TR EMERITUS

It came to my attention through friends and fellow congregants of 2 post relating to my seeking from PAP MacPherson branch, 1 from Ms "J Ten" [LINK] and another from Ms Tin [LINK]. Both are great women, passionate about assisting others and this can sometimes bring about miscommunication and misinterpretation of the other's intent, worsened by third party grassroots involvement. I additionally, did not write to nor communicated with either yours or other blogs regarding this particular incident. However, the focus is on the clarification made by Ms Tin which I felt, hypes her assistance but made no mention of the failures behind them. This was precisely the reason "Ms J Ten" accompanied me to explain the issues clearer to the grassroots being a double masters student herself. In her post, Ms Tin mentions I was known to her since 2011 when she took over from the previous MP and inherited loads of unresolved issues of MacPhersonians. My son and I would head to her MPS not merely to seek assistance but to also appeal to various government agencies on policy matters as this cripples Ms Tin's ability to help anyone when the government refuses to listen to her or the people. I launch appeals with the intent of benefiting all Singaporeans in mind and this is known to Ms Tin and her team. While I did obtain $80 NTUC vouchers from her CCC fund twice annually, I seldom appeal for FA from SSO Geylang Serai as they consider anyone earning $1000 or above to be "high income earners" and it will be virtually impossible to obtain anything from them. Mr Gilbert Goh who is active in MacPherson had highlighted my predicament and this was never disputed by Ms Tin or the SSO. In August after the election, MacPherson CC obtained approval to utilise PA funds to change my rusty rubbish chute, a matter I had feedback since May 2019 before my hospitalization of 3 months. The issue arose due to an uncooperative resident living above our units, pouring loads of water thrice daily down the chute which caused corrosion and leakage. This is also experienced by my neighbours but I am more vocal than they are, hence I deduce it would be better political milage for them to change my chute than to have a whole row of them replaced. My late husband and I also rarely receive financial aid from either "SECDC" or SSO Geylang Serai, only once or twice when I was hospitalized last year and exhausted my 60 day leave limit. I still have a letter of my late husband from a Ms Kua Mei Yin of SECDC, rejecting Mr Matthias Yao's request for FA when my husband was suffering from kidney failure, liver disease and heart troubles. It was my son who obtained FA from them ranging from $100-$400 when he had a traffic accident and produced medical certification from CGH. We have never approached any other organisations. This year during circuit breaker, I faced the possibility of work termination and was extremely anxious. I thus, emailed Ms Tin and she wrote to SSO and the Agency for Integrated Care. Needless to mention, SSO immediately rejected her appeal but AIC delivered some groceries. My further correspondence with Ms Tin did not yield a reply and Mr Gilbert Goh/Ms Mandy who were privy to this then took over care of myself during the circuit breaker period. While TTSH did render MediFund to myself, I am unable to utilise it at other institutions like SingHealth as they do not recognise the verification of Medical Social Workers not belonging to their field. This was 1 of the changes I had sought through Ms Tin since 2012, the centralization of MediFund for the benefit of the elderly. I do not have further follow-up appointment at TTSH but am still receiving ongoing treatment for other chronic ailment at SGH and Polyclinic. I have never obtained any anything from Ms Tin's MacPherson Care Fund. I continue to call for Ms Tin to fight for better employment of elderly like myself as the "re-employment" legislation is pretty toothless. Elderly who reach 62 are still at risk of termination without retrenchment benefits and I have still not heard anything concrete from the Tripartite Alliance Ltd to address this. Finally, the account provided by "CY" against "Ms J Ten" contain inaccuracies and I will leave it to "Ms J Ten" if she wishes to dispute "CY's" account with photographs. What I witness that is particularly troubling from this incident is: "Quis custodiet ipsos custodes" as I noticed "CY's" audacity to disparage another Indian elderly who had backed "Ms J Ten's" feedback. He is not here to defend himself and is probably unaware that an allegation had been levelled against him. I hope the grassroots who receive vast benefits from PA will stop being little emperors and empresses in between the people and their MP, deciding who gets to see their representative and who doesn't. Have a good weekend and G-d bless!   Mdm Tan    * The writer is the friend whom Ms Ten accompanied to the MPC.      Read More →

