TR EMERITUS

Written by Our Correspondent The shocking truth that everybody has been guessing is finally out: that Singapore primary schools are "swarmed" by PRs and foreigners. In a written reply to questions from Tanjong Pagar GRC MP Baey Yam Keng, Education Minister Ng Eng Hen revealed that "about 26,000 permanent residents here are studying in national primary schools, making up about 10 per cent of the enrolment." The exact number of foreigners studying in Singapore primary schools is not known, but if it is counted in the equation, it will mean that more than 10 per cent of the enrolment are non-Singaporeans, an astonishingly high figure for public schools which are supposed to cater to citizens only since they are funded by taxpayers' monies. Singapore is perhaps one of the few countries in the world where PRs and foreigners are allowed to study in its public schools run by the Ministry of Education. In other countries, foreigners will have to put up their children in international schools. For example, Singaporeans working in China enroll their children in Singapore international schools and not in Chinese schools run by the Chinese government, assuming that they are on par with the standard of a Singapore school. PRs and foreigners should not be competing with Singaporeans for limited primary school places in the first place. In the past, PRs enjoy equal opportunities as citizens in balloting for places in primary schools which sparked widespread unhappiness and resentment among Singaporeans. The rules were "tweaked" recently when the Education Ministry announced a month ago that Singaporeans will have one more ballot slip than permanent residents when they ballot for a place in the Primary 1 school registration exercise this year. However, the additional ballot will count for little due to the rising numbers of PRs and foreigners in Singapore as a result of the ruling party's liberal immigration policies. A forumer pointed out on the Straits Times discussion board that the change will have little impact other than to spur more PRs to take up citizenship or to join grassroots organizations. The token increase in the school fees paid by PRs to over $800 is only a half-hearted measure to better "distinguish" between citizens and PRs. Most PRs can well afford to put their children up at international schools which charge between $20,000 and $30,000 a year. They should not be allowed to "leech" on precious public resources reserved for Singaporeans just because they want to save a few extra dollars. Those PRs who are unable to "compete" with locals should not even be permitted to step foot on Singapore to work at all. Why are we giving PRs to PRC construction workers, cleaners and masseurs and investing in their children but not our very own Singaporeans? PRs should not be given a ballot to compete with Singapore citizens for places in primary schools, especially the popular ones like Raffles Girl, Henry Park, Nanyang and Rosyth Primary schools. They can only be allowed to apply for leftover places in Singapore primary schools after the citizens have taken their pick and this is already a very generous gesture to them. PRs should stop whining that they deserve "equal rights" as Singaporeans because they pay taxes and contribute to Singapore economy too. To borrow an infamous quote from Lee Kuan Yew who is so infatuated with his new pets: "If PRs and foreigners are falling behind because "the spurs are not stuck into the hide," that is THEIR problem, and NOT the problem of Singapore citizens."  Read More →

OPINION [Cartoon source: Portalite Studios] The Singapore government, particularly the police has received much flak for the past few weeks over its seemingly inept handling of the "escape" of Romanian diplomat Dr Silviu Ionescu, a prime suspect in the double hit and run accident at Bukit Panjang a month ago which has already claimed the life of an innocent year man, 30 year Tong Kok Wai, a Malaysian and Singapore PR. Despite all the evidence pointing towards Dr Silviu Ionescu as the driver of the black Audi A6 which caused the accident, he was allowed to return to Romania ostensibly for the treatment of his diabetes when he can get his medical treatment easily here. The Romanian government has since recalled Dr Silviu from his post in Singapore. The Romanian Prosecutor's Office, which is now handling the case, said investigations may take "several months if not years" to complete. There is no extradition treaty between Romania and Singapore. It appears that the culprit has got away scot-free and may die of natural causes before he faces the justice he deserves. Predictably, the Straits Times, which was described by Singapore's respected late Chief Minister David