TR EMERITUS

Written by Our Correspondent After being called "lesser mortals", "sheep" and "donkeys" by PAP leaders and acolytes, Singaporeans now have another new "label" coined for them by Singapore's octogenarian leader Lee Kuan Yew - "daft", meaning foolish, simple, stupid or insane. Speaking at a dialogue during a housing conference, Lee called Singaporeans "daft" if they were to cast a protest vote against the PAP over the rising prices of HDB flats. [Straits Times, 28 January 2010] He chided Singaporeans for lamenting the rising flat prices as they "ought to understand that the government sells them at a subsidized price, below market rate, so that they can own an asset that will appreciate in value over the years." Lee had earlier described Singaporeans as "champion grumblers" in an interview with the National Geographic magazine. The Straits Times reported yesterday that the opposition is gunning for Tampines GRC led by National Development Minister Mah Bow Tan in the next general election to capitalize on public anger towards the sky-rocketing prices of HDB flats. Lee used his usual scare-mongering tactics and warned that "if Mr Mah loses to the opposition, Singaporeans better sell their flats fast as they would no longer be of any value." The rising prices of HDB flats have become a contentious issue among Singaporeans in recent weeks together with the issue of immigration and foreign talent. More than 85 per cent of Singapore's population live in HDB flats built by the government. While they are affordable in the 1980s and 1990s, they are increasingly being priced out of reach for ordinary Singaporeans. In 2009, prices of resale flats rise by 8.2 per cent though Singapore was mired in recession. The prices are popped up artificially by a limited supply of new flats and rising demand attributed to the relentless influx of foreigners into Singapore. Only slightly more than 11,000 new flats were built between the years 2006 – 2008 when there were over 90,000 PRs and 20,000 new citizens alone in 2008:   [Source: HDB Financial Report 2008/2009] Below is a graph illustrating how the rise in the prices of resale flats coincides with the rise in the number of foreigners in Singapore between the years 2000 and 2008, courtesy of Kojakbt, the moderator of 3in1kopitiam: Due to the ruling party’s liberal immigration policy, foreigners now made up 36 per cent of Singapore’s population, up from 14 per cent in 1990. As PRs are allowed to purchase resale HDB flats in Singapore, their increasing numbers help to keep the prices up. Propnex CEO Mohamad Ismail told Straits Times in an interview a few weeks ago that PRs make up 20 per cent of the buyers in the resale markets. Other real estate agencies such as ERA and C&H quoted higher figures of 40 and 50 per cent respectively. Some PRs "spoil" the market by over-paying for resale HDB flats. An Indonesia PR forked out a hefty $653,000 for a 4-room resale flat in Queenstown when he could well afford a private condominium. Since the government has the sole monopoly over the public housing market, it is in a position to adjust the prices of HDB flats. However, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong revealed yesterday that his government “does not have control ovver the prices of resale flats.” During a speech made at a gala dinner to celebrate HDB’s 50th anniversary, PM Lee reiterated that his government is “committed” to keeping HDB flats “affordable” without elaborating more on how he is going to achieve his goal. “These resale prices are set by individual households who transact flats on a willing buyer, willing seller basis, and are affected by movements and sentiments in the wider economy, including the private property market. Hence, resale prices of HDB flats will fluctuate from year to year,” he explained. The "philosophy" of giving citizens an asset that will grow in value and give them a stake in the country was a recurring message in the 60-minute dialogue. For HDB flats to "grow" in values, prices must continue on an upward curve indefinitely which is impossible as the wages of Singaporeans have not been catching up with the rise in prices. Lee seems to forget that Singapore is heavily dependent on the global economy and any "shocks" to the global financial system will lead to an exodus of foreigners out of Singapore, precipitating a crash in the property market with disastrous consequences for ordinary Singaporeans who have paid so much money for them. Singaporeans must remember clearly what Lee said about them - that we are "daft" if we were to vote for the opposition. Let us show Lee and his PAP how "daft" we can be come election day.  Read More →

