TR EMERITUS

By Andy Lim, Malaysian Correspondent Temasek Review covered a forum organised by Sembang-Sembang (Chit-Chat) at Penang’s Caring Society Complex. The event was considerably well attended, with the organisers putting the number at 120 participants. A majority of the attendees were senior citizens concerned with the contents of Pakatan Rakyat’s draft manifesto. The Common Policy Framework had been earlier launched on 9 December 2009 at the PR convention in Shah Alam. It was approved unanimously by the 1,500 delegates which consisted equally from Parti Keadlian Rakyat (PKR), the Democratic Action Party (DAP) and Parti Islam Se-Malaysia (PAS). The 5 February event rolled off at 9 pm with short speeches by Batu Maung assemblyman Abdul Malik Kassim (PKR) and Pantai Jerejak assemblyman Sim Tze Tzin (PKR). Independent journalist and blogger Anil Netto was the moderator for the forum. The first speaker of the event was Senator Tunku Abdul Aziz Ibrahim, vice-chairman of the Democratic Action Party and founder of the Malaysian chapter of Transparency International. The eloquent senator who opposes race-based politics, points out that Malaysia is currently a country without a united nation. He states that what the country needs is a credible, reliable and honest government, as it does not take much to bring a country backwards. The second speaker was Subang MP Sivarasa Rasiah (PKR), who is also vice-president of the party. Sivarasa credits the idea of the Common Policy Framework to ex-law minister Zaid Ibrahim. Describing the CPF as a solution for the country’s problems, Sivarasa says that the CPF touches on correcting the country’s injustices by repealing restrictive laws such as the Internal Security Act and Official Secrets Act, while at the same time it would establish a Race Relations Act. Sivarasa had also described a brief history of the CPF drafting process and some of the stumbling blocks which had to be overcome before it could be presented to the delegates. Also mentioned was the declining state of healthcare in public hospitals. Sivarasa gave an example of the Selangor state government’s efforts to stir up concern about the issue as national healthcare is under the directive of the federal government. Dr. Hj. Dzulkefly Ahmad of PAS then took to the podium and credited the results of the latest general election as a victory of the people. He says it was the yearning for change that led PAS to emerge from its Malay belt (Perlis, Kedah, Kelantan, Terengganu) voters to reach out into the heart of Klang Valley. Dzulkefly had admitted that pushing for an Islamic state for the 2004 general elections was “suicidal” for PAS whereas the party now is able to understand and contextualize its political ideology in a pluralistic society. As he went on, the MP for Kuala Selangor presented the national economy as being stagnant for the past decade. Dr. Dzulkefly pointed out in that time period, the country’s GDP has only increased 0.2% whereas real wages growth has increased by 2.8%. Add in factors such as an outflow of investors as well as professionals, the country requires a new economic model in order to turn itself into a high-performing economy. According to Dzulkefly, who describes himself as an Islamic democrat, the economic policies listed in the CPF provide for a fair and equitable society. Basically the principles behind it is intrinsically Islamic as he proclaims that PR is pro-business and committed to economy democratisation, wealth creation and most importantly in Islam, fair wealth distribution. When the floor was open to questions, members of the public posted queries such as the status of the CPF and the amount of existing laws needed to be amended or repealed once PR takes power. Sivarasa replies that the CPF currently requires a concrete followup process as the document itself is a work in process. As for the laws, the PKR vice-president expects it takes anywhere from months to years to do the necessary legislative actions which would involve a significant part of the country’s existing laws. When pressed on current issues affecting the tripartite alliance, the speakers agreed that moving forward from the CPF into a polished PR manifesto could be a challenge mainly due to the ongoing trial of Anwar Ibrahim. The opposition leader is currently accused of sodomising his assistant Mohd Saiful Bukhari Azlan in 2008. This is his second sodomy charge in a little more than a decade, and both charges have attracted international criticism against the government. Nearing the end of the forum, Anil announced that the organisers had collected RM472.20 (SG$194.92) in goodwill donations to cover the cost of organising the forum. Sembang-Sembang had been organising monthly forums and events related to social and civil issues since 4 October 2009.   About the Author: Andy Lim is a Penang-based blogger but his calling has led him to a university some 700 km away. The sophomore student has a blog at http://blog.deltapanthera.com/ but it is currently on hiatus until graduation.   EDITORS' NOTE: The Temasek Review is in the process of setting up a Malaysian subunit to cover Malaysian socio-political affairs as part of our long-term strategy to extend our reach to Malaysia. We pay our Malaysian freelance journalists the same rate as our Singapore journalists. We currently need a journalist stationed in Kuala Lumpur to cover events there. If you are interested to write for us, please email your resume to us at [email protected]  Read More →

