TR EMERITUS

During its latest walkabout at Jurong West on Tuesday, Reform Party leaders and activists did a door-to-door walkabout by knocking on each and every single unit in the HDB flats to introduce themselves to the residents. "Is there anybody at home? This is the Reform Party?" I have to say at least twice for both in English and Chinese, for every door that I knocked. And I need to say it loudly so that no matter which part of the flat, the resident might be at, they will be able to hear me," wrote RP volunteer Irene Ho on her Facebook. It was a tireless task which prompted a new volunteer to comment: “Wow, you guys have been doing this? This is so tiring.” The Reform Party has been conducting two walkabouts weekly for the past one year or so. This week is especially heavy as they are going to conduct four walkabouts with a special one scheduled this evening at Joo Chiat to celebrate Hari Raya Puasa with Muslim Singaporeans. [Above: The RP team at Jurong West. View the full gallery here] According to Irene, doing walkabouts is very tiring, sweaty and time consuming especially when they are not enough volunteers and the same people are always the ones doing it. When RP was conducting its walkabout at Blk 932, two Indian gentleman approached them at the void deck and commended the activists for their efforts in standing up for Singaporeans. One of them Mr Tamil said: "Are you guys from Reform Party? We really appreciate what you are doing - working towards a Singapore for Singaporeans! We will support you for fighting for the interests of Singaporeans. Something must be done now! If we, in our generation, can be displaced by the foreigners, what will happen to our children?" His friend, Mr Lingam added: "How do I get involved and get more information about Reform Party? Tamil is always the one calling me and telling me to read this and that on Reform Party. I would love to help!" As we can see from RP's recent activities, it has a committed team of leaders and activists who are working hard daily to serve fellow Singaporeans. Unfortunately, the biased mainstream media has almost never covered their walkabouts thereby giving the erroneous public misconception that it has been "inactive". RP needs every bit of help from Singaporeans to counter the mammoth PAP grassroots machinery. The PAP enjoys an unfair advantage by misusing public resources to serve its political interests. The Reform Party will be conducting a walkabout today at 8pm at  Joo Chiat Complex, 1 Joo Chiat Road 420001 (at Main entrance). Irene would like to invite all Singaporeans to celebrate Hari Raya together with our Muslim brothers and sisters: "I am a Singaporean with Chinese ancestry. I don’t celebrate Water Festival but I would like to celebrate Hari Raya with my fellow Muslim Singaporeans therefore I will be joining the Reform Party’s walkabout at Joo Chiat Complex 1 on 9/9/2010. Join me!" Please email Jeisilan at [email protected] to enquire about the above event.   Related articles: >> Reform Party to wish Muslim Singaporeans a Happy Hari Raya >> Reform Party leader: We have an oversized govt for a small country >> Reform Party walkabout at Jurong West, 05/09/2010 >> Kenneth Jeyaretnam asks netizens to step forward to fight for democracy >> Netizens express support for Reform Party >> Reform Party leader voices concerns over police harassment of netizens >> Favorable response from Toa Payoh residents to RP/SPP walkabout >> Reform Party’s response to PM Lee’s National Day Rally speech >> Reform Party calls for a more rational labor policy >> National Day message from Reform Party >> Kenneth Jeyaretnam: 45 percent of Singapore’s GDP goes to foreigners >>Proposed strategem for Reform Party for next 10 years     Please join our Facebook page here and invite your friends to do so to create awareness of the current affairs affecting Singaporeans. Please use our online web form to contact us.  Read More →

北京日报, 8 September 2010 征战新加坡职业联赛的北京国安二队与新加坡幼狮队在7日比赛中的群殴事件，昨天一经新加坡媒体披露立即在中国足坛引起轩然大波。国安俱乐部总经理高潮昨天向本报记者表示，俱乐部将着手调查事件的原委，如果有国安球员存在违规行为，俱乐部将严惩不贷。 场上群殴 多人受伤流血 打架事件发生后，新加坡《联合早报》昨天第一时间做了报道，随后国内媒体纷纷转载了该报道，网上也出现了双方打架的视频。 国安二队基本上都是20岁左右的年轻球员，由于该队在国内的实战机会较少，因此俱乐部今年把该队送到新加坡参加该国职业联赛。7日的比赛，双方上半场就发生了一次冲突，当时两队球员在国安禁区内争抢位置时发生身体接触，两名国安球员倒地。随后，其他国安球员一起冲上去围住了对方的肇事者，双方爆发了更大规模的肢体冲撞。主裁判和助理裁判及时进场劝阻，但未能将双方拉开，对方球员在几名国安球员的推搡下连连后退，其中一人还被国安球员击中背部倒地。 更大规模的冲突发生在下半场，对方一名球员带球进攻时被国安球员凶狠地铲倒，主裁判向国安球员出示黄牌。当国安球员纷纷走回本方半场时，对方一名球员从身后拉住了一名国安球员的球衣，并与其发生了身体接触，另一名国安球员见状马上跑过去推开了对方球员。而在球场另一端，一名国安球员也遭到了对方的推搡，最终导致双方多名球员缠斗在一起。随后，双方替补席上的球员也加入了打斗，场面顿时乱成一团。 据目测，双方参与打架的球员有数十人之多。在双方教练和工作人员的力劝下，打斗终于在几分钟后平息，对方两名被打倒的球员迟迟站不起来，被救护车带离球场。一些国安球员也不同程度地受了伤，有的头部被打出了血，有的鼻梁骨骨折。最终，主裁判不得不提前终止了比赛。 高潮表态 违纪者送回国 高潮获悉此事后，第一时间与国安二队主教练郑小田取得了联系，在基本了解了事情来龙去脉的情况下，向分管俱乐部事务的中信国安集团公司领导做了汇报。 据了解，国安二队有一名队员鼻梁骨折，其他球员没有太严重的伤势。俱乐部高层叮嘱郑小田先稳定队伍的情绪，不要接受媒体采访。 事发之后，新加坡足总立即对事件展开调查，并发表声明称，凡是参与到冲突中的人都将受到严惩。 两队的球员、教练、官员，包括比赛监督将接受新加坡足总的问话，比赛录像也将作为处罚的重要依据。不过，据国安二队教练介绍，新加坡媒体公布的一些关于打架的照片和视频，都带有明显的倾向性，多是国安球员攻击对方的场景。 昨晚，高潮到石景山体育场观看了国安与国奥的比赛，但一直惦记着远在万里之外的二队。他告诉记者：“首先必须了解事情的经过，随后才能做出相关的处理决定。如果我们的球员出现了有损中国足球形象的行为，俱乐部绝不姑息，该送回国的肯定会送回国。” 国安俱乐部打算让负责俱乐部青少部工作的副总经理魏克兴火速前往新加坡处理此事。 本报记者 高炜 Source: sports.sina.com  Read More →

