The Workers' Party

[sengkang]

The Workers' Party

At Blk 105 Hougang Ave 1 Hainanese Village this morning for our weekly Hammer Outreach. Happy to see familiar faces, and thank you for your support! ‪#‎wpsg‬ ‪#‎wphammer‬

 

[sengkang]

Chen Jiaxi Bernard

[h=5]Chen Jiaxi Bernard added 2 new photos.
[/h]March 14 at 8:50pm · Edited ·

A daisy for every lady onboard the 3D2N Ipoh/ Cameron Highlands trip!

 

[swissbank]

.......

 

[sengkang]

The Workers' Party

On Childcare Fees:
"In September last year, three out of the five major pre-school chains announced they would be increasing their prices from 2015, ranging from $4 to $62, citing soaring operating costs. This was after the median monthly fee for full-day childcare rose by $80 in 2013, reported to be the biggest increment in the last eight years. These childcare operators receive government grants in exchange for keeping their fees affordable. Would the Ministry consider requiring such operators to provide an itemised breakdown of their fee increases? " - Pritam Singh





COS 2015 Debate: MSF – Childcare Fees (MP Pritam Singh)
By MP for Aljunied GRC, Pritam Singh [Delivered in Committee of Supply on 13 March 2015] Mdm Chair, in September last year, three out of the five major p

wp.sg

 

[sengkang]

The Workers' Party

On Mental Capacity Act:
"The Lasting Power of Attorney (LPA) scheme is very useful, but I have some concerns. First, there is a real risk that elderly persons are subject to the undue influence of persons they depend on. Secondly, a resident related his worry about the ease of the scheme, as his brother had made an LPA in favour of a stranger to the family, without anyone else knowing of it. Thirdly, I noted a big grassroots initiative to get residents to sign LPAs, leading to masses of LPAs being issued by certificate issuers without personal knowledge of the donors." - Sylvia Lim





COS 2015 Debate: MSF – Mental Capacity Act (MP Sylvia Lim)
By MP for Aljunied GRC, Sylvia Lim [Delivered in Committee of Supply on 13 March 2015] The number of citizens with dementia is expected to grow from 28,000
wp.sg

 

[sengkang]

The Workers' Party

"I noted that this Bill does cover dispute that happens in the unit. There are certain behaviors at home that could affect the comfort and peace of neighbors as we are now living closer to one another. However, people also value their privacy and freedom at home and that they should have the right to enjoy what they like to do in the place they call home. I would like to clarify how can this Bill balance the respect for each individual’s privacy in the sanctuary of their personal space and the common interest of other residents living together in the community." - Lee Li Lian （李丽连）





Debate on Community Disputes Resolution Bill – MP Lee Li Lian
By MP for Punggol East SMC, Lee Li Lian [Delivered in Parliament on 13 Mar 2015] This Bill seeks to establish a tribunal to hear difficult cases of dispute
wp.sg

 

[sengkang]

The Workers' Party

On Clustering Preschools:
Yee Jenn Jong, JJ (余振忠) suggested the use of economic grouping and clustering of resources to provide better efficiencies in the preschool sector, namely
1. Create mega preschool centres, housing different operators with shared facilities under one roof.
2. Promote the use of external central kitchens.
3. Encourage centres to form economic grouping with common resources such as curriculum, enrichment programmes and back office support.
4. Have common resources purchased by the ministry for loan, such as costlier but useful learning resources, puppets and props for annual concerts which preschools will usually need.






