TR EMERITUS

Written by Our Correspondent Health Minister Khaw Boon Wan has made an appeal to Singaporeans to take the H1N1 jab on his blog. The Health Ministry (MOH) has purchased 1.3 million doses of H1N1 vaccine, but only 417,250 have been bought by clinics so far. As the vaccines have a limited self-life of only 12 - 18 months, many will have to be discarded leading to MOH suffering a loss. MOH told The Straits Times that it might respond to the World Health Organisation's (WHO) request to developed countries to donate 10 per cent of their vaccine purchases to developing nations. Mr Khaw wrote on his blog that it is a challenge to match vaccine supply to demand: 'Because nobody can tell beforehand how the pandemic will pan out, countries will try to order as many vaccines as they can afford. No health minister will want to be seen to be short of vaccines for their people,' he added. According to CDC guidelines, the H1N1 vaccine is recommended for pregnant women, elderly above the age of 55 and those with underlying lung diseases such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. As for children and adults, the clinical evidence for the use of the H1N1 vaccine to protect against the swine flu is flimsy at best. Unlike SARS, H1N1 resembles the common flu and has a low mortality and morbidity rate. Besides, a significant proportion of Singaporeans may already have been exposed to the virus and develop antibodies to it which obviates the need for the jab. Though the cost price of the vaccine is reasonable at between $25 - $35, it appears that many Singaporeans are still unwilling to fork out the money for the jab. Mr Khaw felt that it is still "too early" to tell how the H1N1 will pan out in 2010 and it is likely that it will remain the predominant influenza strain and so the vaccine will remain useful for many months. He ended his article urging Singaporeans to take the H1N1 jab: "But nature will constantly surprise mankind. Hence, my advice to Singaporeans who have yet to be vaccinated is to get jabbed while the vaccine is available. Better not wait until there is a scramble for it. Remember MP Lee Bee Wah's famous Hokkien quote in Parliament a couple of years ago :)"  Read More →

By Koh Cheong Kiat While you all are busy on the roads or doing overtime at your office, Temasek Review went down to the Speaker’s Corner at Hong Lim Park to attend a memorial service to remember the late Reform Party’s founder, Mr. Joshua Benjamin Jeyaretnam on the evening of 5 January 2010. This article is written for you to gain some insight on the event and remembers late Mr. Jeyaretnam as he is to his counterparts and supporters. Upon reaching the venue, we were greeted by a group of representatives from the Singapore Democratic Party and the Reform Party. The main speakers of the evening are Mr. Kenneth Jeyaretnam, Secretary-General of the Reform Party, Dr. Chee Soon Juan of the Singapore Democratic Party and Mr. Leong Sze Hian, a Financial Consultant. We also managed to speak with Mr. Alex Tan, and other young representatives from both parties. The issues that were being touched upon included the past actions and memories of the late Mr. Jeyaretnam that had touched the lives of the people and the impact it had on the future lives of them. No sad speeches were the prerequisites of this event even due to the gloomy roots but then again, jokes were also being said to lighten the mood and atmosphere of the event by Mr. Leong Sze Hian as the late JBJ had mentioned to him when he was alive that the HDB problem is predictable. Now, the problem has surfaced and the late JBJ is known to be able to foresee this happening way before its time. Dr. Chee Soon Juan was up next. He shared his thoughts and feeling about the late JBJ’s inspiration and vision in reforming Singapore. Throughout the speech, he was like a voice for the late JBJ, voicing out his ideology as though he was there. Kenneth Jeyaretnam, the son of the late JBJ was an economist by education and now is in politics. He was the right hand man to his father when he was still alive and had knowledge of the followings and procedures of the Reform Party. His father has taught him well and is now able and capable of continuing his father’s legacy, although he is not much of a politician than an economist. During our short conversation, Mr. Alex Tan revealed how he thought of the late JBJ and how he was inspired by him. Representatives from the respective party also reviewed their encounter with the late JBJ and how his deeds have made an impact on them, which inspired them to be who they are presently. All in all, this event is to remember the late JBJ, the things he had done, and the things he hasn’t which would be touched upon by his son and the Reform party. It ended with a vigil where the public burnt a candle and had a moment of silence. So now, let us all have a moment of silence after reading this article to remember the late Mr. Joshua Benjamin Jeyaretnam and his actions which have leave a mark in the Singapore’s history.  Read More →

