TR EMERITUS

Written by Our Correspondent A 15 year old Singaporean by the name of Kenneth Lin started an online petition against Singapore's strongman Lee Kuan Yew for his disparaging remarks on Singaporeans made during his interview with the National Geographic Magazine. He is currently studying in a secondary school in Singapore. The remarks in contention from the article are: "Over time, Singaporeans have become "less hard-driving and hard-striving. That is why it  is a good thing that the nation has welcomed so many Chinese  immigrants (25 percent of the population is now foreign-born). and "But taking a  typically Darwinian stance, the MM describes the country's new subjects as  "hungry," with parents who "pushed the children very hard." If native Singaporeans are falling behind because "the spurs are not stuck into the hide," that is their problem." He added that it is especially deplorable that such insensitive remarks can be issued forth from the very person responsible for the social engineering of Singapore to the state of being it is today: "By forcing through dubious policies that have largely tanked, such as the Stop At 2 policy, Graduate Mothers scheme, Mr Lee Kuan Yew's irresponsible attempts at altering the demographics of our society have left the present leadership no choice but to import foreign workers in such large numbers in such a short period of time in order to make up for the  shortfall in labour requirements. This has led to widespread disgruntlement and social unrest in amongst the citizenry." Kenneth wrote that he plans to attain a suitable quorum of about 500 signatures, and then CC the results of the petition via email to every MP, Minister by the next parliament seating. Following that, the results of the petition will also be compiled into a physical form to be sent via registered mail to Lee Kuan Yew's home address, the Istana and the PM's office. Though Lee is widely credited as the architect of modern Singapore by the older generation, young Singaporeans are becoming increasingly peeved off by his apparent arrogance and insensitivity at times. Currently nearing 87 years of age, he still calls the shots in the government despite his admission that he is not doing much work lately except "forecasting" which costs Singapore taxpayers nearly $3 million dollars a year. Lee still hasn't announced if he would participate in the next general elections. There will be many Singaporeans like Kenneth who cannot wait to see the last of the "Old Man".  Read More →

Written by Our Correspondent Former Miss Singapore World Ris Low had found herself in the spotlight again with a 3-minute video clip demonstrating how to put a condom (on a banana) produced by clicknetwork.tv. She was clad in a white unbuttoned jacket showing a clearly visible lacy pink and black bra. Bananas of three different sizes – small, medium, and large – were used as her props. The video shows her trying to slide the condoms onto each of them:   Excerpts from the video: "First you slide it on with the tip intact, then you slide it over...oops...over and (the condom flies out). Sorry, didn't catch that!" "And you are supposed to use it (condom) with a warm jelly.....get some tingling sensation, it's quite nice. I can use it on my man and you never know who is the next victim. You can use lubricants to lubricate your nails, these are fashion tips." "Remove it (condom) when it is hard and erected. First, you must peel it off nicely like this, oops...the skin is coming off, make sure the sperm do not get to you because it is very disgusting...there you get it." "Must throw away the condoms ahh, cannot reuse and for cheating men, do this to them...break their penis into half like this (Ris broke the banana into half)."  Read More →