COS 2015 Debate: MSF – Clustering Preschools (NCMP Yee Jenn Jong)
By Non-Constituency MP, Yee Jenn Jong [Delivered in Committee of Supply on 12 March 2015] Sir, I had...

wp.sg

 

[sengkang]

The Workers' Party

"While it is true that there are many factors affecting business loss or loss of goodwill besides the temporary occupation, business owners, especially the small business owners can be adversely affected by temporary occupation. For example, if part of the land was occupied such that significant frontages of the land have been taken away or customers have to make big diversions to enter the business unit.
I’d to ask how the government would view requests from businesses that have indeed suffered loss of business and loss of goodwill from temporary occupation. Would there be some government assistance schemes they can be provided with?" - Yee Jenn Jong, JJ (余振忠)





Debate on Land Acquisition (Amendment) Bill – NCMP Yee Jenn Jong
By Non-Constituency MP, Yee Jenn Jong [Delivered in Parliament on 13 Mar 2015] Mr Deputy Speaker, as...

wp.sg

 

[sengkang]

The Workers' Party


[h=2]Daniel PS Goh[/h]
[h=5]Daniel PS Goh shared The Workers' Party's photo.
[/h]March 15 at 5:18pm · Edited ·

Was standing at the pedestrian crossing lights today with my party colleagues, a good morning of smiles to those walking to the market and thank you's to those going back with bags of marketing (often with a copy of Hammer sticking out of the bag).


Some people have asked why we call it Hammer Outreach. That's because we are not just focused on selling the party newspaper, we are also interested to talk to residents and citizens who may have feedback to give us, or just want to have a chat.


I had an unusual chat today. A lady with a copy of the Hammer rolled up in her hand came up to me and said in Mandarin, pointing the rolled-up Hammer to the leaves accumulated at the grass patch next to the road by the bus stop:


"You guys better ask the minister to come and sweep the leaves here beside the road before the rats come."
"Yes, we will remind the government department responsible to do it." (makes mental note on informing the volunteer assistants to MP Chen Show Mao to contact LTA)


Incredulous, and waving the rolled-up Hammer at me, "Remind?! Why can't you guys pick up the broom and sweep yourselves? I am fed up with you guys in the government, all you know is talk, never do anything!"


Didn't want to aggravate the situation by referring to fishball sticks, I said, "Sorry ma'am, but we really can't pick up the broom to sweep, this is not what we do as a political party, we will help to inform the department."


Still waving the rolled-up Hammer at me, "I tell you I am very fed up! Stop giving excuses! You all better watch yourself, the people are angry!"
"Okay, thank you very much, we will help as much as possible, will inform the government department."


"Thank you what thank you! Give me your name card!"


"Sorry, I don't have a name card."
"Why you don't have?! This is not your employment, this is not your work?!"
"No, this is not my occupation, we are volunteers."
The lights turn green and she starts walking, turning back and shouting, "What is your name?"
"吴佩松"


She holds up the rolled-up Hammer in a goodbye wave, "My name is _ _ _, thank you!"
I wave back, "Thank you!"






The Workers' Party

At Blk 105 Hougang Ave 1 Hainanese Village this morning for our weekly Hammer Outreach. Happy to see familiar faces, and thank you for your support! ‪#‎wpsg‬ ‪#‎wphammer‬

 

[sengkang]

Chen Jiaxi Bernard

Another third Saturday of the month, another food distribution exercise at Kaki Bukit division, Aljunied GRC.

 

[sengkang]

The Workers' Party Youth Wing (WPYW)

"If you care enough for Singapore, you got to step forward and do something! There is so much potential in each and every young Singaporean to contribute to Singapore. You can do so much more for this country. Definitely far more than what a 78 years old grandfather can do. Wouldn’t you agree with me on that?”
This week, we feature 78 years old Joseph Lim! Read on.






People of WP – Joseph Lim
People People of WP – Joseph Lim fairoz March 21, 2015 No Comments How would you describe yourself? “I am a happy-go-lucky grandfather blessed with eight beautiful grandchildren.” I understand that you joined WP in 2011. How old were...
wpyouth.sg

 

[sengkang]

The Workers' Party

At Fengshan Centre and Bedok Central in East Coast GRC this morning for our Hammer Outreach. Thanks for the support and enjoy reading the 'Hammer'! ‪#‎wpsg‬ ‪#‎wphammer‬

 

[swissbank]

.......

