TR EMERITUS

I disagree with the pap's decision of advising its MPs to suspend their physical Meet the People's sessions (MPS). Unlike those thousands upon thousands of our frontline workers be it bus drivers, taxi drivers, hawkers, health care workers, security guards or retail staff etc who only earn a fraction of what pap MPs earn in allowance, pap MPs do not meet thousands of their residents on a daily basis, unlike them who meet large numbers of people on a daily basis. It is all the more critical that worthy MPs must avail themselves to meet the people during this pandemic period because the numbers of people who are adversely affected by it are obviously much higher than normal times, their needs are varied, acute and urgent and it is reasonable to assume that a large numbers of them who need to physically go and see their MPs are IT illiterate. In normal times in my constituency, even though the official registration time for MP Meet the People's session is 7.30pm, as early as 5.30pm, there are alearly residents who would bring their own chairs sitting in line and waiting their turn to register, let alone in a time like now. To suspend or to put it bluntly, to run at the first sign of trouble is so easy, so cowardice and so useless of pap MPs. If pap MPs were serious and sincere enough people truly wanting to serve and help their residents even in a time like now, strict adherence to mask wearing and social distancing could be enforced and an auxilliary police officer could be deployed at MPS to ensure strict compliance, a big glass barrier could be installed between residents and their MPs, the numbers of residents could be capped at say 50 or so per session or worse come to worst, pap MPs could emulate you know who to wear 2 masks or even 3 masks to ensure double or triple protection but to use C19 as an excuse to suspend their MPS is such a disappointment and even a disgrace. I may even consider it as dereliction of duty. Such a decision must not be left unquestioned and unchallenged. Pap MPs meeting their residents are not doing free charity work. They are paid very well with our people's hard earned taxes. Thinking citizens must question their decision to run at the first sign of troubles and those regular suckers, you know who you are, will as usual, suck and suck without the ability to discern anything much less thinking critically and deeper about issues that affect our lives. Think.   Simon Lim      Read More →

The situation in India is bad. There has been a sharp increase in infection and death from covid. Many people in Singapore are worried that we can face the serious crisis that is happening in India. The experts in Singapore said that we should be concerned, but should not be over alarmed. I agree with this view. Here are the factors that made the spread of the pandemic very bad in India: a) There were several large political rallies and religious events that attracted large numbers of people who participated without adequate precautions against covid. b) Many people were in poor health due to malnutrition and obesity and are more susceptible to the covid virus. c) There is inadequate checks for symptomatic cases that are likely to cause the virus to spread more rapidly. All of these conditions are not present in Singapore. We will not face the scale of the health crisis that has occurred in India. I agree that we should be concerned and make sure that matters do not get out of control. But we do not need to be over alarmed. Here are my reasons: a) Although there were about 10 community cases in Singapore each day, it does not increase exponentially. Why did the 10 cases not spread to 100 or 1000 cases? I suspect that most of these cases are asymptomatic (i.e. mild) and do not spread. b) There will be a few symptomatic cases that spread, but the number is still very small. c) We have been implementing social distancing measures and border control. They are adequate. There are calls for the border closure to be completely closed for travelers from countries with high infection rates. I think that the current measures are adequate and do not need to be strengthened. All incoming travelers are already tested for covid. If they are found to be positive, they have to be quarantined. If they are tested negative, there is still a risk that they have the virus during the gestation period. From my observation over many months, this risk is actually quite small. We hear about a handful of untraced community cases that occur daily. I believe that the virus is already in the community, but is mild. This is why the widespread testing, such as in Tan Tock Seng Hospital, will bring up a number of cases. If the widespread testing is carried out among people in a mall or market, we will also catch a similar proportion of cases. I may be wrong in my analysis. But I will not be alarmed until I see a large spread of the infection. This has not occurred yet. I think that it is unwise to take extreme measures and damage the economy by preventing people from earning a daily living. The economic harm may be worse than the health risk (which may be smaller than what is generally feared).   Tan Kin Lian      Read More →

NTUC will consider 'ring fencing' certain jobs like HR to help local Professionals, Managers and Executives (PMEs) - Ng Chee Meng. I like what I have read but I want to sound a word of caution. Over the years, it is true that many local PMEs have been replaced by foreign PMEs in their work places. Chats with friends, neighbours, ex-colleagues or former NS mates over dinners or drinks will easily attest to that. Sad stories are plentiful. It is not difficult to encounter middle-aged former PMEs now reduced to become Grab drivers and more. Many factors are at play that lead us to this sorry state of our employment landscape under the weak pap government. Among them, foreign male PMEs are not liable for reservist call-up, they are not required to contribute to CPF which makes them more attractive and cheaper to employers, many of them do not have young families tagging along in Singapore which free them from familial commitments and demands, female PMEs are much less likely to get pregnant unlike our married female citizens which means lesser work disruptions and one mother of all ill-advice and insult came from a former pap minister, Khaw Boon Wan who discouraged Singaporeans from pursuing tertiary education etc. Ng Chee Meng's announcement will probably pacify Singaporean PMEs for a while and make those simple-minded ones happy, however, I do not hope that ring fencing talk is a mere symbolic rhetoric, a flash in the pan thing. Ring fencing certain jobs such as Human Resource is but a start only and much serious hard work need to be done behind the scene. They include a holistic relook and review of employment cost structures between local PMEs vs foreign ones, relooking whether our polytechnics and our tertiary institutions are offering relevant courses and are producing Singaporean graduates relevant to what our industries and economy need, whether our Government Linked Companies (GLCs) are leading examples of nurturing our own local talents to take on bigger and heavier responsibilities or guilty of liberally employing foreign PMEs at our local PMEs' expense and if MOM's granting of employment passes is too liberal etc. I am sorry to say that I consider advertising in the job bank requirement to be a book-smart joke and a big one. The government is the biggest employer in Singapore and its many GLCs are big employers too. It is not unreasonable to expect them to lead the way and give preferential employment opportunities to our own PMEs despite their reservist disruptions, CPF and other additional costs and maternity leave considerations etc. Our educational institutions are not producing sub-standard graduates and charity must begin at home. There are costs and consequences to being just penny wise. After all, if our employers do not wish to give those better employment opportunities to and value our own PMEs in our own country, who will? Think.   Simon Lim      Read More →