TR EMERITUS

Written by Our Correspondent Singapore's pro-foreigner government is again giving out free scholarships sponsored by Singapore taxpayers to foreigners. The new scholarship, called the Singapore Youth Olympic Scholarship will be awarded to outstanding young athletes from around the world to study in Singapore. According to a report in the Straits Times, the recipients will get a fully-subsidized academic and sports education at the Singapore Sports School for between four and six years. The government-funded scholarships, which will be given out once every four years during the summer YOG, is open to all 205 National Olympic Committees (NOCs) worldwide. One athlete will be selected from each of the five continents, and the last spot will be reserved for a Singaporean. The scholarships for foreigners will cost about $25,000 a year which means that more than $100,000 will be allocated to attract five foreign athletes to Singapore instead of being invested in locals. They will cover food, accommodation, education, sports training as well as return air tickets from the recipient's home country. It is not revealed if the foreign scholars will be bonded in Singapore for a period of time upon graduation from the Singapore Sports School. While the Singapore government has offered a slew of scholarships for foreign students to study in Singapore's varsities, this is believed to be the first such scholarship for sports. The ruling party is especially generous to foreign students studying in Singapore on government-funded scholarships - many of them are given a free tertiary education here on top of being guaranteed a job upon graduation as some are bonded with the Singapore government for varying periods of between three to six years. The scholarship was welcomed by Dr Southanom Inthavong, deputy secretary-general of Laos' National Olympic Council. "We have plans to send our sportsmen overseas, but we are short of funding. A scholarship like this will help, especially for the future," he was quoted saying in the Straits Times. Singapore is indeed a boon for developing countries in the region for which country in the world will spend more money on foreigners than its own citizens.  Read More →

Written by Our Correspondent Senior Minister Goh Chok Tong has dampened hopes among Singaporeans eager to vote the PAP out of office that an election will be called any time soon. He told the media during a community event at Marine Parade yesterday that "Singaporeans should also not start getting excited about a general election as the Government was still focused on the economy." The PAP's ill-conceived policies such as its liberal immigration policies and lack of social welfare benefits for Singaporeans have caused widespread resentment and anger against it with a rising number of Singaporeans waiting earnestly for the next election to be called soon to cast a protest vote against it. During the last general election, the PAP won 66.6 per cent of the valid votes and all of the seats contested except for two. It is unlikely that they will achieve a better result this time round. Based on the sentiments on the ground, it is not inconceivable that the PAP's share of votes drop below 60 per cent and lose a few more single seats including a GRC. More and more young Singaporeans are voicing their discontent against the PAP in cyberspace with a few walking their talk by joining the opposition. 22 year old Alex Tan who embarrassed two PAP MPs with his sharp and sensitive questions at a YPAP Forum last month was the youngest Singaporean to join the opposition. He is now a member of the Singapore People's Party. The Reform Party led by Cambridge-educated economist Kenneth Jeyaretnam also recruited a number of professionals and graduates lately including two former government scholars. SM Goh said he welcomed more young Singaporeans joining the opposition: "'It's not a bad sign because politics in the future should be contested by able people, especially those with good character. And young, able people do not have to agree with the PAP. Of course, we hope they would join us, even though they disagree with us, so that we can have disagreements sorted out within the PAP, and then we have a policy manifesto for the public." He added that the PAP has been interviewing potential candidates: "We have been interviewing people, but frankly speaking, don't start getting excited about elections. We are still concentrating on the economic recovery, so don't get excited, which I think is unnecessary." The PAP is unlikely to call the election soon as it is aware of the fact that many Singaporeans are unhappy with its inept performance, especially the management of the economy over the last two years or so. It is now busy trying to "sweeten" the ground to crawl back lost support judging from the public speeches made by its ministers lately. While the PAP used to insist that foreigners are needed to help Singapore achieve stratospheric growth rates year after year, its leaders are now singing a different tune. Education Minister Dr Ng Eng Hen said lately that "quality is more important than quantity" and Singapore should recruit more talented foreigners to contribute to the nation. SM Goh also promised that the government will "moderate" the influx of foreigners to attain a sustainable growth rate in the long run. He has previously urged Singaporeans to accept and embrace foreigners as they help to "create jobs" for Singaporeans. The subtle shift in the PAP's policies will continue till the next election after which it is likely to open the floodgates once more to complete its unfinished task of replacing native Singaporeans with their new pets. The next election may be the last one for Singaporeans to vote out the PAP or to place enough opposition MPs in Parliament to deny it its traditional two-thirds majority without which they can expect the pace of immigration to increase and overwhelm them. Foreigners now make up 36 per cent of the population, up from 14 per cent in 1990. Of the remaining 64 per cent who are citizens, an unknown proportion are new citizens born overseas. If Singaporeans were to give the PAP another "mandate" again at the next election, they may find themselves in the minority in a few years' time.  Read More →

