TR EMERITUS

作者:冀居·谢 所谓“屁股指挥脑袋”是指一种主观的境界，这个主观来自自己屁股所杵的那个位置，而见不到他人的利益和不满。这类人最不适任公共职务，然而偏偏是在担任公共职务的人才会发表这类的“屁股指挥脑袋”的言论。 【We got first class ministers and government, but still got 3rd class citizens】 行青团领袖林新利（译音，Jack Lin Xinli）在网上说“新加坡有一流的部长和政府，人民却只是三流的。”后来还澄清说，所谓“三流的公民”是指那些在网上不只匿名，还写下不负责任留言的 网友，因此，林新利觉得，网上讨论区或讨论版，不一定是讨论政治话题最好的平台。 为什么“网上讨论区或讨论版，不一定是讨论政治话题最好的平台”呢？现在的媒体新闻里面，“网民”二字似乎最夯，具有决定性的意向和影响力，连大国的总统选举也在讨好网民方面不落人后，还有邻国大选掀起政治海啸的也是“网民”，议论时政的博客出来竞选，一次就让他选上了。 为什么这个林新利就如此不识时务呢？问题就出在他的屁股是贴在执政党的椅子上，而执政党在网上没有现实中的风光，几乎是一只过街老鼠，所以只好用一流和三流来获取阿Q式的精神胜利了。 【老屁股要往何处去？】 新传媒新闻报道，内阁资政李光耀在同900多名劳资政代表对话时提出，员工不应该有退休年龄，并以自己为例，认为要是没事做，可能会早一点到天堂报到。 这段话可分两个层面来解读，第一当然是要跟儿子讨下一次的大选仍留他。虽然他已经多年做不到一个民选议员的任何工作，然而因为政府是“自己的”，所以什么先例都可以开。 第二就是“屁股指挥脑袋”，这么不顾现实国情的话，看来只有他说才不会受到谴责。一个政府、一个机构如果没有汰旧换新的话，怎么前进？老的不去，年轻一代怎么上来，就以政府机构来讲吧，员工表现取决于KPI，公务员到了30岁、40岁、50岁该坐到什么位置早已规划好，未能达标就表示这个人的能力有问题，现在老人都堵在瓶颈，还有出口吗？所以他这样的讲话完全没有深思熟虑，只考虑自己的处境和利益，已经到了老糊涂不适任的地步。 为什么人类要循着这样的步伐演进呢？因为自然早就设计好，让你一命呜呼，您这老屁股还不是迟早会在人间消失。 大马论坛  Read More →

Speaking at the annual dinner organised by the Economic Society of Singapore yesterday, PAP Finance Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam warned that "layoffs will continue in developed economies for at least another five to eight years or possibly longer." He also added that income disparity will continue and Singapore needs to provide incentives for "foreign talents" to come to Singapore in reference to the PAP's unpopular pro-foreigner and ultra-liberal immigration policies. According to a recent Wall Street Journal, the relentless influx of foreigners into Singapore has depressed the wages of ordinary Singaporeans, increased the cost of living and led to an overall decline in the standard of living. While Singapore economy has grown by an average 5 percent for the last ten years, the median wages of the average Singapore worker has remained stagnant at $2,400 monthly. The income gap between the rich and the poor has also widen considerably and is the highest among developed countries after Hong Kong.   Mr Shanmugaratnam noted that "governments need to question existing policies, re-mould entire social contracts and prepare the ground for a new era of growth" and in order to achieve this, governments needs to be an "activist" state like Singapore. “An activist state which intervenes with spirit, to promote social mobility especially among the poor. That promotes opportunities for its people, that frees up competition and that is able to sustain optimism in the future," he was quoted as saying in Channel News Asia. By Mr Shanmugaratnam's definition, an "activist" state is one which is completely controlled and dominated by one single political party, broaches no dissent and is active in fixing the opposition as and when it sees fit.   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 →