Marshall as "running dogs and prostitutes of the PAP", published a full-page editorial today by a journalist of Romanian descent Jonathan Eyal to exonerate the authorities from any blame in the fiasco which has decreased public confidence in the impartiality and efficiency of the Singapore police force. Given the inappropriate title of "Quiet diplomacy - not a sign of weakness", Jonathan showed which side he is on in the very first sentence - "The basic facts of the tragedy are not in doubt". - Yes, the basic fact is, we allowed a criminal to escape again just like Mas Selamat, Took Leng How and One-eyed dragon! (read Jonathan's article here) Jonathan defended the Singapore government that "faced with a complicated case of diplomatic immunitiess", it adopted the only proper course - which is to do "nothing" and places the onus entirely on the Romanian government to "uphold its own legal and moral responsibilities." He added that "it would have been illogical to demand that Romania lift Dr Ionescu’s immunity before all evidence was gathered. And it was impossible for Singapore to prevent Dr Ionescu’s departure or impound his passport, as some have suggested." The Singapore police has three entire days to gather all the evidence and based on prima facie evidence alone, they could have acted. Culprits of previous cases of hit and run accidents are often arrested within a day or two as what happened to Mediacorp artiste Christopher Lee. Why is there a delay in this instance? The key questions to ask are: 1. How long did the police take to conclude their investigations? 2. Did they inform the Ministry of Foreign Affairs about their findings? 3. Did the Ministry of Foreign Affairs bother to apply for a waiver of Dr Silviu Ionescu's diplomatic immunity and if not, why? The Singapore police appears to be impotent not for its failure to prevent Dr Silviu Ionescu from leaving, but in keeping the public updated about their investigations and clearing their doubts at the same time. After nearly a month, the police has only issued two public statements: 1. At the beginning: "investigations are still ongoing". 2. At the end: "investigations are concluded and submitted to the Attorney-General Chambers". Full stop. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs did not even issue an official statement on the matter except a rather juvenile remark from Foreign Affairs Minister George Yeo that what happened is "very bad". Hello, a life has been lost and all you can say is this? Such a perceived inept performance is not acceptable coming from the highest paid government in the world where a minister can earn more than 4 times the annual salary of U.S. President Barack Obama. The crux of the entire issue here is not whether the police could have impounded Dr Silviu's passport and prevent him from leaving Singapore, but the utter lack of communication to the public which has fueled wild speculations in cyberspace. Jonathan's lop-sided article missed the point entirely. In his eagerness to salvage the battered image of the Singapore police, he failed to realize that much of the public anger arises from the apparent nonchalance and lack of urgency displayed by the authorities. The Singapore police should have called a press conference immediately in the aftermath of Dr Silviu's departure to explain to the public what it had been doing so far and the limitations it faces without divulging the identity of the culprit instead of repeating the same one-liner to the media like some broken old record-tape - you "wayang" by showing you "care", not by acting blur! You cannot blame Singaporeans for not being understanding when you don't even bother to communicate your intentions and difficulties to us in the first place which gives rise to the pervasive public perception that the police has not done much to solve the crime. As one netizen asked sarcastically, if the victim is Lee Kuan Yew and not Tong Kok Wai, will the Singapore police sit on the case and allow the culprit to leave Singapore? History seems to suggest that rightly or wrongly, the Singapore police treats different people differently depending on their political affiliations. If the matter involves a member of the ruling party, it will be on the ball to fix the problem immediately. Jonathan claimed that "Singapore has never hesitated to take measures against envoys who broke its laws. Diplomats from even friendly countries have been asked to leave if they engaged in activities incompatible with their status." He is correct in a way. In 1988, Hank Hendrickson, the First Secretary of the U.S. Embassy in Singapore was expelled from the island for "meddling in Singapore politics." Hendrickson was a confidant of the then President of Singapore Law Society, former Solicitor-General Francis Seow who was later detained under the ISA for being a "willing partner to acts in interference in Singapore's internal affairs by representatives of a foreign power." Hendrickson was alleged to have "encouraged" Francis Seow to stand in the elections as an opposition candidate to challenge the PAP so as to have an opposition in the Singapore parliament which is "amenable" to U.S. interests.  