Author: 黑马非马 (Read Original Article HERE) Translated by: SgVolcano 1. PM’s speech doesn’t scratch the itchy part A lengthy speech, a lot of hooha but without substance, the content of the NDP speech by our PM was all about reminiscing the past glories and not a word on how to solve the livelihood difficulties and how to sooth the increasingly loud grouses coming from the public. Hence it is not difficult to understand why the Chairman of the Reform Party, Mr Kenneth Jeyaratnam has expressed his disappointment. He criticized that the PM only knew how to praise the effectiveness of his government’s policies during the important event of the NDP rally speech, but did not make use of this opportunity to discuss about the real problems facing Singapore. In actual fact, many people also shared Kenneth’s thoughts. During the meet-the-people session organized by the grassroots leaders, the PAP “Reach” has found that out of 100 participants, there were as many as 60 participants who raised their hands to express their unhappiness at the PM’s NDP speech. The PM’s NDP speech has not only failed to “scratch the itchy part”, it has also failed to win over the hearts of the people. Kenneth said that, the open immigration policy of the government, has affected the local workers, resulting in as many as 400,000 locals receiving job credit. Singapore is an eerie country, it has a unique culture of “unemployment being never a problem nor a national issue”. The government’s policies have always adhered to the strict principle of “there is no free lunch in this world”. Hence the unemployed in Singapore, always have to pray for their own life, and not expect that the government will offer them any assistance. But what is eerie is that out of 3.23m people, as many as 400,000 people cannot earn enough to make a living, and have to rely on the government’s workfare credit. This is really alarming. NSP secretary-general Goh Meng Seng said, the influx of foreign labour has depressed wages of low and middle class workers. A lot of citizens’ jobs have been replaced by foreign labour and the loose immigration policy of the government has also resulted in a serious income gap between the rich and the poor. GMS said, the widening of income gap and the reduction in the middle class population will affect the stability of the society. But the PM did not mention about this problem. The total population of Singapore is 5.08 million, of which 3.23 m are citizens, 0.54 m are PRs, and non-citizens are as high as 1.31m. Actually immigration and foreign labour should never be an issue. First of all, immigration solves the danger of a shortfall in Singapore population. Secondly, foreign labour solves the bottleneck in Singapore’s economic development. If this is planned well, it should be a win-win policy. But, under the leadership of those mercenary leaders who came into parliament only by virtue of the GRC bandwagon, Singapore adopts profit margin as top priority, exploits cheap foreign labour to develop the country, and at the same time, make use of foreign labour to depress the wages of workers at the lower rungs of society. This is why employed workers still have to rely on the government’s workfare credit. 2. GCT is trying to deflect the focus and create a smokescreen When most of the Singaporeans are up in arms, and do not agree with the PM’s explanation regarding the policies about immigration and foreign labour, GCT tried to deflect the focus and create a smokescreen at the same time. He urged those unhappy Singaporeans to show more care and concern for the poor. This kind of tactic, which is an inversion of cause and effect, attempts to shift the government’s responsibilities to the powerless people. Think about it, he who was our ex-PM, and is now our current SM, and who earns SGD 4 million per year, why must he make such pointless sarcastic comments when the people are in need of help? During the 25th anniversary dinner of NUH, SM Goh pointed out that prevention and comprehensive medical treatment are 2 important things which must be achieved for our healthcare system. But at a time when the medical costs have skyrocketed, it is hard to imagine that our SM Goh is actually glad that our Singapore government has successfully pushed the responsibility of our healthcare system to the people, by stressing that healthcare is an individual responsibility. Hence, Singapore has avoided the limitations of its healthcare system and services. To put it more correctly, Singapore’s responsibility towards the healthcare of its citizens is much lower than most developed nations. A government which is the most well-paid in the world, but prides itself in reducing the healthcare responsibilities of its citizens to the bare minimum, that is indeed a rarity! 