TR EMERITUS

Click to enlarge Hello everyone, thank you again for contributing to the crowdfunding movement! And good Saturday afternoon! With the help of all of you to raise the money the prime minister has demanded, my lawyer Eugene Thuraisingam and Ariffin Sha have sent out a letter to Lee Hsien Loong's lawyer to inform him that I will be making a lump sum payment to him (please see in this post the letter). Thank you for assisting me pro bono on this since 2015, and working so speedily on this, I am grateful. The damages awarded to me was S$150,000. Over the last 5 years, I have paid out $100 of monthly installments for a total of S$6,000. Starting this month (April 2021), the monthly installment was to have increased to S$1,000 a month that I would have to pay up until 2033. Over the last 8 days, you have helped to crowdfund the balance amount of S$144,000. At the start of this crowdfunding campaign, after seeking the advice of my lawyers, I have already transferred the first installment of S$1,000 from this crowdfunding to Lee Hsien Loong, which leaves S$143,000. In my lawyers' letter to Lee Hsien Loong’s lawyer, we have informed them that we will be making a lump sum payment of S$143,000. (Some of you suggested to put the money raised in a fund to continue making the monthly installment of S$1,000, but I think that the appropriate manner to answer to the people who have come together to help lift this burden, is to ensure that the money is paid off, for accountability.) I will await a response from Lee Hsien Loong and provide you with an update as soon as possible! Thank you to all of you again for coming together for a fellow Singaporean, and to fight for the right for citizens to ask questions and engage in critical discourse. With your help, I will no longer be punished until 2033 for the advocacy on the CPF. A friend called what has happened over these last 8 days a miracle. But I think it's more than that, it's the willpower of Singaporeans and a clear message that you are sending, that you want a mature, democratic society in which we can openly debate and make transparent policies for the protection of Singaporeans. Over the last month, you have helped crowdfunded for both Leong Sze Hian and I in record time, and this must have sent a very strong signal to the government. If they do not get the message, then I think the next course of action is clear.   Roy Ngerng        Read More →

It is more important to have a system of removing bad government with the least amount of bloodshed in the most peaceful manner than to minimize the roadblocks for a Competent Government. I’ve just seen an article on Aljazera English edition which announced that the Brazilian Senate is going investigate the handling of Covid-19 cases by the administration of Jair Bolonaro. The report can be found at: [LINK] My only thought upon reading this headline was “Thank God,” and “Finally.” While Brazil under the “Trump of the Tropics” has received less global attention than the original version to the north, the disaster that is Brazil’s Covid experience is not less painful. At the time of writing, some 362,180 Brazilians have died from Covid-19. Only the USA has had more deaths. Brazil, under Mr. Bolsonaro cannot use the excuse that it is a poor and under-developed nation in its management of Covid-19. Other poor and third world nations have done much better. Indonesia, Pakistan and Bangladesh which have a population similar to that of Brazil come no where close to Brazil in terms of either infections or fatalities from Covid-19. To get a picture of where Brazil stands, one can just confine it to South America where it is the undisputed giant. If you compare Brazil to its regional rival Argentina, you’d notice that Brazil beats Argentina hands down – Covid has killed 0.171 percent of Brazil (362,180 divided by 211,715,973 times 100) whereas it is killed 0.128 percent of Argentina (58,542 divided by 45,479,118 times 100). Covid 19 has infected 6.46 percent of Brazil (13,677,564 divided by 211,715,973 times 100) and 5.72 percent of Argentina (2,604,157 divided by 45,479,118 times 100). Covid-19 has done one great service for the world. It has shown us that leadership matters. The top three countries that have screwed up Covid are the world’s most prominent military and economic power and two of the world’s emerging giants. What do all three have in common? The answer is leadership. In India, it’s been a case of bad execution. In fairness to Mr. Modi, he has avoided saying stupid things but the execution of Covid-19 measures has been as well executed as say the demonetization and implementation of GST. The story in the USA and Brazil was different. Both Mr. Trump and his tropical clone made it a point to “downplay” the severity of the virus and repeatedly undermined efforts by state governors to control the virus and to add fuel to the fire, they proceeded to actively make life difficult for medical experts. World Geniuses in Botching a Crisis - Photo: Economic Times The only saving grace for the three biggest failures in Covid-19 management is the fact that they are democracies within an inbuilt system of checks and balances, which hopefully underlines the great point in favour of democratic systems – namely the fact that the democratic system provides a nation with the most effective and peaceful way to remove incompetent government. It’s been argued that democracy is messy and autocratic systems can be more effective and efficient. In Singapore, our Prime Minister gained notoriety by saying that if there were more “opposition voices” (note that the complaint is not about having an opposition that could form an alternative government), Singaporeans would suffer because he’d have to spend more time trying to “fix” the opposition than running the country. To be fair, to him, Singapore is in many respects exceedingly well run and there’s been a degree of competence at the top which other countries envy us for. A wise and benevolent ruler can do wonders for a nation and to be fair to Singapore’s system, we’ve thus far had reasonably capable people in charge. However, as Bhutan’s King-Father who imposed democracy on his nation argues, “What’s to guarantee that future kings would be wise, benevolent and competent?” Cracks do appear in “perfect systems,” if they’re not fixed, they end up being broken. Only problem with cracks is that nobody will fix them unless someone alerts the powers to be to the nature of the crack and that cannot be done if the powers that be treat criticism as treason. One only needs to look at Indonesia during the Asian Financial crisis of the late 1990s. Suharto ran a growing economy. However, nobody challenged the status quo and when the crisis hit and revealed that much of the growth was based on unsustainable debt, everything collapsed. Instead of trying to fix the problems, Suharto’s government dug in and it took violence on the streets to get rid of him. Hence, the need to remove incompetent government in as peaceful and efficient a manner as possible is more important than creating efficiency for the government of the day. The likes of Hosni Mubarak, Suharto and Ben Ali were only removed when blood on the streets was spilt. While my insane-right leaning friends would beg to differ, Trump was removed by the ballot box. Bolsonaro looks like he will be called to account by senate for his mismanagement of the crisis. Sure, Trump didn’t go quietly the way he should have upon electoral defeat but it was still the most efficient and peaceful way (which to be fair to Trump, he exposed the weaknesses in the system, where people assumed things would work in a certain way rather than having it written into the system itself) for him to be removed. Hopefully the Senate will act and if not, Brazil’s electorate will give Mr. Bolsonaro the boot for his incompetence. Aspiring autocrats need to remember Bhutan’s King-Father who took the move to remove his institution from the day-to-day running of things and gave power to the people so that people would be ready for the possibility of incompetent government and have to means to remove it peacefully.   Tang Li *Although I’ve been based mainly in Singapore for nearly two decades, I’ve had the privilege of being able meet people who have crossed borders and cultures. I’ve befriended ministers and ambassadors and worked on projects involving a former head of state. Yet, at the same time, I’ve had the privilege of befriending migrant labourers and former convicts. All of them have a story to tell. All of them add to the fabric of life. I hope to express the stories that inspire us to create life as it should be.      Read More →