OPINION In the aftermath of the 2006 general elections, the PAP set up an "internet subcommittee" or "PAP interent brigade" headed by YPAP Vice Chairman Mr Zaqy Mohamad to devise strategies for the party to engage the online community. For the past few years, the subcommittee has little to show other than to start up a P65 blog whose readership has remained stagnant for three years, a YPAP Facebook for PAP members and sycophants to "scratch one another's back" and a few additional features to its pathetic party websites. YPAP hardly make any impact on Singapore's socio-political blogosphere which is dominated by independent sites strongly critical of the establishment till recently when it finally make its "mark" in cyberspace by declaring war on Singapore netizens, or did it? The "YPAP versus rest of us" flame war was started in early December last year when a YPAP member and a new citizen from India had the audacity to describe netizens as "anonymous hordes who spray venom at the government" on the usually deserted P65 blog which was subsequently swarmed by angry netizens lampooning him. A week later, the Straits Times reported a 22-year old project engineer by the name of Alex Tan who was banned from posting on the YPAP Facebook ostensibly on the ground of indulging in "vulgarities and name-callings". Mr Zaqy Mohamad was quick to jump to the defence of the YPAP, but subsequent checks on the YPAP Facebook revealed that Alex was taunted mercilessly by YPAP members, especially one Sear Hock Rong who addressed him in a condescending manner as the "Alex Tan Zhixiong who was charged for general disobedience". The callous behavior of Sear sparked a massive outcry in cyberspace with netizens questioning where he got confidential information about Alex's past detention record during his National Service. Sear added fuel to the fire by describing 3in1 kopitiam forumers to which Alex belongs to as "terrorists" on his blog, triggering a protracted flame war between YPAP and 3in1kopitiam. Sear's business dealings with Eunos grassroots organizations were also put under intense public scrutiny by netizens who question if there are any conflicts of interest. Sear challenged netizens who doubted his integrity to lodge a complaint against him which was gladly taken up by Alex Tan. Unable to fend off the relentless criticisms hurled at them, YPAP members resort to underhanded tactics commonly employed by their senior members to "fix" their opponents. A YPAP member Eric How admitted to writing to Delphiforums to complain against 3in1kopitiam forumers posting personal information of YPAP members which is already in the public domain anyway to get their posts deleted and nicknames banned. Coincidentally, a "Janet Wee" wrote a complaint to several government agencies about a "seditious" article posted on another socio-political blog. The Temasek Review wrote a report on Eric Low's disparaging remarks on netizens based on information obtained from 3in1kopitiam and was attacked as well. Two days ago, a Chinese man by the name of "Desmond Quek" who claimed to be from an agency "related" to the Singapore government called up our hosting company to shut our site down on the ground that we have revealed "sensitive" personal information of individuals on our site. When asked to provide his particulars and concrete evidence to stake his claim, he backed off and slammed down the phone. A day later, another anonymous poster threatened Alex Tan to stop "harassing" YPAP members and that a "report" has been made against him. While Singapore bloggers and forumers do have their fair share of petty differences and animosities, we seldom resort to hitting below the belt like YPAP did to get external authorities to shut down the sites of our rivals. It seems that the YPAP is not interested in engaging netizens at all. YPAP members are living in an ivory tower so high up that they fail to realize the reality is quite different from their sheltered world which they are brought up in. The PAP is never comfortable with debating with its political opponents and detractors. With the mainstream media firmly in their control, they do not see the need to win people over to their side. The PAP's mode of communication is a one-way traffic: you listen to what we have to tell you and we pretend that we are listening to you. There is absolutely no interaction at all. One need only take a peek at the "discussions" going on at the YPAP Facebook to get a "feel" of how insulated and isolated the YPAP world view is from the rest of Singapore blogosphere. Netizens are expected to reveal their identities in real life before their questions will be entertained as anonymous posters lack "credibility". Anybody caught asking embarrassing questions or attacking a PAP leader will be given a warning immediately and the poster will be banned from the their Facebook should the number of warnings exceed three times. Judging from the words and actions of YPAP members, it seems that they do not think much of netizens who choose to remain anonymous and since they are not worth engaging, they can be dismissed easily as hordes of venomous snakes. With such a shallow and misguided thinking, it is little wonder that the PAP is unable to extend its reach into cyberspace despite pouring an inordinate amount of resources into revamping the party's image and enhancing its IT capabilities. The substance of one's arguments, not one's identity is the key in online engagements. You can be a multi-millionaire minister, but if you sprout nonsense like one octogenarian PAP leader did lately, you will still be cut down to size in cyberspace. On the other hand, if one is able to elucidate one's thoughts intelligently in a clear and concise manner which is easily understandable to most netizens, then he or she will have no difficulties winning both friends and fans in Singapore's blogosphere. The Temasek Review is run largely by anonymous netizens. Some of our regular columnists are bloggers whose identities are known in real life, but most remain incognito. Our critics used to laugh as us for being "faceless bacteria", but when they realize each single article publish on our site will be read by more than 10,000 people daily, they shiver and their pants drop. The majority of netizens prefer to operate in the "shadows" like us. The YPAP is starting a war in their own backyards for they are missing the forest altogether. YPAP members should stop pissing netizens off with their childish antics of making complaints and reports to shut their critics up. This is cyberspace, the last frontier of free speech in Singapore. If you cannot stand the heat, just shut up, act blur and pretend nothing has happened like your own MP Lee Bee Wah. Whether you like it or not, the rest of us will continue blogging anonymously. You have the right to ignore us, but if you decide to engage us, then you better obey the basic rules of communication in blogosphere.  Read More →