TR EMERITUS

By Lee Wei Lian from The Malaysian Insider Datuk Seri Najib Razak said today that the rent seeking and patronage that has marked affirmative action policies will not be tolerated under the New Economic Model (NEM) which he says will now consider all races fairly as long as they are in the lower income group. “We can no longer tolerate practices that support the behaviour of rent seeking and patronage which have long tarnished the altruistic aims of the New Economic Policy,” the prime minister said today when unveiling the NEM at the Invest Malaysia conference. ”For too long the implementation of our affirmative action policies has not reached those who needed them the most.” Najib said that the renewed affirmative action policy in the NEM would focus on raising income levels of all disadvantaged groups. He added that affirmative action will be market friendly, merit based, transparent and needs based. He said one important consideration will be developing a competitive and transparent tender process for the bumiputera business community. Read rest of article here.  Read More →

Re: Bukit Batok Grassroot Water festival‏ From: Robinkwang * ([email protected]) Sent: 30 March 2010 08: 42AM To: [email protected]; [email protected] Dear Ms Grace Fu, As a resident of Bukit Batok, I am disappointed as regards to the water wastage organised by the grassroot leaders. Singapore has no natural resources, little land and no great rivers, forests, or mineral deposits. We should be sensitive to the water scarcity and be relatively frugal in our usage. Water balance is also affected by the supply of its neighbors such as Malaysia and Indonesia. We have treated used water such as NEWater or we can actively pursuing using salt, desalination — that is, the removal of salt from water to make it drinkable to counter water threats. As living standards increase, so does water consumption. We should appreciate and not waste, even if we have more than we need. we could send more water funds to help those less fortunate, needy Singaporeans. At the very least, we should try to reduce our waste. Please kindly withdraw such festivals.   Yours Sincerely,   Robin Kwang  Read More →

OPINION Even before the electoral battle has began proper, the Singapore opposition has managed to start a cat-fight among themselves which is making them a bigger clown than the beleaguered Jack Neo who should seriously consider a movie on the longest political saga in Singapore. In 1993, opposition veteran Chiam See Tong left the Singapore Democratic Party he founded under acrimonious circumstances due to differences in opinions with his CEC members over the hungry strike conducted by his protege Dr Chee Soon Juan. As expected, the state media tried to play up the enmity between the two men by portraying Dr Chee as an unscrupulous upstart who "ousted" his mentor from the party. Dr Chee has already posted an explanation about what happened on the SDP website. 17 years later, the controversy was dredged up again unwittingly by Dr Chee himself who told Lianhe Zaobao in an interview last month that he had tried his best to persuade Mr Chiam to stay on as SDP's leader who later joined the Singapore People's Party (SPP). This prompted a reply from Mr Chiam's wife Ms Lina Loh who accused Dr Chee in another interview with Lianhe Zaobao last Sunday of "distorting" the truth resulting a tit-for-tat exchange between the two camps of supporters in cyberspace much to the delight of the PAP. With an election around the corner, the spectre of in-fighting among the opposition will return to haunt them again as they have proven to be incapable of setting aside their petty differences for the greater goal ahead. The recurrent spat between SDP and SPP over an incident long past is perfect publicity for the PAP to smear the opposition as a group of immature, naive and insensible "riff-rafts". Both Dr Chee and Ms Lina Loh who is expected to participate in the next general election still don't get it - the truth is irrelevant in politics especially when the saga had happened years ago, it is public perception which matters most right now. It reflects very badly on them including the parties they represent that they chose to wash a 17-year old "dirty linen" in public again to refresh not only the memories of those who are aware of it, but the young voters who do not have any inkling of what transpired between the two men as well. To put it bluntly: it is an absolute PR disaster for both SDP and SPP. The Singapore opposition seriously has a knack of shooting themselves in the foot, not only once, but repeatedly by giving SPH and the PAP free ammunitions to shoot at them! It's quite pointless to put the blame on the hapless journalist who conducted the interviews when both have been so forthcoming with sensitive information to buttress their own positions. Can Singaporeans really trust the opposition to fight for their interests when they are busy scratching and biting one another over such a trivial affair?  Will SPP or SDP  score any political points among voters by throwing mud at each other? Who will be the winner in the end? The answer is obvious. The only way out of the present impasse is NOT to go to the media again or take pot shots at one another in cyberspace but to put up a "wayang" to deflect public attention and to shift the blame back to SPH. Dr Chee and Mr and Mrs Chiam should meet up for dinner together with other party leaders, bury the hatchet (whether they are sincere about it is another matter altogether) and issue a joint press statement on the controversy to close the case once and for all so that SPH will not be able to make use of the historical animosities between them to drive a wedge in the opposition again. The proposed joint statement by SDP and SPP can be along the lines of: "Over the past few days, there were some articles made in the media on Mr Chiam's departure from SDP in 1993. We regret to say that the remarks made by both Dr Chee and Ms Lina Loh had been quoted out of context by the media. Both SDP and SDA enjoy a cordial relationship with each other and will continue to work together to serve the interests of all Singaporeans." Such a statement will save the "faces" of both parties, take the heat off them and arrow the blame back to SPH again which doesn't have a reputation for objective, fair and balanced coverage on the opposition anyway, thereby "killing two birds with one stone." While we have no right or business to interfere in the internal affairs of SDP and SPP, we hope they will take our proposal into consideration. With public unhappiness and resentment against the PAP at an all-time high, the next general election will be an ideal opportunity for the opposition to snare a few more seats in Parliament including a GRC provided that they get their act together. There are no permanent friends or foes in life, let alone politics. An enemy of yesterday may become a most trusted ally in the future. Unless the opposition band together under a common platform like Malaysia's Pakatan Rakyat coalition, they can never stand a chance against the PAP juggernaut which controls all institutions of the state including the police, media, civil society and grassroots organizations. A dinner between Mr Chiam and Dr Chee is too long in the waiting. Surely Mr Chiam will have the magnanimity to forgive the man whom he brought into politics in the first place and had suffered tremendously for the last 20 years under the repressive PAP regime?   EDITORS’ NOTE: Please join our Facebook discussion on this article here and invite your friends to do so as well to raise awareness among fellow Singaporeans.   Related articles: >> Chee: personal attacks made against me by Mrs Chiam were untrue >> Lina Loh to Lianhe Zaobao on Chee-Chiam rift >> Historical baggage between SDP and Singaporemedia >> Dr Chee replies to Zaobao journalist’s clarification >> Zaobao journalist posts clarification on her Facebook  Read More →