TR EMERITUS

作者：吴明盛 2010年2月13日 译者：冀居·谢 首先，我要借此恭祝读者和新加坡人民一个快乐和繁荣的农历新年。 最近，我以国民团结党 (National Solidarity Party) 秘书长的身份接受公民在线的独家专访。我谈及新加坡政坛未来十年的发展，特别是后李光耀时代。 不久前有人问我说，我怎么去为淡滨尼的选民服务以及我在该区的竞选策略？我说我着重的是扮演超越淡滨尼选区的角色。 以上两个问题都是我不熟悉的领域，而我选择一条任何反对党都从未涉猎的道路。 我从过去反对党的种种做法中整理出一个全新的思维，叫做“部长对政策负责”的策略。这个策略有好几个层面并且具有足够的诱因去推动。我们都知道行动党向来都不为他们的政策或管理失误负责，提出这样的策略有助于执政党打起十二分精神来负责到底。 其二、它会鞭策人民行动党和它的部长们检讨一些荒谬的政策，及时把它纠正过来。最后，它会提升政治参与的素质，从抹黑的人身攻击过渡到开放、成熟和理性讨论的层面，最终将是新加坡人受益。 总而言之，套句李资政的金言，身为反对党，就是“要把马刺扎进人民行动党的厚皮里”，驱策他们更勤快和更戮力为人民服务。 很多人都渴望反对党赢得更多的席位，却不知道这些意味着什么？赢得议席只是手段，最根本的理念是：民有、民治、民享。 很多人都要求反对党提出“替代方案”，但是要知道一个政策的提出是需要经过严格的检验。我们虽然可以提出一个大方向，但是落实政策则需要许多精密的数据分析。反对党不可能有这些数据来研究政策，更何况这些研究需要政府机构大批的公务员和智囊团作为背脊来执行。政治理想当然可以提出，但是政策是否得以落实？ 则需要公务员和智囊团手中掌握的大量资料和技术去进行深入的探讨。 所以，反对党的责任不是进入枝末的实务研究，而是监督政府政策的任何错失并导向正轨。反对党的基本任务是利用民主竞选这个机制所起的杠杆作用来为公民争取福利。 我对新加坡政坛未来十年的愿景是把它发展成多党比例代表制。国人能够通过公开和成熟的政治对话跟辩论，而获得更多的知情权。政坛的角力更多是针对政策辩论而不是人格抹黑。提供一个健康和公平的竞争平台让各政党去发表他们的看法和理想。 反对党不应该再“独处一隅”，主流媒体应该保证提供平衡报道和机会给反对阵营。 很多人问我这个问题：“你曾为选民做过什么？”这些人以为只有现任议员才有做事，比如代他们写信给政府部门、聆听他们的苦恼、管理市政理事会等等。然而，我们不该忘记，民选代议士的首要任务是在国会里代理议政，保证这些出炉的政策都是为了人民的福祉。 我相信任何反对党成员将来被选入国会都带着“为人民服务”这个信念。最近我宣布有意参选淡滨尼区，并且挑出建屋发展局的一些错误政策，就是一个很好的实验。直接到基层去解释为什么马宝山的建屋局政策会影响我们的下一代和将来的子孙。 因为这些动作就等于把马刺扎进人民行动党的厚皮里，果然不出几个月，建屋局就经历了几轮U转前空翻的政策改变。其中最戏剧化的U转莫过于他们在大量骤减几年后，决定兴建更多的租赁组屋，虽然日前李资政曾公开表示反对把组屋租给新加坡人。 这就是我一个“非正统”政治角力的小小实验。它已经证明能有效地把执政党导向为人民服务。 这就是民主竞选所能够提供给我们的政治杠杆作用。反对党成员应该走出旧有的一套，充分利用这个杠杆作用来为人民争取最好的政策。 到基层巡访不再只是敲门去打招呼，它应该还有更大的用处。我们应该和民众交流政治和政策的看法，把那些他们特别关心的国内课题，用深入浅出的办法解释给他们听。 要赢得国会议席，你必须先获得选民的信任。相信你将会是国会里一位有作为的反对党议员，时时都会以捍卫他们的利益为依归。 管理市政理事会固然重要，不过也是人民行动党糊弄反对党和选民的一个花招。要适当地管理好一个市镇理事会，我们需要聘请专业的房地产经理，要一名医生或者律师亲力亲为去管理市镇理事会是不切实际的。他们的首要任务是到国会殿堂里去为人民发声并且监督执政党。 “部长对政策负责”策略能有效地把选民的注意力拉回到国会议员最基本和重要的功能。当他们考虑是否要投给反对党的时候，他们想到的是这些候选人是否会到国会里维护他们的利益？注重的是他们是否具备能力和辩才到那里去进行高水准的政策辩论。 当然，最关键的一点，就是他们真的能够“把马刺扎进执政党的厚皮里”来驱策部长们更努力工作和保证选民的利益优先。 来源：http://singaporealternatives.blogspot.com/  Read More →