The net effect of the Singapore government's barbaric hanging of drug courier Van Nguyen will be to increase profits for the government's trading partner, Burmese drug lord Lo Hsing Han. While the high-profile execution will no doubt reduce the supply of heroin somewhat, the inelastic demand by addicts will just increase the margin to the wholesaler, Lo. Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong and his authoritarian government display extreme hypocrisy in executing dozens of drug couriers while at the same time going into business ventures with drug trafficker Lo. The former US Assistant of State for the Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs, declared in 1997, "Since 1988 over half of the $US1 billion investments from Singapore have been tied to the family of narco-trafficker Lo Hsing Han". The Singapore government, in cooperation with Morgan Guaranty Trust Company, is directly connected to key business ventures of drug kingpin Lo through an investment group called the Myanmar Fund. The fund, which provides investors "with long term capital appreciation from direct or indirect investments in Myanmar (Burma)," is registered as a tax-free fund in Jersey, Channel Islands, according to documents provided to the Irish Stock Exchange.  Singapore's largest government-controlled financial institution - the Government of Singapore Investment Corporation (GIC) - is listed in the documents along with Morgan Guaranty Trust Bank (a J.P. Morgan subsidiary separate from the Trust Company) as a core shareholder in the Myanmar Fund. A September 1996 GIC business profile from the Registry of Companies and Businesses in Singapore shows that high-level Singaporean politicians were officers and directors of the GIC, including senior minister Lee Kuan Yew; his son, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong; and finance minister Dr Richard Hu. As a core shareholder, the GIC helps determine how the fund's money is invested in Burma.  Singapore's economic linkage with Burma is one of the most vital factors for the survival of Burma's military regime," says Professor Mya Maung, a Burmese economist based in Boston. This link, he continues, is also central to "the expansion of the heroin trade." Singapore has achieved the distinction of being the Burmese junta's number one business partner -both largest trading partner and largest foreign investor. More than half these investments, totalling upwards of US$1.3 billion, are in partnership with Burma's infamous heroin kingpin Lo Hsing Han, who now controls a substantial portion of the world's opium trade. The close political, economic, and military relationship between the two countries facilitates the weaving of millions of narco-dollars into the legitimate world economy. The Burmese military dictatorship- known by the acronym SLORC for State Law and Order Restoration Council until it changed its name to the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) in 1997-depends on the resources of Burma's drug barons for its financial survival. Since it seized power in 1988, opium production has doubled, equalling all legal exports and making the country the world's biggest heroin supplier.  With 50 percent of the economy unaccounted for, drug traffickers, businessmen and government officials are able to integrate spectacular profits throughout Burma's permanent economy. Both the Burmese generals and drug lords have been able to take advantage of Singapore's liberal banking laws and money laundering opportunities. In 1991, for example, the SLORC laundered US$400 million through a Singapore bank which it used as a down payment for Chinese arms.  With no laws to prevent money laundering, Singapore is widely reported to be a financial haven for Burma's elite, including its two most notorious traffickers, Lo Hsing Han and Khun Sa (also known by his Chinese name Chang Qifu). Lo Hsing Han is chairman of Burma's biggest conglomerate, Asia World, founded in 1992. His son, Steven Law, is managing director and also runs three companies in Singapore which are "overseas branches" of Asia World. Although Singapore is proud of its mandatory death penalty for small-time narcotics smugglers and heroin addicts, both father and son travel freely in and out of the friendly (to them) island-nation.  In 1996, when Law married his Singaporean business partner in a lavish, well-publicized Rangoon wedding, guests from Singapore were flown in on two chartered planes. According to a high-level US government official familiar with the situation, Law's wife Cecilia Ng operates an underground banking system, and "is a contact for people in Burma to get their drug money into Singapore, because she has a connection to the government." According to the official, Ng spends half her time in Rangoon, half in Singapore; when in Rangoon, she is headquartered at Asia Lite, a subsidiary of Asia World.  The husband-wife team are also the sole officers and shareholders of Asia World subsidiary, Kokang Singapore Pte Ltd. Founded in Singapore in 1993 with $4.6 million, the company "engages in general trading activities in goods/products of all kinds/descriptions. The Burmese junta's control of its impoverished population through crude methods such as torture, forced labour, and mass killings leaves it open to international condemnation. In contrast, Singapore takes a more sophisticated approach to repression, both at home and abroad. While the island-nations citizens have material benefits and the appearance of rule of law, they live in fear of an Orwellian government that closely monitors every aspect of their lives. The ruling party often sues those who dare to oppose it on trumped up defamation charges, forcing many into bankruptcy or exile.   by Elizabeth Krantz Editor's Note: This article was original penned by the author during the case of drug courier Van Nguyen but in view of recent happenings surrounding related subject, we are reproducing it again for the benefit of readers.  Read More →