 

[sengkang]

The Workers' Party

Mr Lee Kuan Yew's contributions 'will be remembered for generations to come': WP

"On behalf of the Workers’ Party, I wish to convey my deepest condolences to you and your family on the passing of your father, Mr Lee Kuan Yew," Mr Low Thia Khiang, Secretary-General for the Workers' Party, says.

• PHOTOS

Workers' Party chief Low Thia Khiang.

• Enlarge
• Caption

SINGAPORE: The Republic's first Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew's passing on Monday (Mar 23) "marks an end of an era in Singapore's history" and his contributions to Singapore will be "remembered for generations to come", said Mr Low Thia Khiang, Secretary-General for the Workers' Party.

Mr Low's full condolence letter to Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong in full:

Dear Prime Minister,
On behalf of the Workers’ Party, I wish to convey my deepest condolences to you and your family on the passing of your father, Mr Lee Kuan Yew.

Mr Lee was Singapore’s first Prime Minister, heading the Government for over three decades and thereafter serving another 21 years in the Cabinet as Senior Minister and Minister Mentor. He led Singapore with a group of like-minded individuals through our tumultuous early years of nationhood, including a difficult merger with Malaysia and subsequent independence in 1965.

Mr Lee served in public office for almost his entire adult life. His passing marks an end of an era in Singapore’s history. His contributions to Singapore will be remembered for generations to come.

With deepest sympathies,
LOW THIA KHIANG
Secretary-General, Workers’ Party
Member of Parliament for Aljunied GRC

​

- CNA/kk

http://www.channelnewsasia.com/news...eekuanyew/news/mr-lee-kuan-yew-s/1733898.html

 

[sengkang]

[h=2]Daniel PS Goh[/h]
"To die, to sleep,
To sleep, perchance to Dream; Aye, there's the rub,
For in that sleep of death, what dreams may come,"
Goodnight sir. If you could dream, dream of Singapore. We'll be carrying on the work. No one's going to knock us down.

 

[sengkang]

Daniel PS Goh

Memories of My PM I: Merdeka
Mr Lee Kuan Yew was my PM and will always be, his raw emotions, brutal reasoning and will of steel, agreeable or not, have made their mark on my being. He doesn't stand in my private pantheon of heroes, but he has a special place as my PM. This is neither hagiography nor critique, but a series of remembrances in honour of an extraordinary man from the memories of an ordinary citizen.


My earliest memory of PM Lee is my meeting him on the cover of Time magazine in 1982. My dad subscribed to Time to get his dose of international current affairs and educate me on the same. I remember running to my dad to ask him who this man was, excited by the fact that my country's name was featured on the cover of the American magazine.

My dad said that this was our Prime Minister, our country's leader. And he said, with much pride, "I don't like the things he did to his opponents. But the PM and his team made sure we are independent, we are not bullied by anyone. I sang anthems under three flags. Only the Singapore flag is really our own flag." I was intrigued and read the Time magazine essay on Lee and Singapore. He came across as fiercely independent, uncompromisingly Singaporean.


I began to notice my dad scolding PM Lee when he appeared on our TV screen to announce some policy or make a political point my dad strongly disagreed with. I couldn't understand anything as I was only 9 years old. But I looked intently at my dad, and his eyes were not blazing with anger or hatred, but with the fire of conviction of a patriot. I realised he was mirroring the PM.


I began to look for books and magazines about the man and it opened my eyes to the stories of our anti-colonial struggle, the battle for merger and the eventual expulsion and independence. I experienced national pride for the first time. I thought the Time cover didn't do the PM justice. It made him look stately and somewhat tired. The image that stuck with me was my PM speaking to Singaporeans with unwavering voice and unflinching stare, and then a raised arm and the proud cry of "Merdeka!"