Reuters, 16 February 2010 North Korea celebrated leader Kim Jong-il's birthday on Tuesday with synchronised swimmers glorifying the "kind-hearted father" of the reclusive nation while it made overtures for dialogue with the United States. Kim, 68, is facing pressure to return to disarmament-for-aid nuclear talks due to UN sanctions and a botched currency move that nearly halted commerce late last year and worsened the destitute state’s economic woes. Kim was hailed as “the peerlessly brilliant commander of the present era” who made it “the greatest fortune and privilege... to hold him in high esteem”, the North’s nominal head of state said in a national meeting held in celebration of his birthday. “He underscored the need to put an end to the hostile relations between [North Korea] and the US through dialogue and negotiations,” the North’s KCNA news agency said referring to the head of the country’s assembly. North Korea has called for peace treaty talks with the United States as precondition for ending a year-long boycott of the six-country talks in a move seen by analysts as a delay tactic. Washington has said the peace treaty can come after disarmament. Some analysts said Kim would never give up the country’s nuclear arsenal, but would use it to win economic compensation by making carefully measured moves that appear it is dismantling its atomic programme. Under his leadership, the country has slid deeper into poverty with a chronic food shortage but Ki, who apparently recovered from a suspected stroke in 2008, has relied on propaganda, persecution and a personality cult to sustain a society that is unlikely to collapse as long as he is in power, they said. But in signs the North may be ready to return the nuclear talks, this month it hosted high-profile envoys from the United Nations and its biggest benefactor, China, with reports saying it was going to dispatch its top nuclear envoy to the United States next month. South Korea’s Yonhap news agency said the North has won a massive deal from China for investment that is worth more than half its annual economic output, which could speed a return to the six-way talks hosted by Beijing. Marking his birthday called the nation’s February Holiday, synchronised swimmers, figure skaters and dancing art troupe visiting from Japan sang gloriously and longingly of Kim Jong-il as the invincible and kind-hearted leader, KCNA said. “They performed on the ice-rink ‘Push Back the Frontiers of Science’, ‘Higher and Faster’, ‘Let Us Meet at the Front’ and other numbers reflecting the iron faith and will of the service personnel and people of the DPRK,” it said. - Reuters  Read More →

By Bryna Sim from The New Paper AN ONLINE video featuring Ris Low “teaching” viewers how to use condoms has upset Espire Condoms, which chose Ris to be their youth spokesman a month ago. It said it had not been consulted on her appearance in the video, produced by an online portal. The video has garnered 90,000 hits since it was uploaded eight days ago. Titled ‘Safe Sex with Ris Low’, it shows the controversial former Miss Singapore-World slipping condoms on bananas of various sizes. The video has drawn flak from netizens, some of whom feel that it trivialises an important issue and teaches incorrect techniques. Said Ms Joy Tan, executive director of Zander Asia, which owns Espire:“They (producers) approached Ris directly and she went ahead without our knowledge. We are also upset by the video as it portrayed Ris in a silly manner.” The three-minute video shows Ris seated behind a table dressed in a white unbuttoned jacket and a clearly visible lacy pink and black bra. She uses bananas of three different sizes – small, medium, and large – as her props. The video shows her trying to slide the condoms onto each of them. Bloopers of her failing to slide the condoms successfully onto one of the bananas, and of her accidentally peeling off the banana skin while trying to remove the condom are left unedited. There is also a scene where Ris applies warm lubricant jelly to her nails, which she calls a “fashion tip”. The show drew about 100 comments from viewers. Most of them called the video “stupid”, “silly”, and “horrifying”. Some viewers said the video was “mean” and seemed to make fun of Ris. One said that there was “a sick vibe of cruel mocking” embedded within the video. Read rest of article on The New Paper  Read More →