By Lawrence Pek As I am writing this article on my way from Shen Zhen (where I am based now) to Shanghai, my heart is heavy. Too much has transpired in the last 18 to 24 months. Almost every conversation that I have with my family, my friends is about where this country is going and how things have changed. Besides the usual rant on immigration policies, what troubles me is not how and why the PAP has formulated these slew of policies with considerations but without deliberations with their electorate. Rather what we can do about it with these “given conditions”. My thoughts turn to what we can do about the current scenarios. In the short run, we are faced with pro-foreigner policies and in the long run, how we can change ourselves, to be better to be more value added. My thoughts are about what we can do ourselves, take actions ourselves rather than wait for more policies, rather than continuing to believe that we will be taken care of. If you are 25 to 40 I would like to take this opportunity to propose a radical idea – If you are between 25 and 45 (male or female), just leave Singapore and make your careers, your money and livelihood outside of Singapore. Yes, if an opportunity exists, just take it and leave – if there is a biz opportunity and it makes sense to you, just seize the day and take the plunge. If your employer offers an opportunity to work overseas, just go (may it be in Dubai, Shanghai, London or Chicago), may it be a Local or Expat package. My reasoning is simple – with the current economic climate (internally and externally) – I will make the following assumption – My value, your value, our value is higher overseas than staying back in Singapore. With the huge influx of cheap and cheerful labor force, we need to consider where and how to maximize our value. Given Singapore’s limitations of size and natural resources, given that local jobs are getting cheaper and cheaper (hence so many cheap and cheerful foreigners), staying back and sighing over a cup of tea-c is hardly productive, for yourself, your family or for your country. For the Local Born and Bred Students If your sons and daughters are entering or finishing college, please do consider to send them overseas to further their education. Having lived in China for so many years, I am clear that besides the language barrier, the local Chinese lacks the single most important element – Exposure. You cannot read this in any tertiary institution, you cannot buy this off the shelves; you need to be mentally and emotionally be ready to invest in your children’s future. They will learn to interact, to speak a different language; they will see the world and hence react differently. I never liked the local tertiary institutions for 2 reasons. Firstly, their curriculum does not foster cutting edge technology R&D nor Creative Arts and Design talents. 2ndly, upon graduation, these graduates will be herded “factory like” into the Singapore local workforce and be instilled with local paradigms and culture. The funny reference to “kiasu and kiasi” – these may be funny reference to local mentalities, but it is not funny after a while, if you need to compete globally. Yes, I am sensitive to several issues that my idea will encounter, working parents will need to bear with temporary separations, and the all important family unit will be temporarily disrupted. Spouses will pine for each other and parent will miss their children. Even though there will be tears and pain but there will also be joyous reunions every holidays and family visits. However, please consider the long term value add to our people and our country (above and beyond the ruling PAP). We will have seen, experienced and become more exposed to the world beyond Changi Airport. With our opened eyes, we will know what is right and wrong, what should and what should not be. My vision is to see locals returning to Singapore not just with value added global exposure, which will propel our economy forward. Furthermore, they will be more willing, able and capable to take their destinies into their own hands. To decide what the issues are, what the policies should be, who they want to see as administrators for their neighborhoods, their districts and their country. My conclusion is a simple summary, if you can go, please go. If your kids want to go, let them, There will be risks, there will be pain and tears. However, by doing this, we evolve and we will better take charge of ourselves, we will be better equipped to vision and administer ourselves. The Winds of Change are Blowing….Singapore for Singaporeans! Other articles by Lawrence Pek: >> A deeper understanding of the "Foreign Talent" issue >> Where is my country going >> Strategies for the next election 2010/11  Read More →

Written by Our Correspondent Contrary to claims by leaders from the ruling party that foreign workers take up jobs shunned by Singaporeans, they are competing directly with them for limited jobs in the labor market. Singaporeans are being discriminated in their own country by job advertisements seeking foreigners specifically which are ubiquitous on major online job portals. A quick glance of local job portal Gumtree revealed that more than half the job advertisements are looking for either China or Malaysian workers for positions which can otherwise be filled by Singaporeans: The above job ad is seeking for PRC or Malaysian Chinese to fill the position of bakery and kitchen supervisor. This is not a position requiring special skills nor will Singaporeans shun it and so why are foreigners preferred over Singaporeans? In the second ad above, the employer is looking for a PRC candidate to become a sales promoter and one condition is that he/she must speak English! Won't the employer stand a higher chance of finding a Singaporean who can speak English? The company above is looking specifically for a China driver with valid Singapore driving licence. It will be easier if it recruits Singaporeans instead. Are workers from China better drivers than Singaporeans. It is obvious from the above examples that foreigners are taking up jobs which can otherwise be filled by Singaporeans due to the lax immigration policies of the government. The only advantage that these foreign workers have over locals is cost. Even after paying the foreign worker levy, a PRC worker still cost much less than a Singaporean. How can the government expect Singaporeans to compete directly with PRC workers who are willing to accept even a few hundreds of dollars of wages monthly? The easy availability of cheap foreign labor has also depressed the wages of ordinary Singaporeans as employers can easily switch to foreigners if locals reject their offers. As a result, Singapore workers are at the losing end. They have to work for longer hours for less pay. A recent report from the International Labor Organization revealed that Singaporeans work the longest hour a week compared to their counterparts in Hong Kong, South Korea, Japan and Taiwan. It is improbable that these companies will go burst just because they employ a few more locals at the expense of foreigners. The key reason why foreign workers are preferred is because they cost much less and the ultimate aim of businessmen is to maximize their profits. Even when they are slogging hard like dogs day in and out, they still find it difficult to survive in Singapore due to the high cost of living which is exacerbated by the relentless influx of foreigners over the last few years. Since the ruling party is unwilling to help Singaporeans, we must unite and help our own people. We urge all netizens to boycott not only companies which employ a disproportionate number of foreigners, but job portals which post discriminatory job ads like such as well.  Read More →