TR EMERITUS – The Voice Of The Lunatic Fringe – 淡马锡评论 – formerly Temasek Review

我们是否该重新思考国防开支的优先顺序？

新加坡政府近日宣布将采购两艘额外的“无畏级”潜艇，引发了一个重要问题：我们的国防力量，到底需要多强？毫无疑问，一个强大且可信的军队对于保障国家主权与威慑潜在威胁是不可或缺的。新加坡地处战略要冲，国土面积有限，因此需要一支现代化的武装部队。然而，当我们对比邻国——马来西亚拥有两艘潜艇、印尼正逐步扩展至十二艘——新加坡在水下战力上已处于领先地位。这不禁让人质疑，我们是否正引领着一场无声的区域军备竞赛？问题在于：当威慑的需求被满足后，继续扩军是否已经超出必要？一艘“无畏级”潜艇的估价超过十亿新元，还不包括长期的运营与维护成本。这两艘新潜艇的资金，若能转用于迫切的民生需求，例如医疗保健、老龄化支援、教育及弱势群体扶助，或许对社会的整体韧性更具意义。政府一再强调国防开支是经过审慎规划的，但当生活成本日益上升，政府却仍需将消费税（Gst）提高至9%甚至更多，这种矛盾不禁令人困惑。如果某些战略性国防项目能够延后或循序推进，节省下来的资源是否可以用于社会发展呢？ “全面防卫”不仅仅是硬件实力，更是要赢得人民的心与信任。让人民感到安心、有保障、受到重视，这种安全感无法靠潜艇来衡量，而是通过每一位国人的生活实感体现出来。这并非是在呼吁削弱我们的国防，而是呼吁我们重新思考国家的优先事项。当我们继续推进军事现代化的同时，也不要忽视同样重要的任务——巩固社会契约、增强国民凝聚力。 Cwc-Ai

我们是否该重新思考国防开支的优先顺序？

2025大选—明确授权，变化中的政治格局

2025年大选结果无可争议，政府再次赢得了强有力的授权，稳固了其在新加坡政治格局中的主导地位。尽管选举结果并不令人意外，但胜利的过程却并非没有争议和复杂性。值得注意的是，选区划分的变化在本次选战中发挥了重要作用。陈清木医生与徐顺全医生等资深反对派人物，因选区重划而受到显著影响——传统支持基础被分割或并入他区，无疑左右了某些关键选区的最终结果。虽然选区调整在新加坡选举历史上并不罕见，但其公平性与透明度仍持续引发讨论。工人党虽稳守东北区的传统堡垒，但未能在本届大选中攻下新的选区。不过，该党仍获得两个非选区议员（Ncmp）席位，虽属安慰性质，却在象征意义上维持了国会内多元声音的存在。更值得关注的是，本届大选所处的人口背景正经历剧烈变化。新加坡人口从2000年的约300万增长至2025年的超过500万。考虑到多年来出生率持续偏低，这一增长几乎可以肯定主要归因于移民流入，尤其可能在华人群体中增长显著。这一趋势对国家的社会结构和政治生态产生了深远影响。展望2030年大选，各政党不仅要面对一如既往的选区调整与突发的全球事件，更需正视一个不断演变的社会结构。随着越来越多新移民成为国民，选民构成日益多元，政党在政策制定与信息传递上必须更具包容性与前瞻性。他们必须同时争取老一代公民与新加坡新公民的认同，回应共同关切，并跨越代际与文化差异的鸿沟。在新加坡持续向前迈进的过程中，其政治也必须与时俱进——反映日益多元的人口现实，同时坚守国家的核心价值观：团结、韧性与务实。 Cwc-Ai

Angering China, Obama offers Dalai Lama support

Agence France-Presse, 19 February 2010 US President Barack Obama on Thursday vowed support for Tibetans' identity and rights in a meeting with the Dalai Lama, angering China which accused him of reneging on previous understandings.The White House meticulously planned the encounter in hopes of containing Chinese protests, inviting the exiled Tibetan leader to a private area of the executive mansion rather than the Oval Office and not allowing cameras inside. But the 74-year-old monk took the unusual step of walking out of the White House residence to mingle with reporters, telling them he was "very happy" with Obama's support and even engaging in a playful snowball fight. The White House later put out a picture of the two Nobel Peace Prize laureates conversing in the 45-minute meeting and issued a statement in the name of spokesman Robert Gibbs backing the Dalai Lama's goals. "The president stated his strong support for the preservation of Tibet's unique religious, cultural and linguistic identity and the protection of human rights for Tibetans in the People's Republic of China," Gibbs said. "The president commended the Dalai Lama's 'middle way' approach, his commitment to nonviolence and his pursuit of dialogue with the Chinese government," Gibbs said. Read rest of article on AFP Read More →

