TR EMERITUS

Written by Our Correspondent A concerned voter by the name of Dr Jason Wong has written a letter to the Straits Times Forum urging the ruling party PAP to increase the number of single seats in the next general election to minimize its expected "losses." He proposed the PAP increase the number of single seats to at least half the total number of parliamentary seats. Dr Wong predicted that based on "ground and online sentiments", the opposition stands a good chance of winning one or two GRCs in the next election which will mean losing 10 seats in one go. However, if they are redrawn as single seats, the PAP may still keep more than half of them. He also felt that it is important that fresh PAP candidates prove their worth by winning a seat on their own merit instead of "piggybacking" on party heavy weights through the GRC format which has arose widespread unhappiness among Singaporeans. The GRC scheme was introduced in 1988 ostensibly on the grounds of ensuring minority representation in parliament though many minority candidates were able to win elections in a one-to-one fight in the past including the late opposition leader J.B. Jeyaretnam who won two consecutive elections against Chinese opponents in the Chinese-dominated ward of Anson which has since been absorbed into Tanjong Pagar GRC. The opposition has never managed to win a GRC since its inception. The closest they came to was in the 1988 elections when the Workers' Party team of Francis Seow, Dr Lee Siew Choh and Mohamad Yakcob won 49.1 per cent of the valid votes in Eunos GRC. Two elections later, Eunos GRC was dissolved and absorbed into neighboring GRCs. As the Electoral Boundaries Commission in charge of drawing the electoral boundaries is under the purview of the Prime Minister's Office, this led to rampant gerrymandering to the advantage of the PAP. Changes to the electoral boundaries are often announced on the eve of general election to throw the opposition off guard. For example, Mr Sin Kek Tong won 47.1 per cent of the votes in the single seat of Braddell Hill in the 1991 general election under the banner of the Singapore Democratic Party. He worked the ground there tirelessly for 6 years only to discover that the constituency is absorbed into Marine Parade GRC on the eve of the 1997 election. The boundaries are also redrawn to dilute strong pockets of support for the opposition to reduce its chance of a victory. In 1997, Cheng San GRC was won narrowly by the PAP by only 54 per cent of the votes. In the 2001 election, it was broken up and absorbed into Ang Mo Kio and Aljunied GRCs. With widespread discontent, frustration and anger against the PAP from both young and old Singaporeans alike, it is probable that the opposition will be able to win a GRC if they field a strong team in it. Opposition veteran Chiam See Tong has already indicated his desire to lead a team to contest in Bishan-Toa Payoh GRC which has not seen an election since 1988. The twin issues of immigration and housing will be foremost on the minds of Singapore voters. The opposition should focus on them and offer viable alternatives to win voters over. Public sentiment today is radically different from that four years ago before the 2006 election. Then, a sizable number of Singaporeans are still quite contented with PAP rule and the new media is in its infancy. Now, Singaporeans are becoming more politically aware, educated and astute and they are clamoring for genuine changes in the system and with the new media growing in readership to counter the state propaganda, the opposition will stand a good chance of winning a few more single seats and at least one GRC if they get their electoral strategy right.  Read More →

Written by Our Correspondent Since we have offered to free advertising space on our site for companies to recruit Singaporeans, we have received a deluge of responses from local SMEs. On top of giving prospective employers free advertising, we will also write a short introduction about them to promote their products and services. Our only condition is that the jobs on offer must go to Singapore citizens specifically and not to PRs and foreigners. Our first client was IT startup ShowNearby which is seeking to employ Singapore citizens for various positions. We put up the job ad for it for a week from 25 January - 30 January 2010 and we are pleased to announce that it has employed one Singaporean as a result. Below is a testimonial from Mr Daniel Phoon who came to know the ShowNearby's offer after reading the advertisement on our site: "I happened to chance upon ShowNearby’s job advertisements at Temasek Review’s website and I decided to apply to the company as I was actively searching for a job. After sending in my application indicating my interest for a couple of available positions, I was subsequently offered  the product manager position at the end of the hiring process. The overall experience of having found a job on Temasek Review’s new job portal was pleasant and I am really looking forward to working at ShowNearby." We urge employers and job seekers alike to fully utilize our site as an online job portal which is entirely free of charge. Based on the latest traffic rankings, our daily traffic is comparable to that of major online job portals in Singapore and is about 60 per cent of the Straits Times’ advertising portal st701.com. We have on average 14,000 – 17,000 unique readers and 40,000 – 50,000 page views per day and the readership is still growing. Our readers can also help by encouraging their companies to employ Singaporeans and by informing us of companies who are recruiting them. At the same time, please inform us of discriminatory job ads recruiting foreigners, PRs or selected nationalities as well as companies/shops/stalls whose staff are mainly foreigners. We will post them here and call for a general boycott against them. As demonstrated by the case of Courts, we have a high enough readership to make a difference. Singapore-based companies have a social responsibility to Singaporeans and should not be obsessed with maximizing their profits. All jobs should go to Singaporeans first and they should offer an acceptable wage which commensurate with the standard of living here. Please help us share this site to all your relatives, colleagues and friends. If you are currently unemployed and is seeking for a job, email us your resume and we will post it here for prospective employers to see. Singapore for Singaporeans! Let us unite and work together to help our fellow Singaporeans!   EDITORS' NOTE: If you wish to support us in our efforts to help fellow Singaporeans, please make a small donation to our site here  Read More →

Written by Our Correspondent Bitten by his latest disastrous foray into cyberspace, YPAP Chairman Teo Ser Luck is now launching a massive charm offensive via the state media to reclaim lost ground. Mr Teo was embroiled in the "Eric How" controversy two weeks ago which has generated quite a bit of negative publicity for both him and YPAP. "Eric How" was rapped for posting disparaging remarks about Singaporeans on the YPAP Facebook. Though there are more than 50 "Eric Hows" on Facebook alone, one YPAP member by the same name found fit to lodge a police report over a non-existent "impersonation". It was subsequently revealed that Mr Teo had "advised" Mr How to make the police report, much to the amusement of netizens. After the ugly spat with the online community in which Mr Teo insinuated that the new media is not credible in a media interview, it appears that he is back again this time trying to win the hearts of young voters by using sex appeal. According to reports in the Chinese tabloid, the YPAP has recruited a host of pretty young girls or "chiobus" lately including one in its executive committee to salvage its battered image. Predictably, the Straits Times run a near full-page article today to highlight the "progress" made by YPAP to hide its inept handling of the Sear Hock Rong and Eric How sagas. When asked about YPAP's latest recruits, Mr Teo replied: "I don't know how the ladies feel, but I think it's quite flattering. If they join us, then they join. If they are good-looking... that's a plus!" Is Mr Teo implying that not so good-looking ladies will be a "minus" to the YPAP? The Straits Times also reported that YPAP had seen a "surge" in new members last year, with more than 1,000 joining its ranks. It is not known if the newcomers are really interested in politics or are simply there for the "eye candies". The opposition has seen an increase in its ranks too with many graduates and professionals including former government scholars joining it. Though there are some pretty girls in the Reform Party and Workers' Party, the mainstream media has never bothered to report on it. Despite the self-consolation, YPAP is fast losing ground in its attempts to win the hearts and minds of young netizens. Both its official website and the P65 blog are floundering due to lack of readership. The YPAP Facebook is literally a "ghost town" these days as YPAP members stop "engaging" netizens following their latest PR disaster. The new media will play an increasingly pivotal role in influencing voters in future elections and it is worrying that the YPAP still do not have a "mouthpiece" of its own in Singapore's blogosphere dominated by independent socio-political sites like ours which are critical of the establishment.  Read More →