3. Zaobao article which showcased a model example of foreign talent. To complement PM Lee’s NDP speech, Zaobao has published today, a few articles about foreign talent. Being regarded as the model example of foreign talent, husband and wife Khoo Peng Beng and Belinda Huang are the architects responsible for designing Singapore’s highest HDB block (Pinnacle@Duxton). Just as what was rumoured on the web, the wife has become a SG citizen while the husband is a PR who still retains his original nationality. It is without a doubt that they are stepping on 2 boats with 1 leg (having the best of both worlds). Actually, everybody has his own ambitions. Since the original motive was for making money, then it is only natural that one is always prepared to do anything for money, we cannot blame people on that. But the problem is, this couple advised Singaporeans to view Singapore from the perspective of “foreigners”, to get re-acquainted with Singapore’s characteristics and advantages, and not to fall into a situation where one cannot see the advantages and disadvantages of Singapore just because of over familiarity. You are right. You are not able to see the true view of the mountain, just because you are on the mountain itself. As the saying goes, just like a fish drinking water, only the fish knows whether it is cold or warm. If you are not Singaporean, how do you know the sadness of our lives in Singapore? How can a Singaporean look at Singapore from the point of view of a foreigner? Foreigners flock here for money and leave here when they have earned enough. They are just people in transit, how can they be compared with Singaporeans who are born, bred and would eventually die here, and whose success or failure are tightly tied to the success or failure of Singapore? 4. The Zaobao article makes people blur An article in the Zaobao today, makes people feel very blur. “The crowdedness of the MRT – is it a good thing or a bad thing?” This topic is just a like an assembly line factory, the process is stuck and the productivity drops and becomes slower. Now, is it a good thing or a bad thing? Transport is a system, and the MRT is one of the means of transport, and it occupies an important position in the whole transport system. But the MRT as a transport system, if the MRT is overcrowded, that means there is a flaw in the system itself, it is a very obvious defect. Now why would anybody shamelessly declare that crowdedness is an achievement? This article is obviously echoing the same view that we are the victims of our own success. OK, there is no right and wrong in this world, where there are benefits, there must be shortcomings, there is nothing wrong with this kind of saying. If it is just an average government, then let’s not talk about it. But for a government who prides itself on good governance and who draws an astronomical high salary, it makes one feel that we are not getting value for what we paid for. What is more eerie is that, what has been previously invested in public transport by the Singapore government, has become a money tree for a listed company. That is really what I call ridiculous! PM Lee has revealed during the NDP rally that the government will spend 6 billion in the next 10 years to improve and expand our MRT system. Besides creating 3 additional MRT lines, the expansion of the Jurong East platform will be completed in May next year. Yes, only when the national reserves are plentiful, then can the government make such a big promise. But as a Singaporean, what I don’t understand is, why is it that the investment project of a country will result in huge profits for a private company such as SMRT, and the public still have to pay expensive fares for them to maintain commercial profitability? What is most entertaining, is actually the last 2 sentences of the article. “We should only be worried if there are not enough passengers in the MRT, hence the complaints filed by Singaporeans about the crowdedness of the MRT, that is not exactly a bad thing.” The crowdedness of the MRT is not a result of ineffective planning, but a result of success. The “tai-ji” tactic is cleverly used to its advantage here. But if there is a real shortage of passengers in the MRT, then it is obvious that this is a white elephant project. Then why is it that, as usual, it is always the Singaporeans who are at fault, and who have to worry about everything? This is not the first time that this kind of things has happened, there have been predecessors. The Singapore government, when can you finally stand out and shoulder the responsibilities that you should shoulder?  Read More →