Just a few days ago in The Globe and Mail, there was an article about how Canada should follow Australia's example in dealing with China because they seem to be better at it. Of course, Canada is facing the ramifications of detaining the Huawei executive and as a result have 2 Canadians who have been in Chinese jail for 2 years there already. The Huawei executive is living with an ankle monitor in 2 mansions in Vancouver on the other hand. Not suffering at all. Obviously now, Australia isn't faring any better after a Chinese foreign ministry official known to take hawkish lines does not shy away from picking fights. His post is inappropriate for a diplomat but the content itself touches sensitive feelings. The picture posted is a photoshop that highlights the atrocities committed by some Australian troops in Afghanistan. It may be incendiary, but it is based on actual events. This portrayal may bring intense shame and pain among Australians, but one positive outcome of this diplomatic row is that it generates more media attention on these atrocities. Otherwise the story will just fade away, and for the few people who remember, the only memory will be that Australia behaved admirably for exposing the crimes among its soldiers. Instead of asking how could this have happened in the first place, the actions of the Australian soldiers give a hint of what actions American soldiers have carried out in Afghanistan, and how much accountability has there been. China is angry because Australia were amongst the first to push internationally for an inquiry into the origins of CoVID19. And they DON'T like it. Australia has "taken a leading role in an inquiry into the origins of the pandemic" and Beijing is infuriated. Australia is important enough to matter as a good example if you cross China, even if Australia is right, but small enough for China to bully as it is doing with outrageous tweets and unfair tariffs and bans. With controlled media and brainwashed and coerced population China is calling the shots - for now. Stepping back, China is actively engaged in a long strategic game with the US (and to a lesser extent, India) for future hegemony and economic control of the Asia Pacific. The world’s responses to the South China Sea, the recent “skirmish” with India, the release of Covid-19, and the premature ending of rights in Hong Kong have been no more than tepid. Australia is currently the point man for the ANZUS (Australia, New Zealand and United States) alliance and the nascent Quadrilateral. Beijing’s maritime expansionism illustrates not only the Chinese Communist Party’s growing military might but also its willingness to defy neighbors and international laws to fulfill President Xi Jinping’s sweeping visions of power. The fact that China’s Xi is now completing Hong Kong’s take over and subjugation of democracy should give Biden pause. It also wants Taiwan’s military takeover and annexation. The strength of support between allies is being tested ahead of China’s ongoing advancement of its agenda. Expect North Korea to act in February to focus Japan and South Korea away from Taiwan, before China uses a progression of moves on Taiwan to test the resolve of America’s new administration and her allies, sometime around 2Q next year. The latest trade deal in Asia, RCEP (affecting 35% of world trade) cemented China's dominance and would not have been so successful had Trump not withdrawn from the trade pact. The result is that the U.S.A. is on a steady decline duplicating the fall of Britain from a dominant economic power to a relatively isolated economy. While Trump's policies have resulted in a temporary lift to some industries the price has been the immediate costs to U.S. citizens through tariffs has accelerated the transition to economic decline. The strength of the US in its competition with China lies within. If the US continues its slow rot from within - fierce internal division, crumbling infrastructure, dumped down populace, and glorifying greedy finance guys and entertainment celebrities, the US will feel nothing but impotence in doing anything to stop China's rise within 5-10 years. The US/China tension is permanent. Diametrically different in governance, foundational principle, and societal value it there is ultimately no congruence on which to base any real detente. The Yellow-Peril xenophobia virus is in full bloom across the USA with united bipartisan support. Once this Yellow-Peril virus is out of the CIA / State Department Lab, it is hard to recall. It produced the toxic relationship because Chinese politicians, just like their American counterparts, can exploit the sentiment too. So no, I want no part of Sinophobia, thank you.   SojoüRner      Read More →

On November 27 the Public Service Division (PSD) announced that Singapore’s 85,000 civil servants will not receive any year-end bonus this year . This followed the cancellation of the mid-year bonus which was blamed on the economic fallout from the Coronavirus pandemic. This may sound like common sense to many Singaporeans but to an economist this makes no sense. The economy has suffered a massive exogenous shock to demand as tourism has dwindled to zero and global trade has fallen sharply, though it is now starting to recover. It is true the Government has provided a lot of support to the corporate sector (of which it owns a majority share) and rather less to the average Singaporean. I pointed out back in June (Fake News Alert!: Why Both Kate Spade Influencer Tin Pei Ling and Her Boss Heng Swee Keat Are Talking Cock) that when Ms Tin Pei Ling claimed that the Government had spent $93 billion supporting Singaporeans this was false. I worked out that it was more like $44 billion and that a majority of this was probably passed passed from one pocket to another as it was paid out to Government-owned entities or property tax rebates benefiting the Government as the biggest landlord. Rather less has been provided to the ordinary Singaporean. In fact I calculated there that Government direct support to Singaporeans amounted to about $2.5 billion which when divided among 4 million residents (citizens and PRs) amounted to about $620. It has been increased since then and now the Government estimates that its Care and Support Package will cost $4.6 billion in total. But that is still only slightly more than $1,000 per resident. Cutting back on cash payments to individuals (of which 25% comes back to the Government through CPF) when demand has fallen off a cliff does not make sense to anyone who knows anything about Economics. The challenge is to stop businesses going bust and laying off more workers which will cut demand even further and send the economy into a death spiral. Singapore has no pre-existing income stabilisers in the form of unemployment insurance or income support measures unlike most Western economies, including the US. There are three reasons why the Government has done this: (1) It does not understand Economics. This certainly seems true of Heng Swee Keat who studied Economics with me at Cambridge though he only got a second class degree. He has talked about raising taxes once Covid is over to rebuild the Government’s stock of foreign assets. This would likely be disastrous in the absence of a recovery in global trade and tourism. (2) It is still wedded to the mercantilist view that domestic consumption is bad and that only investment and exports are good. Subsidising wages is equivalent to an export subsidy (it allows exporters to sell their goods more cheaply) as well as being bad for productivity and likely running foul of attempts by the US to curb export subsidies. (3) The Government does not want to be seen being generous to civil servants when so many Singaporeans have lost their jobs and the incomes of the self-employed like private hire and taxi drivers have declined so much. Both (1) and (2) are examples of bad economics, or what has been called Zombie Economics. (3) is like cutting off your nose to spite your face. Instead of stopping the bonus payment to civil servants the Government should instead be making similar payments to all Singaporeans, just as Heng did with the $300 payments under the Care and Support Package and the US Government did with its more substantial Economic Impact Payment of US$2,400 per couple and $500 per child. The Government is not a mama shop. Instead of cutting back to save money it needs to spend more, even more than it is doing now. Longer term we should be thinking about paying the Net Investment Returns Contributions directly to citizens as a form of Guaranteed Minimum Income rather than the shell games that Heng and Tharman before him play at Budget time, moving money from one silo to another so that it is saved and not spent.     Kenneth Jeyaretnam * The author blogs at https://kenjeyaretnam.com/        Read More →