A few months later that year, I made the case to my dad and mum that I should stop taking the school bus and that I was big enough to take public bus number 174 to and from my school, St Anthony's, in town. I also asked to be freed from the oppression of the neighbour nanny and to receive my own set of keys to our home and lunch money to eat by myself at the market downstairs. My parents were naturally worried, but I told them if Singapore could make it, so could I. They laughed and agreed to a trial of merdeka. My PM inspired me.


p.s. Just saw this from a friend's post: http://jfk.hood.edu/Collection/White Materials/Security-CIA-II/CIA II 013.pdf. The Americans were puzzled by PM Lee's "sudden" public attacks on the US. In their Cold War calculations of realpolitik, they couldn't understand how a newly independent small city-state facing political and economic disaster would not suck up to the US. I'd have understood; it was my PM's fearless sense of independence, for Singapore.

 

[RiderZX]

Thanks for the ongoing update bro, keep up the good job. cheers!

 

[sengkang]

[h=5]The Workers' Party updated their cover photo.Yesterday at 11:16am ·

[/h]

 

[sengkang]

Daniel PS Goh

Memories of My PM II: HDB
I can't remember where I got the picture from, probably from the Straits Times. It was a half-page size print of PM Lee squatting down with three kids standing around him, each doing their kid thing of looking distracted. Or was it just two kids; my memory is hazy. But what I remember was PM Lee looking at one of the children with an intriguing combination of determination and softness. They were on the streets hugged by HDB blocks.

The closest photograph I can find circulating in the Internet is the one above. It is not quite the same, as here PM Lee looks visionary and triumphant, like a man who built his city, on verve and nerve, crowned by his achievement, the people only secondary. In the picture that hooked my soul, my PM went down on the ground with the children and was surrounded by the singular purpose that had driven him to action: the common people. Not Singapore the global city of iconic buildings, but Singapore the nation of citizens. I remember I carefully cut out the picture and then placed it in between the pages of my largest textbook. I think it was the geography textbook; I was 13 and in Secondary One. The next day I took it to the photocopying shop at Coronation Plaza before school and got it laminated. That evening, I got home and proudly stuck it to the wall in my room facing my bed, so that I could look at it when I read my books and magazines in bed. My dad laughed, seeing the PM among pictures of Wham!, Pet Shop Boys and Tears for Fears, the solitary spartan Asian among decadent young white men. He wondered what the PM would say to that, the sheer irony.

This was 1986 and people were still talking about the Graduate Mothers' Scheme, using it as evidence of PAP's and the PM's turn towards elitism. What rubbish, my dad told me, it was a damn silly policy, but the problem was real -- educated youths were no longer like his generation who appreciated a concrete roof with all the facilities to raise a family and jobs to prove themselves through hard work. It was true, my dad only had a few 'O' level passes. His diligent obsession with cleanliness and orderliness saw him promoted from storekeeper to logistics manager after a decade and we moved out from a very decent life in a 3-room HDB flat in Whampoa to enjoy an equally decent life in a 5-room HUDC flat in Farrer Road.

Sometimes I would catch my dad looking at the picture of PM Lee with the kids when he walked past my room. He was a fierce critic but did not accuse the PM for being elitist. He did think everyone was getting selfish and self-serving, including the people he knew who protested the Graduate Mothers' Scheme, whom he thought protested discrimination only because they wanted their own children to enter the exclusive primary schools and join the elite. No one protested that the schools themselves were becoming exclusive. He thought my school, SJI, going independent was just plain mad and refused to give a single cent to the fundraising campaign.

He disagreed, sometimes too vigorously, like when he shouted from our 16th-floor flat and momentarily silenced a PAP campaign truck blasting slogans during one general election, 1988 I think. He didn't like where society was going, becoming elitist, and PAP's fault was letting it become so. But he was grateful for the roof and the job, for the decency he was treated, for not being looked down on just because he was not well educated, and told my sister and I not to take things for granted. Sacrifices were made by older generation to earn a decent life for the younger ones.

He worried of the worsening rat race for me and my sister. He admonished me to study hard and more importantly, to stay grounded and simple, never forgetting the less privileged. Go join the civil service and serve the people, he told me once, pay your privilege back to society. I was quite taken aback (and didn't follow his advice, preferring to study society instead). In hindsight, and he would never admit to this, I think he had in mind that picture on my bedroom wall of my PM stooping down with the kids in the HDB streets.