The United States said that Mr Hendrickson had done nothing out of line with normal diplomatic practice. Tit-for-tat, it expelled a Singapore diplomat Robert Chua. As we can see from the above example, the ruling party will have no qualms expelling a diplomat if its own interests are threatened in any way to the extent of damaging ties with an important ally like the United States. Had Dr Silviu Ionescu been on close terms with some local opposition leader or found to "interfere" in domestic politics, he would be expelled too like Hendrickson or even arrested without any concern for his diplomatic immunity. Jonathan seems to have faith in Romania to "uphold both law and morality in the world", an East European Balkan state ranked 71th on the Corruption Perception Index by Transparency International. "As someone who proudly boasts a Romanian ancestry, I expect nothing less from my old country of birth," he wrote in the last paragraph of his article. With due respect to Jonathan, he appears not to be aware of the real situation in Romania which is appalling for a senior journalist coming from a national English daily of Singapore. A series of reports released by the European Commission in 2008 sharply criticize the EU's newest members, Bulgaria and Romania, for high levels of corruption. The gist of the European Commission's message to Bulgaria and Romania is that there is no properly functioning rule of law in either country. How can Jonathan expect Romania to "uphold law" when it does not even have a proper functioning rule of law? A spokesman of the European Commission, Laitenberger had this to say about Romania: "The fundamental elements of a functioning system are in place, but the foundation is still fragile and decisions on high-level corruption are still too politicized. Commitment to reform by Romania's key institutions and bodies is still uneven. While progress on judicial reform has been made, there is a need for the system to show there are penalties for high-level corruption." As long Dr Silviu has the right connections and money, it will not be too difficult for him to get himself out of trouble in Romania. Jonathan claimed that the Romanian government is "duty-bound" to examine the evidence from Singapore  now that the case lies before Romania’s Prosecutor Office, a simplistic view which ignores the fact that while the Romanian prosecutors have to investigate the case, there is no impetus on their part to solve the crime swiftly. As the Romanian Jurse Court has already indicated, the investigations may take up to several years by the time which the culprit may have already died from natural causes. He can be given a "posthumous" sentence, but will this be considered justice at all to assuage the hurt, pain and misery felt by Mr Tong's family? A "wayang kulit" is supposed to be a noisy, boisterous and rowdy event. Singapore's ruling party seems to have perfected the art of "quiet wayang"  by masquerading inaction as "quiet diplomacy". Even the Romanian government is able to "wayang" better than Singapore. A week after Dr Silviu Ionescu's return, he was called up by the Romanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs for questioning. Two days later, he was recalled from his post and the ministry issued an official statement on its website expressing its condolences and regrets for the accident. Now, that is real "quiet diplomacy" at work, something for our millionaire Foreign Minister George Yeo to learn from. EDITORS’ NOTE: Please join our Facebook here. In the event our site is down again for whatever reasons in the future, we will inform readers on our Facebook. Copyright © 2009 – 2010 The Temasek Review (If you are going to reproduce this article on your blog or forum, please provide a link back to ours) Related articles: 1. Email interview with Yenny Young, wife of Mr Tong Kok Wai 2. Dr Silviu Ionescu: fact remains that I was not in the car at the time of the accident 3. Investigating or procrastinating: Dr Silviu Ionescu still holidaying in Romania 4. George Yeo on Romanian embassy car crash: What happened is “very bad” 5. Online petition calls on Romanian govt to make ex gratias payment 6. Dr Silviu Ionescu: I took cab to notify car theft 7. Eye witness saw driver quarreling with a young girl in the car 8. Dr Silviu Ionescu: I have no connection with the case 9. Dr Silviu Ionescu flagged taxi at Sungei Kadut 10. From Romania with love: The Great Singapore escape of Dr Silviu Ionescu 11. Singapore police has not ruled out Dr Silviu Ionescu as a suspect in its investigations 12. Romanian diplomat suspected to be driver of Audi in hit and run accident at Bukit Panjang  Read More →

