TR EMERITUS

Dear Sir, At the time of writing this, the Singapore Democratic Party (SDP) is known to be preparing for a General Election (GE) which is expected to be held within the few months. For the past 30 years the SDP has been active in GE. In 1991 it rose to prominence by winning 3 seats. Since the 1990s, Dr Chee Soon Juan has continuously held the position of secretary-general in SDP. Dr Chee and his sister Ms Chee Siok Chin has tried to raise the profile of SDP by being more directly critical of the ruling People’s Action Party (PAP). This has resulted in the SDP being involved in a series of civil and criminal lawsuits. Between 1984 and 1991, the PAP had seen its share of valid votes decreased from 78% to 61%. The actions of the Chee siblings had been to the advantage of the PAP. It had managed to portray the SDP and other critics as an assembly of hot-headed radicals. As a result, the SDP had been indirectly helping the PAP to win votes. In the 1997 GE, the PAP reversed the decreasing vote trend by winning 65% of valid votes. In the 2001 GE, the PAP increased its valid vote share to 75%. In the 2006 GE, the SDP received approximately of 25% of valid votes in its contests. This was far below the 33% average for all opposition candidates. Currently the SDP may be able to increase its vote share or even win a parliamentary seat due to apparent rising anti-PAP sentiments. It is essential the SDP should maintain contact with the masses through cool-headed rational discussion. The Chee siblings had been associated with confrontational methods and this had almost certainly put off many voters. Therefore the writer urged the Chee siblings to maintain a low profile in the expected 2010 GE. It can still play a role as mentors to potential candidates. With the large inflow of immigrants which are expected to more supportive of the PAP, this opposition would had to be very careful not to give away any advantage to the PAP.   Yours truly,   Mr Chua Yuankai   DISCLAIMER: Temasek Review does not share the views espoused by the writer above.  Read More →

Written by Our Correspondent In a lengthy commentary titled “Gently, gently does it with political opponents” published in the Straits Times on 5 March 2010, PAP spin doctor and apologist Chua Mui Hoong tried desperately hard to portray PAP MPs as “gentlemen” to salvage their already embattled image in the eyes of the public, especially the younger generation. (Source) Ms Chua waxed lyrical about PAP MPs engaging in "gentlemanly" speech with one another and even the opposition in Parliament to promote and sell the PAP's accepted brand of "non-confrontational" politics to unsuspecting readers. The state media has been perpetuating the myth of a "moderate" opposition for years to take the heat off the PAP. A genuine opposition will have shredded them into pieces in Parliament and show them up as inept nincompoops which will shatter their aura of invincibility forever. A gentleman is one who treats his opponent with respect and able to accept differences in opinions gracefully as epitomized by the farewell speech given by British opposition leader David Cameron to the former Prime Minister Tony Blair whom he had several fierce debates with in Parliament: Contrast this with Prime Minister Lee's infamous "fix the opposition" speech in 2006: Who is the real gentleman and who is the hypocrite? The answer cannot be more obvious.  Read More →

By Zakaria Abdul Wahab SINGAPORE, March 16 (Bernama) -- Singapore's Universal Studios located within Resorts World Sentosa (RWS) on Sentosa Island is officially set to open to the public on Thursday. The Hollywood movie themed-park opening would cap Malaysia's Genting-owned RWS's phased development of the US$4.4 billion project. The resort opened four hotels namely the Hard Rock Singapore, Festive Hotel, Hotel Michael and Crockfords Tower in January followed by the casino last month. RWS's Communication Assistant Director Robin Goh told newsmen, during a pre-opening tour today, that 4.5 million visitors are expected to visit Universal Studios while the resort anticipares a tourist arrival of over 13 million. The resort's opening is ahead of another multi-billion US dollar integrated resort, the Marina Bay Sands, which has been scheduled to open next month. Goh said Universal Studios Singapore, South-east Asia's largest theme park, brought together the best of Universal Studios theme parks in Hollywood (California), Orlando (Florida) and Osaka (Japan) with a pair of the world's tallest roller-coasters, the world's first castle from the world of Shrek and Madagascar theme park ride. The park features 24 rides and attractions in seven themed zones - Hollywood, New York, Sci-Fi City, Ancient Egypt, The Lost World, Far Far Away and Madagascar, and 18 of them original or adapted for Singapore. Ticket prices for one-day pass to Universal Studios, inclusive of admission to all rides and depending on peak and non-peak seasons, ranges from S$66 to S$72 for adult, S$48 to S$52 for children, between the ages of four and 12, and S$32 to $36 for senior citizens above 65. However, tickets to Universal Studios, from the opening day until Sunday, have been sold out due to the school holidays in Singapore. -- BERNAMA  Read More →