Lin Chia-lung The Taiwanese government has accepted the resignation of its transport minister, Lin Chia-lung, over the recent train accident. I ask if there are any lessons that the pap government and its ministers can learn from that former Taiwanese transport minister's decision? The answer is obviously Yes and I am mindful that this commentary is potentially controversial. It is both unrealistic and unreasonable to expect zero screw-ups in any government organisations, however, the bigger and more meaningful question is when major and/or repeated screw-ups happen, how should faults and accountability be properly handled and demonstrated? To begin, Singapore ministers are not underpaid by world's standards. They are in fact paid superbly well that even ministers from other first world countries talk about. For our citizens to demand ministers to resign everytime something goes wrong is, in my view, unproductive and unhealthy because from time to time, things will go wrong be it mrt train delay or the occasional military training accidents etc. The only way not to have any screw-ups is to do nothing, however, that is not an option. In the past, there were certain clear and serious sub-par performances in our government that have happened and for the government to look the other way instead of holding its ministers to full and proper accountability was so soft, so wrong and so useless, to say the least. I will give 2 examples. MOH under Gan Kim Yong saw hepatitis C outbreaks at SGH that killed innocent people, severe bed shortages happened at our public hospitals, thousands of patient's information were stolen, CGH was found negligent over some cancer diagnosis, a catheter was inserted wrongly into a patient's stomach at SGH and more... Despite all that, Gan KY didn't lose his job or was demoted. He was not even transferred out. Their junior ministers at MOH were also very safe in their jobs. I put my hand to my heart and ask what and where were the accountability that the pap government talks so much about? It looks like only junior people and others are always in the wrong. Pap ministers are forever perfect and incapable of any failings. Next, in 2008, dangerous terrorist Mas Selamat successfully escaped from detention. That was a big deal but what happened to the then Home Affairs minister, Wong Kan Seng? Again nothing. Zero. Wong didn't lose his job, he was not demoted, he was not even transferred out. He continued to enjoy his more good years, so, what accountability again? Our 'No Blame Culture' is a very clever tagline espoused by Gan KY to absolve themselves from incompetence and failures and simple-minded and unthinking Singaporeans suck it wholesale, hook, line and sinker. Taiwanese ministers don't even earn half in political salaries what our pap ministars pay themselves but their transport minister took his job and accountability seriously. He understands what true accountability is and walks accountability. He definitely has something to teach our pap ministars and open our citizens' eyes. Think.   Simon Lim      Read More →