四川灾区姑娘新加坡过春节：七天大假只休两天

来源：四川日报在对口就业援助的帮助下，灾区群众依靠自己勤劳的双手，迎来崭新的生活，都江堰姑娘周婷便是其中之一。经过上海市提供的免费技能培训，周婷已成为一名操作数控机床的技能人才，目前在新加坡一家公司开机床。 “新年好！新加坡 (Singapore) 也放7天假，但公司订单很多，要加班，不过加班也是好事情，既能够学东西，还可以多挣钱。”2月16日晚8时许，电话那头，远在新加坡的都江堰姑娘周婷高兴地对记者说。在上海免费学数控机床培训 37.2万城镇人员失业、115.2万农业劳动者失去收入来源，我省地震灾区群众的生计牵挂着全国人民的心。国家确定了18个省(市)对我省灾区开展对口就业援助。前年6月29日，上海市在都江堰举行的第一次对口就业援助招聘会上，上海免费开展数控机床培训的张贴告示让周婷心动了。周婷等一批都江堰青年来到上海现代应用技术培训中心。因成绩优秀，周婷被新加坡工艺教育学院 (ITE)接收为全免国际注册学生。去年9月，她取得了新加坡工艺教育学院“NITEC”国际文凭。春节之际，记者再次联系周婷时，她已成为新加坡高精锐金属工具私人有限公司一名质检员和数控机床操作工。在新加坡边学边干刚到新加坡时，周婷主要从事质量检验的工作，随后又被分配到数控机床岗位。对周婷来说，到新加坡后面对的第一个难题是语言障碍。“图纸和资料都是英文，不少同事来自印度、马来西亚，用英语交流是常事。”周婷表示，“幸亏在上海学习时一心努力去新加坡，提前温习了外语，现在基本挺了过来。” 周婷说，她以前在国内学的是3轴机床，这里都是6轴的，目前一位印度师傅正在带她。由于印度英语口音重产生的语言障碍，周婷认为自己学得还比较吃力，进步太慢。从租房处7点起床、步行20分钟到公司，8点30分上班，每天工作8小时，晚上加班回家后自己做饭，忙完这些后就温习英语和业务知识——从去年10月到现在，周婷的日子就这样度过。因为太忙，新加坡很多地方她都没去逛过。但她不在意。她说自己一直记得，出国前上海一位教授的临别赠言：“边学边干、边干边学”。春节七天大假休两天到新加坡后的第一个春节怎么度过呢？周婷告诉记者，只休了大年三十夜和初一，其他时间加班。“既能多学东西，又能多挣钱。”周婷说，连上加班，每月收入折合人民币七八千元，熟练后上万元也是可能的。她说，因为新加坡华人多，春节还是比较热闹。大年三十公司组织大家吃饭，每人还发了60元新币的红包。每逢佳节倍思亲。周婷在大年三十晚上给父母打了电话，报上平安、送上祝福。上海现代应用技术培训中心负责人告诉记者，周婷是新加坡工艺教育学院“NITEC”国际文凭获得者，可以申请定居。但周婷表示，没考虑过定居，她想在新加坡多学知识和技能，回国后成为一名优秀的数控技术技能人才。(钟振宇） Source: http://www.chinanews.com.cn/sh/news/2010/02-17/2125127.shtml Read More →

MM Lee: Singapore’s future over the next five to ten years is an “optimistic” one

Written by Our Correspondent Singapore's self-appointed "forecaster extraordinarie" Lee Kuan Yew who costs Singapore taxpayers about $3 million dollars a year, has made another bold prediction: "Singapore’s future over the next five to 10 years is an "optimistic" one, and and the tourism sector will reflect that," he said during a dinner at Tanjong Pagar yesterday. At 86 years of age, Lee appears to be still calling the shots in the Singapore government though by his own admission, he is not doing much work except "forecasting". Unfortunately, quite a few of his "forecasts" have been quite embarrassingly off target. In 2007, Lee proclaimed rather unshamedly that Singapore will be entering a "golden period" in the next few decades. Less than a year later, Singapore becomes the first Asian country to enter into a recession and is still not quite out of the woods yet. Lee's present "optimism" is based on the earnings of the recently opened Resorts World Sentosa in the first two days: "...."the boss counted S$3.5 million on the first day and S$3.7 million on the second day." He also took a snipe at the punters: "They want to gamble. I don’t understand why they want to lose. You surely will not win." Perhaps Lee should take a look at his own "track record" at GIC before laughing at others. It is expected to lose more than $10 billion dollars when its stake in Swiss bank UBS is converted to shares on 5 March 2010. While the punters gamble using their own money, Lee "invests" with public monies accured from years of budget surpluses. Till today, nobody knows the exact amount of money lost by GIC or the Singapore government in its failed overseas investments like the Suzhou Industrial Park. After all, revealing the truth of the matter will not serve any "strategic purposes" as the entire system in Singapore is based solely on "trust". Since the "forecaster extraordinarie" has spoken, Singaporeans should rest assured that their futures will be "optimistic" for the next five to ten years and forget about the earlier broken promises such as "more good years", "Swiss standard of living" and of course - the "GOLDEN PERIOD". Read More →