Written by Our Correspondent The mother of Mr Tong Kok Wai who was killed in a double hit-and-run accident involving a vehicle from the Romanian embassy a month ago had contacted the Malaysian Chinese Association (MCA) for assistance to seek justice for her son. Mr Tong is a Malaysian and Singapore PR. His mother, 59 year old Tong Ah Mooi told the Singapore media in the aftermath of the accident that she hoped the culprit be brought to justice soon. Unfortunately after nearly a month, the identity of the driver remains a mystery. The prime suspect, Romanian diplomat Dr Silviu Ionescu was allowed to leave Singapore three days after the accident. He is currently in Romania and has been recalled from his post in Singapore. There is no extradition treaty between Singapore and Romania. The case is now in the hands of the Romania Prosecutor's Office who said the investigations may take "several months if not years" to complete. According to a report by Malaysian news agency Bernama, MCA Public Service and Complaints Department head Datuk Michael Chong said the Malaysian Government would bring justice for the victim by collaborating with the Singaporean authorities. He did not elaborate on how the Malaysian government will work with the Singapore government when the Singapore police has already "concluded" its investigations. Speaking to Malaysian reporters, an obviously distraught Madam Tong said: “Instead, he used his diplomatic immunity and had left Singapore, three days after the accident. My son is already dead and the guilty person should be brought to justice. I hope the Malaysian and Singapore authorities cooperate to solve this matter.” Ms Yenny Young, the widow of Mr Tong had earlier expressed her indignation that Dr Silviu Ionescu had chosen to "run away" instead of accepting responsibility for his actions. She has since contacted Singapore's Senior Counsel Subhas Anandan to explore the possibility of seeking some sort of compensation from the Romanian embassy in the meantime. The case has attracted much public attention from both Romania and Singapore due to the callous nature in which the culprit mowed down four passer-bys without stopping to offer any assistance to them. While the Romania authorities have responded quickly, the Singapore side appeared to be slow, nonchalant and inept. For example, a week after Dr Silviu Ionescu returned to Romania, he was called up for questioning by the Romanian Foreign Affairs Ministry. Two days later, they concluded their investigations and submitted the case to the Romania Prosecutor's Office. An official statement was issued on its website to express its condolences and regrets for the accident. In contrast, the Singapore police is only able to give the usual one-liner statement that "investigations are still ongoing" to the media. There are no official statements from the Singapore Ministry of Foreign Affairs other than a laughable remark from its Foreign Minister George Yeo that "what happened was very bad". Madam Tong would have better luck if she flew to Romania to press her case than to depend on Singapore and its equally hapless neighbor Malaysia to help her seek justice for her son. EDITORS’ NOTE: Please join our Facebook here. In the event our site is down again for whatever reasons in the future, we will inform readers on our Facebook. Copyright © 2009 – 2010 The Temasek Review (If you are going to reproduce this article on your blog or forum, please provide a link back to ours) Related articles: 1. Email interview with Yenny Young, wife of Mr Tong Kok Wai 2. Dr Silviu Ionescu: fact remains that I was not in the car at the time of the accident 3. Investigating or procrastinating: Dr Silviu Ionescu still holidaying in Romania 4. George Yeo on Romanian embassy car crash: What happened is “very bad” 5. Online petition calls on Romanian govt to make ex gratias payment 6. Dr Silviu Ionescu: I took cab to notify car theft 7. Eye witness saw driver quarreling with a young girl in the car 8. Dr Silviu Ionescu: I have no connection with the case 9. Dr Silviu Ionescu flagged taxi at Sungei Kadut 10. From Romania with love: The Great Singapore escape of Dr Silviu Ionescu 11. Singapore police has not ruled out Dr Silviu Ionescu as a suspect in its investigations 12. Romanian diplomat suspected to be driver of Audi in hit and run accident at Bukit Panjang  Read More →