Written by Our Correspondent A week after the "Eric How" fiasco first made the headlines, YPAP Chairman Teo Ser Luck finally broke his silence on the matter. Mr Teo had earlier said to the press that it is a "challenge" to differentiate the truth from the lies on the internet. Two police reports were filed separately by YPAP members in the last two weeks over a case of "impersonation" on the YPAP Facebook. An "Eric How" with a mercedes benz as his avatar sparked an outcry in cyberspace by his callous remarks about Singaporeans posted on 1 January 2010 on the YPAP Facebook. Though there are more than 55 "Eric Hows" in Singapore on Facebook alone, the two "Eric Hows" from the PAP still found fit to make a police report. One of them claimed that it was Mr Teo Ser Luck who asked him to make a police report. The “Eric How” who has been playing the sympathy card to divert public attention from the “Eric How” fiasco has finally admitted on his Facebook that he was simply following the instructions of Teo Ser Luck to make the police report: However according to Mr Teo's latest comment on the YPAP Facebook, his version is slightly different from Eric How: According to Mr Teo's account, he asked Eric How "if he would like to make a police report so the police could help look into the matter." Mr Teo did not explain how he arrived at the conclusion that the police would be of help in this case. It is pretty obvious that there was no "impersonation" and a simple statement to clarify matters would more than suffice. Now that the matter has been publicized extensively in the press, wouldn't it affect Eric How's personal life more? While netizens welcome Mr Teo's clarification, they wonder if there is a need to lodge a police report over such a trivial matter in the first place. Kojakbt wrote: "In my view, I think the innocent Eric How is making a mountain out of a mole hill. There are at least 50 over "Eric How"s on the facebook. How can he simply conclude that people mistook him for the "merc" Eric How? Common sense will tell you that there can be numerous Singaporeans with the same English name plus just the surname. People don't just simply jump into conclusion easily that 2 persons with the name "Eric How" must be the same person. If you have a name like "John Tan", it's even worse! With regard to finding out the "certain" Eric How who made those offensive postings, it should have been quite an easy task for you to ascertain his identity cause one of your YPAP mods, Edgar Kieu, is a friend of this "merc" Eric How since he acknowledged "merc" Eric How as his friend on facebook." Alex Tan has no kind words for the YPAP either: "The issue is never about Eric Hows, but a real litmus test of grounds feelings towards the ruling party. The Grassroots Leaders never failed to claim themselves to be making "sacrifices" and gaining "support" from the people they "helped". the validity of these claims are simply hogwash spouted by the delusioed. Arrogant, Elitist and Out-of-touch: seems like the PAP's reputation has a long way to go to detach themselves from these words. I am silently enjoying this show from far (: keep up the act, drama-mamas (:" Kelvin added: "Mr Teo Ser Luck, don't you think that by asking Eric to lodge a police report, you are wasting police time and resources on something that is relatively trivial? There are so many "Eric How"s with the same name, therefore mistaken identities is understandable. What could have been done was to calmly asses the situation and if it was really the case of an imposter, you could have asked your Eric to clarify it on Facebook. This would have suffice for reasonable netizens. However nothing was done for 3 weeks, and then the matter was blown out of proportions by getting the police and media involved. Not only is this wasting police resources, the panicky reactions by you and Eric How suggests to us that there could be something to hide. " Despite the desperate attempts of the mainstream media to portray the YPAP as a "victim" in the fiasco and pushed the blame to a Facebook "impostor" out to sabotage it, few netizens buy the story. Many are of the view that YPAP made a mountain out of the molehill and filed the police reports to divert public attention from the fiasco which is generating alot of unwanted negative publicity for them. Mr Teo concluded his post with an exhortation to YPAP members to "note the dynamics of the internet". Perhaps YPAP should consider pulling out of cyberspace altogether since its members are obviously not comfortable with engaging fellow Singaporeans on the internet.   Related articles: 1. YPAP resorts to police report to silence online critics 2. Teo Ser Luck asked Eric How to make police report 3. Eric How apologizes to netizens for making police report 4. Netizens remain unconvinced that Eric How is an impostor 5. 5 reasons why Eric How cannot be an impostor 6. Big BOO-BOO by Teo Ser Luck 7. A compilation of Eric How’s comments 8. Will the real Eric How please stand up? 9. YPAP Eric How made police report on Facebook impersonation  Read More →

来源：星洲日报27/01/2010 新加坡总理李显龙指出，第4代领导团队现阶段尚未成形，这支核心团队将在下一次大选时组成。 他说，领导人更新这个对下一代新加坡人至关重要的课题，将是下一次大选的主要课题。 李显龙周一（1月25日）在“2010年新加坡透视论坛”上指出，物色能从他和现有团队接棒并可保障新加坡未来10年至20年发展的下一代领导人，比改革政治制度 (political system) 更为重要。 在他看来，政治改革影响深远，比起政府必须处理的另两大要务：经济转型和人口挑战更为严峻。 李显龙指出，最近反对党引进一些学历出众，包括曾是政府奖学金得主的新面孔。然而，他提醒学历不是一切，新人的品格与是否具有为国奉献的精神也非常重要，并希望国人能像严格看待人民行动党候选人一样，去审核他们。 “换言之，关键在于他是甚么样的人，能为新加坡做些甚么……行动党在引进新人前对他们进行严格审核，才让他们加入，之后再由选民审核。” 引进新人前严格审核 他透露，行动党每次都面试许多奖学金得主，每次也会在当中选择几个作为候选人。此外，它也物色其他非奖学金得主的人选为候选人。 “对反对党阵营，这是个改变。你有了一两个奖学金得主，人们会想‘哇，这是个显著的改变。’不错，这是个显著的发展，我们会拭目以待，但是最后，我们应该看他能为新加坡做些甚么，而不是看他有甚么文凭。”  Read More →