作者：The Economist online 译者：新加坡文献馆 这个城市国家严格对待贫困者 享有绝对的说话权，新加坡政府仍然可以有灵活性。谁会想到它兴建赌场？不过，有一项政策是无法逆转的，那就是，新加坡对公共福利 (public welfare) 的反感。政府的态度是：贫穷 是你自己的错失。公民本身有义务为将来储蓄，去依赖家庭成员帮助，而不是指望从政府的手上得到任何救济，除非已经身陷低谷再也无法生存。对家庭的依托延伸到老年：退休者可以起诉不奉养父母的孩子。在政府思维里“福利”是一个肮脏的词汇，等同懒惰和浪费。新加坡有其保姆心态，但这绝不是一个纵容的保姆。 严重的经济衰退导致9月份的公民失业率高达4.1％，- 对新加坡而言这是一个高的失业率 – 高失业率并没有改变社会的固有观念：救济金不是一件好事。于2月14日开放的赌场，对就业有所帮助，其中12月经季节性调整的失业率回落到3％。 政府设有一些针对性的计划协助少数贫困者，包括来自贫穷家庭的学生和无人照顾的老人。但要取得这些协助必须经过严峻的合格测试，少数人成功。只有最贫困的公民才有资格申请公共援助；目前有三千人符合资格。遭辞退职工不会自动得到失业补助金。相反的，他们被安排加入所谓“职工福利”和培训计划。 申请者抱怨寻求帮助的程序不仅艰辛令人劳累也具有侮辱意味。事实上，这可能就是计划设计的一部分，要阻止不劳而获的谋利者。官员蔑视欧洲式的福利制度认为这是天生的懒惰。社区发展青年和体育部是负责这些计划的主管，认为补助计划只能提供“跳板”让贫困者自力更生。他们的优先工作是让人们重返工作岗位而非减轻失去収入的痛苦。一年前的财政刺激方案是应付金融危机，拨款51亿新元（36亿美元）的就业措施，包括公司财务补贴以挽留员工。那些持续无法找到工作的失业者可以加入政府的培训计划，在12月份，有169,000名失业工人加入这一行列。 许多新加坡人执著于自己的工作，并以置疑的 眼光看待游手好闲。政府不会慷慨施舍，担心这种做法会削弱工人的职业观念，也同时会增加纳税人的负担。但是，即便薄弱的社会安全网也反映出这种熟悉并且在多年来不断强化了的信念。在倍受煎熬的社群工作的社工中很少会埋怨微弱的补贴金，或者感叹申请程式的漫长。他们认为新加坡必须排除谋取不劳而获之徒，以避免福利制度的庞大开支。但是，他们的下一个念头是有好些家庭因为没有能力偿还购屋贷款而失去住房被迫露宿街头。 没有人怀疑富裕的新加坡有能力做的更慷慨。 2008年，世界银行以购买力平价的人均国内生产总值计算，评估新加坡为世界上第三富有的国家。大兄长式政府是不会让图谋骗取福利补贴之徒蒙蔽的。当到来采访的新闻工作者在华人密集地拍摄拾荒的老年妇女在检破烂，并且苦诉无家可归时，政府立即出面澄清这只是一名不幸的屋主，她根本无须乞求。事实上，在新加坡的组屋区很难看到严重的贫困现象。公共房屋是处在良好的状态，政府不会让贫民窟出现。派发救济品的组织是存在的，但外劳是最先的获益者。 但正在迅速老龄化的新加坡仍然面对日益严重的社会不平等挑战。青年及体育部表示到了2030年，在5个新加坡人中有1人将超过65岁（瑞银的估计则是 2020年）。社会最低层的收入已经停滞不前，甚至于在下降，富人和中产阶级的差距进一步扩大。不享有任何失业保障的中年专业人士人中的长期失业人数在攀升，这是根据一名金融专家的博客说法。 本地人对越来越多的外劳涌入感到不满：35％的3百万劳动人口是外国人。公司为了节省成本是进口半熟练和非熟练工人，最新统计是有680,000名外劳- 而不雇用本地人，这类工人需另外支付养老金。官方的保证，即移民创造增长的说法并没有让本地人信服。李光耀，新加坡兴建者是今日的资政仍然雄心勃勃的依赖移民，相信新移民有助新加坡人提高警觉意识。在去年7月接受美国国家地理采访时他表示，如果新加坡人落后于“饿坏了”的外国人，是因为“不努力而落后”， 那么，这不是国家的问题。 这一个新萌生的反弹，最终可能软化李光耀制定的反福利政策。新加坡经济学会 – 这不是一个激进组织 – 最近建议政府设立一个更强大的安全网，从提供失业保险作为开始。这将促进社会的稳定和鼓励新加坡人支持一个更开放的移民政策，它认为。设计得当，这些措施将不会抑制工作动力和有损节俭习惯。“虽然自力更生是一个很好的一般原则，但不能无效益也不能用到极端尽头“。 来源：http://www.economist.com/displayStory.cfm?story_id=15524092  Read More →