners are welcomed to live and work among us, not replace us. We reject xenophobia as strongly as we reject the use of cheap foreign labour to displace Singaporean workers.
We want to develop talent and not buy it, for there is no pride in that. We want Singaporean sportsmen and women to represent our nation. We want to see them smile even when they lose because we want them to know they played with their hearts, and that is worth more than the all the gold medals money can buy. And when they hear Majulah Singapura played when they win, as they eventually will, they will know that they won for the country they love, and all the island will share in their joyous pride.
We, the Singapore Democrats, want for Singapore what every Singaporean wants for our nation – a nation of intelligent and caring citizens, a nation that is the beacon of decency and humanity, where wealth is not just measured by the size of our bank accounts but also by the depth of our character.
It is a nation ready for the future.
This is our vision. Build it with us.
It clearly shows that the writer is tone deaf and has something against Chee, nowhere can we see the term "I want". When CSJ says "We want", it's patently obvious she doesn't want to be part of the "we" because she is already prejudiced as she admits, so she makes a subconscious decision to disassociate herself from the "we, hence she says every "we" as Chee and what he wants. In other words a vision that celebrates who we are as a people.
We reject the PAP's elitist system where a few enjoy unimaginable riches and power while leaving the many disenfranchised. We want a more egalitarian society where all - women and men, young and old - prosper together, one which nourishes our weak and poor even as it drives economic prowess. When we care, we all win.
We want a government that is transparent and accountable. We want enlightened governance where differences in opinion are valued. We reject detention without trial. It is only when citizens dine from the full menu of constitutional rights, and not merely eat the crumbs that fall off the ruler's table, that we can hold our government accountable and truly call ourselves citizens of this Republic.
We want leaders who are humble in spirit, leaders who do not see saying sorry as a sign of weakness but an emblem of courage. For it takes courage to acknowledge one's shortcomings and it is courage that makes leaders wise.
We want a country where our youths are involved and engaged in the nation's affairs, not alienated and lost. A youth community dislocated is a youth community that is self-centred and indulgent, one that knows the price of everything but the value of nothing, and one that is prone to violence. We want our youths to be loyal to Singapore. We want them to care for the community, and imbibe values of compassion and justice.
We want a society where our children go to school to learn, not just study; to discover the geniuses in themselves. We want them to know the joy of reading and pleasure of writing because these are not just skills to be acquired but pleasures to be experienced. They will learn just as much outside the classroom as in them. Creativity and innovativeness will be second-nature, not secondary. Most of all, we want them to strive to better themselves and, in so doing, better the people and society around them.
We want a society where our elderly do not have to to clean tables, sell tissue and pick up tin cans just so that they can eke out a living. We want our Ah Kongs and Ah Mas, having worked hard for all of their lives, to live contentedly and comfortably during their retirement years.
We want a society that truly values the family, one where parents don't have to choose between work and children. We want mothers and fathers to have the opportunity – and the means – to experience the indescribable joy of parenthood. For there is no greater curse in life than to slave over our work only to lose the chance to love, and be loved by, the little ones we bring into this world.
We want an economy where we work to live, not live to work. We want a smart economy where we encourage and value creative employees, not a slave economy where we see workers as digits good only for production. We reject an exploitative economy, one fueled by greed and sustained by wasteful monopoly of state resources. We want an innovative economy that thrives on Singaporean entrepreneurship and know-how.
We want a nation where foreigners are welcomed to live and work among us, not replace us. We reject xenophobia as strongly as we reject the use of cheap foreign labour to displace Singaporean workers.
We want to develop talent and not buy it, for there is no pride in that. We want Singaporean sportsmen and women to represent our nation. We want to see them smile even when they lose because we want them to know they played with their hearts, and that is worth more than the all the gold medals money can buy. And when they hear Majulah Singapura played when they win, as they eventually will, they will know that they won for the country they love, and all the island will share in their joyous pride.
We, the Singapore Democrats, want for Singapore what every Singaporean wants for our nation – a nation of intelligent and caring citizens, a nation that is the beacon of decency and humanity, where wealth is not just measured by the size of our bank accounts but also by the depth of our character.
It is a nation ready for the future.
This is our vision. Build it with us.
When someone persists in hearing the wrong word more than 20 times, you know the problem lies with her, not with the speaker.
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