Written by Our Correspondent PAP MPs rallied to the side of Singapore strongman Lee Kuan Yew after a citizen asked Education Minister Dr Ng Eng Hen last Friday during a dialogue session with NUS Alumni on why he is not stepping down. (read article here) Dr Ng replied that his constituents at Tanjong Pagar are free to vote him out if they feel he is not "adding value" to Singapore. Chinese tabloid Shin Min daily responded swiftly with a blatantly one-sided article defending MM Lee quoting from a few PAP MPs all of whom implored Lee to stay on. Fellow Tanjong Pagar MP Baey Kam Keng claimed that Lee is still "very popular" with his constituents. Nee Soon Central MP Ong Ah Heng said: "MM Lee should not retire and should stay on as he is adding value to both Singapore and Singaporeans." Another MP Lee Bee Wah (previously a Malaysian) whose opinions are now "highly" sought after by the Chinese press added: "MM Lee has a lot of foresight and is concerned about Singapore's future. He will think of what happened 20 and 30 years later and he doesn't mind introducing unpopular policies." Lee admitted to an audience of Japanese business leaders lately that he is "not doing much work except forecasting". Unfortunately, Lee's "forecasts" are mostly wrong. In 2007, he boasted unashamedly that Singapore would enter a "golden period" for the next few decades. A year later, Singapore became the first Asian country to enter into a recession and is still barely out of it. As Chairman of Government Investment Corporation which managed Singapore's national reserves, he or his team made a few dubious investment decisions which caused Singapore to lose billions of dollars last year, the exact amount of losses remained unknown to this very day. Though he proclaimed himself to be taking a backseat in the cabinet, many Singaporeans still believe that he is the real power behind the throne. A former Prime Minister of Singapore, Lee is the oldest MP in Parliament at 86 years of age. Now assuming the position of "Minister Mentor" which is unheard of anywhere in the world, Lee draws an annual salary of about $3 million dollars, or more than 6 times that of U.S. President Barack Obama. While Lee still have some blind supporters from the previous generations, many young Singaporeans are either indifferent to him or are strongly opposed to his continued role in the Singapore government, judging from the comments posted in the internet chatrooms. Lee's growing unpopularity among the young voters may prove to be a liability for the PAP in the next general election. He recently peeved off an entire nation with his insensitive remarks about Singaporeans in an interview with National Geographic magazine. He told the journalist Mark Jacobson that though he was aware of the fact that “many Singaporeans are unhappy with the influx of immigrants”, he continued to insist that it is for “good” of the nation: “Over time, Singaporeans have become less hard-driving and hard-striving. This is why it is a good thing that the nation has welcomed so many Chinese immigrants.” Lee was quoted saying. Lee described the country’s new subjects as “hungry,” with parents who “pushed the children very hard.” “If native Singaporeans are falling behind because the spurs are not stuck into the hide, that is their problem,” he quipped. [Source: The Singapore Solution]   EDITORS' NOTE: The Temasek Review is of the view that MM Lee not only does not add any value to Singapore or Singaporeans, he is becoming a liability to the nation with many flawed and myopic policies which caused tremendous suffering to ordinary Singaporeans. We call on Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong to heed public opinion especially from young Singaporeans and ask his father to step down by the next election or risk the PAP losing votes. Do you agree with the PAP MPs above that MM Lee is adding value to Singapore? Share your views with us at [email protected] and cast your vote on the polling station on the right hand sidebar.  Read More →