TR EMERITUS

Written by Our Correspondent Faced with a potential backlash from Singapore voters angry at its pro-foreigner policies, the ruling party will be raising the school fees at ITEs and polytechnics for both PRs and international students to "sharpen the differentiation between Singapore citizens, PRs and foreigners to reflect the responsibilities and privileges of citizenship." According to a joint statement announced by the five polytechnics in Singapore, they will raise tuition fees for diploma courses by $50 for Singapore citizen students, and between $480 and $800 for new Permanent Resident (PR) students while will have to pay between $480 and $1,070 more. Previously, PRs only pay about $200 more than citizens for diploma courses. The statement added: "The fee hike will also apply to existing PRs and foreign students admitted before the 2010 academic year 'to achieve a sharper differentiation by citizenship'....Fees for PRs and IS remain competitive as compared to those charged by international and private schools to allow Singapore to to continue to attract quality students and add diversity in the educational environment." The latest measures may be another ruse to persuade PRs to take up Singapore citizenship. The ruling party has updated the electoral rolls again in the hope of getting more new citizens onto the register of eligible voters for the next general electio which is widely expected to be called this year. As new citizens will usually vote for the incumbent, their rising number may tilt the balance in favor of the ruling party in closely fought contests. With more and more Singaporeans becoming disillusioned with its leadership of the nation over the last four years, it can no longer count on locals to deliver the votes needed for another "overwhelming mandate." While the latest changes have little impact on Singaporeans, at least one news site is lamenting the "loss" for foreigners: The Singapore Business Review, which was run by Charlton Media Group headed by a Caucasian needs not fret. The polytechnics have given the assurance that there are sufficient financial assistance schemes in place so that no student 'will be denied the opportunity of a tertiary education because of financial difficulties.' Even before the fee hike, there are already a number of scholarships and bursaries catered solely for foreign students. No matter real the "wayang" appears to be, the ruling party will never leave any foreigners behind.    Read More →

Written by Our Correspondent According to influential Asian online gay portal fridae.com, some 85 people including prominent young filmmakers Sun Koh and Royston Tan have lodged police reports last weekend against Lighthouse Evangelism Senior Pastor's disparaging remarks about homosexuals in video clip which was initially posted on his website, but had been taken off after he was hauled up for questioning by the Internal Security Department (ISD) last Monday. Pastor Rony sparked a massive outcry in Singapore for trivialising some teachings of Buddhism and Taoism during a church session which was uploaded to Youtube and widely circulated in cyberspace. He has since apologized for his "mistake" and promised to spread the message of religious harmony to Singaporeans from now onwards.  The video in question now featured the testimony of Ms Cheryl Bachelor, a part-time employee of the church who claimed that she was "healed" from lesbianism. It was on the website for several months. A blogger by the name of Kenneth Tan watched the video on Monday night just before it was removed and decided to rip it. The 80-minute long video revolved around the interview with Cheryl Bachelor which was used to highlight Pastor Tan's views on homosexuality. According to Pastor Rony, homosexuals are not born "this way" and people end up "turning" gay either because of abuse or an absent parent when young. He felt it is necessary to "warn" people of the pitfalls of homosexuality: "If we don't warn people against this, then there will be more and more homosexuals because many of these people will be harassing and seducing young boys, and they in turn will become homosexuals," he exclaimed. He insinuated that homosexuals are not "normal" people because they do not procreate: "Proper sex means life — it propagates life. Lesbianism and homosexuality simply mean death and barrenness." Sun Koh, who won the Best Director and Best Fiction awards for her film "Dirty Bitch" at the Singapore Short Film Awards recently told Fridae in an email that she had made a police report by telephone against Pastor Rony. “I want to send a message that gays and lesbians in Singapore will no longer stay silent when provoked by religious groups that actively promote disinformation," she was quoted as saying by Fridae.com. Kenneth Tan, who tipped us off with this news added: "If the gay community doesn't choose to make its voice heard now, then we should forever hold our peace the next time another pastor comes along and says the same thing.” Read rest of Fridae's interview here  Read More →

OPINION For the second time in a year, the electoral rolls are updated again to include the immigrants who have become citizens in 2009, the exact number of which remains unknown. According to the National Population Secretariat, Singapore welcomed 20,153 new citizens in 2008, up from 17,334 in 2007 and 13,000 in 2006. With the number of new citizens increasing yearly, we should expect the number of new citizens in 2009 to be higher than that of 2008. Assuming we have 24,000 new citizens in 2009 based on the average of an increase of 4,000 yearly since 2007, we will have a total of 74,487 new citizens eligible to vote in the next general election expected to beheld this year. Since new citizens are more likely to vote for the ruling party which gives them the opportunity to start life anew in Singapore, the figure is sufficient to tilt closely-fought contests, especially in single-seat wards in favor of the incumbent. Is it fair to allow new citizens who have resided in Singapore for only a few years to determine the collective destiny of native Singaporeans who are born and bred in Singapore all their lives? They may not have spent sufficient time here to enable them to make an informed decision on their futures. In some states like South Carolina in the U.S.A., a minimum waiting period is imposed on new immigrants before they are allowed to vote in the state elections. While there is no such stipulation for new citizens in Canada, Australia and France, these countries have tighter immigration criteria than Singapore. For example, a foreign worker must reside in Australia for a minimum period of two years before one can apply for PR. Citizenships typically take more than 5 years after which the newcomers will be familiar with the political situation in their adopted homelands. In contrast, many PRs in Singapore are able to obtain their citizenships in a short period of time, ranging from one to five years which is too short for them to gain an in-depth understanding of Singapore's political system dominated by the ruling party for fifty continuous years. The ruling party also has state resources at its disposal to reach out to the new immigrants such as grassroots organizations which have been busy organizing events to make them feel "welcomed" in Singapore. With the state media censoring news about opposition parties, it will not be a surprise if the new citizens are not aware of their existence at all. Naturally, they will vote for the party with the "lightning" logo which is ubiquitous throughout the HDB estates in Singapore. Due to widespread frustration, anger and resentment against the ruling party, it is expected to lose some votes from native Singaporeans unhappy with its immigration and housing policies which can be "made up" easily by votes from the new citizens. Of course it will be foolhardy to expect the ruling party to impose a waiting period for new citizens to vote which is detrimental to their interests. Unless the swing towards the opposition is huge, the ruling party is expected to ride on the wave of support from the new citizens to romp home to another overwhelming victory at the next general election.  Read More →