 

[sengkang]

Daniel PS Goh


Memories of My PM III: Conspiracy
1987 was a watershed year for me. When the "Marxist conspiracy" arrests broke, it hit home what my dad found most disagreeable about PM Lee's methods. My dad was no liberal and often lambasted the hypocrisy of the West in championing freedom and human rights and then napalming whole villages in defense of it. He grew up with the Vietnam War. His view was simple; one just does not treat people, especially your own people, cruelly because everyone was someone's parent, child, spouse or sibling. He was a family man.

I grew up with democracy movements changing regimes in Asia, in which the Catholic Church was deeply involved. First it was Kim Daejung rallying crowds at the Minjung Cathedral, then Corazon Aquino with priests and nuns occupying the streets of Manila. I was only 13 turning to 14 years old. There was a vague sense of excitement and the significance of the events. In Singapore, the writings on justice, equality and democracy by the Church's Justice and Peace Commission struck a deep chord, not least because these were the same ideals I recited in the National Pledge and honoured in the flag, every weekday in school.

It thus came as a shock to me when the "conspiracy" arrests happened. The tone of the weekend mass changed. We held hands to pray for the detainees, many of whom were church workers and volunteers. People wept, the priest's voice quivered as he read Archbishop Yong's message supporting the detainees. There was an air of uneasiness. The adults looked genuinely concerned about the detainees and worried about the impending showdown. Someone in earshot said that the church workers were just doing their duty helping abused Filipino maids, who were fellow Catholics. A less idealistic man said he couldn't believe he now had to choose between PM Lee and Archbishop Yong.

I was very affected, in a hazy way, and I didn't want to celebrate my 14th birthday amidst the crisis. Then came a further shock when I saw the photo of the PM with the Archbishop on the front page of the newspapers. The Church changed its tune, and I saw the foibles of temporal powers for the first time. I asked my dad what the heck was going on. His cynicism was now full blown. Damn typical, he said, this was why we would not progress. He told me with much anger in his voice, and this was the third shock, to consider emigration: "go study overseas and don't come back; your mum and I will stay, we built our lives here with this country and no angmoh country will have a place for us; you are different, you are still young." Habitual repression had shaped habitual anger and the instinct to flee.

That's how I began to become my own person, with the three shocks that my PM inadvertently brought about in my life because of his brutal reasoning. Events unfolded with much more clarity to me hence, bringing impressions and lots of questions in their wake. I attended my first political rally during the 1988 GE and witnessed the very close results at Eunos GRC, when JBJ's WP with Francis Seow in the team came super close to winning. I wasn't convinced it was a good thing. Too much habitual anger and amidst the fighting, the people, those who could not afford to flee, were forgotten. I shed tears for Mandela's release, the detention of Aung San Suu Kyi and the fall of the Berlin Wall, and hoped something like Taiwan's gradual democratisation would happen to Singapore. Something brought me to a muddy field in Hougang for a political rally in GE 1991, and a fresh impression stuck, no habitual anger, but a cool, dignified reasoning focused on the people, in Teochew somemore, my mother tongue.

My PM looked tired and when he started to make way for GCT, it seemed like the "conspiracy" took a toll on him. He was an excellent leader who led a team that brought us all together in difficult times to survive and thrive against all odds, who took upon himself to carry the moral burdens of making very difficult decisions with terrible tradeoffs, and sometimes these were mistakes. But who else would carry the burdens with ruthless honesty and not care about name and legacy, vitriol and karma?

I wished he had better political counsel though; the "conspiracy", I thought, was a big mistake. Nevertheless, it helped me unwind the orthodoxies that would have bound me otherwise: Catholicism, socialism, liberalism, pragmatism, democracy, and the thought shadows of fathers -- my dad, my PM himself and future mentors of all stripes. The detentions freed (ironically) me to ask questions about the state and about society, about the world and nation, about history and my life, which made me change tracks from science to social science. To some PM Lee was not the philosopher-king that others hailed him to be. To me he was, in the sense of the sovereign who opened up worlds of wisdom for me.