TR EMERITUS

Written by Our Correspondent Despite his public apology, angry netizens still flock to give a piece of their mind on the Facebook of Lighthouse Evangelism Senior Pastor Rony Tan: Pastor Tan sparked a massive outcry in cyberspace lately with his insensitive remarks about Buddhism made during a church session which was video-recorded and uploaded initially on his own personal website. He was subsequently called up by the Internal Security Department (ISD) for questioning which led to him apologizing for the remarks on his website. It appears that not many netizens are willing to forgive him and move on judging from their immediate response: The comments have since been deleted by the Facebook's administrator Matthew Ho, a self proclaimed fan of Rony Tan: In the latest post, Matthew Ho wrote: "WARNING: No negative comment on any religion even the Christian or I will remove you from this group. This group is to encourage people to believe in Jesus as the savior and it's also the fan of Pastor Rony Tan, so no negative comment." In a brief statement released to the media yesterday, the Ministry of Home Affairs said that "Pastor Tan's comments were highly inappropriate and unacceptable as they trivialised and insulted the beliefs of Buddhists and Taoists." The Singapore Buddhist Federation said Senior Pastor Rony Tan's act of apologising was the right thing to do, but it will still approach the authorities and have its voice heard in order to prevent similar incidents in future. There were no immediate comments from Archbishop John Chew, the President of the National Council of Churches of Singapore (NCCS), a body bringing together the major Christian denominations and churches in Singapore. You can leave a comment on Pastor Rony Tan's Facebook here Related articles: 1. VIDEO: Pastor Rony Tan’s comments on Buddhism 2. Hardwarezone forumers up in arms over Pastor Rony Tan’s remarks 3. Pastor Rony Tan issues public apology on his remarks about Buddhism  Read More →

Written by Our Correspondent A General Practitioner (GP) who runs his own clinic in Bishan under the charge of DPM Wong Kan Seng has written a letter to the Straits Times Forum today praising the PAP for its governance of Singapore so far. Dr Yik Keng Yeong was writing in response to Mr Ng Kok Lim's letter "Life after PAP" which was first published on The Temasek Review on 5 February 2010 before the Straits Times Forum republished a day later. (Read Mr Ng's letter here) He began his letter by praising the PAP leadership for its "stellar" performance: "Ethnically, Singaporeans are no different from the countries they migrated from. If, indeed, all work ethic is equal, every country in the region would have scaled the same peaks as Singapore. That we have achieved a standing in the world beyond expectations says as much about our resourcefulness to overcome hardship as it does about the quality of our leadership in our country's formative years." According to Dr Yik, the only "mistake" made by the PAP was to implement policies which are unpopular on the ground: "......whose venal sin lies in steadfastly implementing unpopular policies with short-term pain while making long-term gains which only patience will see bear fruit." Dr Yik seems to agree with Law Minister Mr Shanmugam's assertion that Singapore needs an "efficient" government to react quickly to changes in the external environment: "The rules of the market seemingly dictate that competition brings efficiency and advancement. Yet, a look at the filibustering in various foreign Parliaments should tell us that non-constructive opposition to government policies is pernicious to a country, paralysing it with worthless rhetoric when firm and decisive leadership is needed." In the 1970s, the "Stop at Two" policy was implemented by then Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew to curb Singapore's population growth. The policy was implemented quickly and efficiently with no opposition from Singaporeans who were unable to do much anyway since the PAP controlled all the seats in Parliament. Today, Singapore is paying the price for the "success" of Lee's policy. Due to Singapore's declining birth rates especially among the ethnic Chinese, we now have to "import" foreigners from elsewhere to make up for the shortfall in the number of babies, thereby creating another problem in the process. In 2003, Lee's son, the current Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong announced an ambitious plan to increase Singapore's population to 6.5 million people via immigration by 2030. Too many foreigners were let into Singapore within too short a period of time such that the government is now having a serious headache of how to integrate them into local society. A recent Wall Street Journal editorial wrote that the relentless influx of foreigners into Singapore over the last few years had depressed the wages of ordinary Singaporeans, increased the cost of living, especially that of public housing, reduced labor productivity and led to an overall decline in the standard of living. The PAP leaders are now trying to reverse its policies by promising to "slow down" the inflow of foreigners in the next few years which will not be necessary in the first place had there been a strong opposition in parliament to challenge its ideas and debate on the matter right from the very beginning. Perhaps Dr Yik has forgotten the age-old adage: "More haste, less speed". It is better to have more brains to ponder over a decision carefully before making it, especially when it concerns the lives of millions of people. To quote from an article on the pros and cons of democracy versus autocracy published in the Economist last week: "With no noisy legislatures or robust courts to hold things up, autocracies may be faster and bolder. They are also more accident-prone. For all its frustrations, open and accountable government tends in the long run to produce better policies. This is because no group of mandarins, no matter how enlightened or well-meaning, can claim to be sure of what is best for a complex society. Autocracies tend to be too heavy at the top; although decisions may be more easily taken, the ethos of autocracies – their secrecy and paranoia – makes it harder for alternative views to emerge. Above all, elections make transfer of power legitimate and smooth." Under a one-party system in which the boundaries between the party and the state are blurred, Singaporeans can never trust the government fully to act in their interests  especially when it conflicts with that of the continued survival of the PAP.  Read More →

By Shazwan Mustafa Kamal from The Malaysian Insider Mohd Saiful Bukhari Azlan, the star witness and complainant in the on-going sodomy trial of Opposition Leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, claimed today that he has received a death threat. According to Saiful, a person by the name of “Anaz Zahari” had threatened him by posting a statement on the facebook fan page of Anwar. The posting states that “ANAZ ZAHARI: To my friends..whosoever knows or meets with Saiful Bukhari Azlan anywhere, it is compulsary for you to kill him using whatever means necessary for the peace of the human race..” Saiful had received information about the posting via email from an anonymous source and subsequently lodged a police report today at the Sentul police station. “I had received an email from an unknown individual last night informing me of a statement which had been posted on the Facebook fanpage of Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim..” said Saiful to reporters shortly after lodging the police report. He then proceeded to show reporters a photocopy of the Facebook fan page with the alleged statement. However, according to Saiful, the statement has since been removed from the Facebook page. “I would like to state that this is a death threat towards me and that this is a serious threat. I fear for my safety and my family’s safety. He also urged people not to be too engrossed with the details of the trial and to exercise patience, and not to take matters into their own hands. “There have also been disturbances at my house for the past two days. Every time I leave my house, there are rotten fruits on my front porch,” claimed Saiful who alluded that the fruits could be a form of black magic. Apparently this is not the first time Saiful or his family have been threatened. On Feb 1, his father Azlan Mohd Lazim had lodged a police report over “provocative” emails which he had received. “I had received 50 smses for the past three days which were very provocative in nature,” said Azlan who was also present at the police station today with Saiful and his lawyer Zamris Idrus. Read rest of article on The Malaysian Insider  Read More →