TR EMERITUS

Singaporeans will be going to the polls on 3 May 2025. 'The government of the people, by the people and for the people' is a powerful statement about democracy. In this commentary, I would like to relate it to how the pap ministers remunerate themselves . Regarding the pap government's mantra about what is wrong with collecting more money, Singaporeans are reminded from time to time that pap ministars are not paid enough and also paying anything less and we will not be able to attract high calibre people into government lalala, I agree with some of the arguments and statements but only to a certain extend. Even in this time and age of ever rising consumerism and materialism, if one's involvement in national politics is very much monetary motivated, the calculation about the pluses and the minuses, the credit and the debit, the demand of one's time, the loss of one's privacy and the potential opportunity of having more open doors going forward etc, then in the interest of all, one really shouldn't be involved in running for public office. Between pegging ministerial salaries to the top earners in the private sector and pegging it to the median income of the bottom, say 30% of our gainfully employed citizens but with a certain numbers of multiples, I prefer the latter for the simple reason that the bottom 30% of our working citizens need the government to go the extra mile for them to ensure that their income level rises much more than those top earners and if ministers' salaries are pegged to their earnings and both parties' interest are intertwined, we cannot rule out 'miracles' happening to their humble incomes going forward. On the other hand, top income earners are totally capable of looking after themselves. They do not need the government's help to make even more money than our bottom 30% citizens. Very importantly, to me, to take reference from the top earners' income to pay themselves gives a clear unfair and an inaccurate impression of the actual income of the vast majority of Singaporeans. We must be mindful that the people are the source of government authority and that government exists to serve the people and not the other way around. Citizens must have a voice and be heard in shaping government's policies and lastly, government's purpose is to benefit the people, protect their rights and promote and improve their wellbeing and in our case in Singapore, I say start with our bottom 30% gainfully employed fellow citizens. Think.   Simon Lim    Read More →

Fixing Polling Day on 3 May, right after the Labour Day public holiday on 1 May, is nothing short of a blunder. One can’t help but ask: is this a calculated move to ride on the sentiments of May Day, hoping to turn it into a rallying cry for votes? It’s hard to ignore the timing. For many Singaporeans, the 1 May holiday is a rare opportunity to enjoy a long weekend—time to rest, travel, or spend with family. By slotting in an election right after, the government has effectively disrupted that. Plans will have to change. Travel may need to be cancelled. Voters are being asked to put their personal lives on hold, once again, for political convenience. This decision reeks of a familiar pattern—using the machinery of the state to tilt the electoral playing field. It reflects a government more concerned with securing advantage than serving its citizens. There's a growing sense of disconnect between those in power and the people they claim to represent. Is this really about democracy, or just another display of how the system is being used to preserve the status quo? The choice is ours, but so is the question: How would *you* vote when faced with a government that appears more invested in strategy than service?   CWC-AI    Read More →

I refer to The Online Citizen GE2025 news report, “Lee Hsien Yang: Is a Parliament full of PAP MPs really better for Singaporeans?” - (April 14), and “The Straits Times’ report, “GE2025: Singaporeans will go to the polls on May 3, Nomination Day on April 23” (April 15), and The Online Citizen GE2025 report, “RDU criticizes election timeline, claims ruling party benefits from short campaign period” (April 25). It’s worth noting that in a recent Facebook post on Sunday, 13 April, LHY emphasised the importance of enhancing greater political diversity, accountability, transparency and opposition representation within Singapore's political landscape. We can easily notice that in the past parliament sittings, quite a number of the ruling party’s Members of Parliament seldom spoke for his or her constituents’ concerns, difficulties in their living and aspirations (in terms of the frequency, number of questions/issues asked/filed in the parliament and their in-depth in debating). Beside this unhealthy drawback, when they come to voting for some controversial and difficult issues of the proposed bills or the amendments of the constitution law (such as the issues of: raising the GST from 7% to 9%, debates for the increases of electricity and water tariffs bills , and all PAP’s MPs voted in favour of the move to repeal a decade-old law 377A of the Penal Code which criminalises gay sex while endorsing changes to the Constitution to protect the current definition of marriage from legal challenge), almost all the MPs from the ruling party have to toe the line with their party’s stance. This is commonly perceived as the strict restrictions of the ruling party’s whip and it cannot be violated. On the contrary, opposition party members have less political baggage (by choosing and voting for the opposition candidacy). They dare to directly respond to and convey the opinions and wishes of their constituents or voters, such as the difficulties they encounter in life and their demands for a better life in the parliament more often. That is why make a distinctive or big difference between choosing an opposition candidate and the ruling party’s candidate. Guiguzi, a thinker and military strategist during the Spring and Autumn and Warring States Periods of China, He repeatedly stressed that if one wants to understand the world, one must understand the national conditions and the people's wishes in order to infer whether the country will prosper or decline. Let us review his warm reminder. As we know, the first Cooling-off Day was implemented for Singapore’s general election in 2011. No campaigning activities are allowed on Cooling-off Day (which is designated as the day before polling day to give voters time to think rationally and reflect on the issues that were raised during the campaigning period). Since then, the political campaigning activities for the respective parties have left a tiny range of nine days. Obviously, it is too short and unfair for the entire opposition, because the ruling party has the clear advantage - mainstream media (including all the Television and Radio Stations) is widely regarded as the mouthpiece of the ruling party for donkey’s years. This has provided wider and deeper media coverage for the ruling party. Hence, the respective opposition parties should walk the ground/their constituency thoroughly(preferably days and nights) to address their party’s manifesto and advocacy. And, most importantly, to rally the support from their constituents. Beside, they have to focus upon and summarise what they really want to advocate and address their voters. These advocacy can be nimbly presented in many ways/forms. For examples, making live Facebook videos, YouTube videos, TikTok, Instagram and getting presentation on social media interviews to propagate and put forward their manifesto, proposals and ideas. In this direction, Dr Chee Soon Juan of the Singapore’s Democratic Party (SDP) has done a good job by clearly summing up his views and position on why it is vital for voting for the SDP, and also systematically summed up ten shortcomings of the ruling party in his Facebook’s videos. In any case, it is more effective and economically to reach and communicate with the vast young voting group through videos on online social media platforms, which can better interact with them and touch their hearts. This is rightly combined with the principle expounded in Sun Tzu's Art of War: Going to war with a just cause, and how to seize the right time and place.   Teo Kueh Liang (Mr)    Read More →