TR EMERITUS

EDITORS' NOTE: The following speech is reproduced with kind permission from Dr James Gomez Dear friends, Today we gather to commemorate JB Jeyaretnam and his political work which have become symbols for the principles of democracy in Singapore. Over the last 40 years, whether as an individual, a civil society group member or an opposition party politician one way or another we would all have come across or had some direct contact with JBJ if we had embarked on a democratic project. Now that JBJ is no longer with us, it is important that we consolidate and build on some of his achievements and plot new democratic opportunities as Singaporeans. My first direct contact with JBJ was in 1988 when as President, of the Philosophy Society and a first year undergraduate at NUS, I invited him to speak on Political Freedoms in Singapore on campus - it was 21 years ago. NUS had a set of bureaucratic procedures that had to be negotiated if you wanted to invite opposition figures to speak on campus. These bureaucratic processes do not make inviting opposition parties representatives onto campus easy. At the same time, the main challenge was staff members and fellow undergraduates who practiced self-censorship and tried to undermine or withdraw support when inviting opposition figures on to campus to speak. Nevertheless the few of us involved in the organization of this talk succeeded, and JBJ spoke to a full house at Lecture Theatre 11 and the talk was reported on the front page of the NUS student union newspaper. In the years following I had other contact occasions with JBJ. We had conversations over writing styles and article submissions to the Hammer at his office in the former Colombo Court building. I followed his campaign in the 1991 general elections attended his walkabout and rallies. In the later part of the 90s, like many Singaporeans, I too bought a book or two from him as he began his island-wide book selling effort to clear his bankruptcy arising from politics. Seeing that this was a solitary effort, in 2001, I, through the Think Centre, had the opportunity to organize with several others the Save JBJ Rally. We had to navigate red tape at the various national licensing authorities and eventually managed to pull the event off. The challenges of organizing the Save JBJ Rally is a matter of public record as it was reported in the media and have since been analyzed in academic writings on Singapore politics. Because of the interaction with JBJ it was quite natural that several of us from the Think Centre trooped over to the Workers’ Party where he had been the Secretary-General for over 30 years. Work abroad kept me away from Singapore but in 2003, it was my pleasure and privilege during one of my trips back home to prepare and deliver the citation for JBJ when he received the Think Centre’s Human Rights award. When JBJ passed on in late 2008, I was again abroad and like many others penned a tribute on my blog and joined the Facebook page set up to commemorate him. Since JBJ’s passing, there have been several initiatives to commemorate him, institutionalize his democratic legacy and acknowledge his contribution to the democratic cause. These efforts are being undertaken by those who have known him and worked closely with him and also by others who find it symbolic to evoke his name as a democratic ideal. At the same time, we have also begun to witness hurdles to efforts to commemorate JBJ institutionally while others try to cast aspersions on his political work. Given the nature of Singapore political system and its impact on political culture there will always be some who will try to cast JBJ and his democratic efforts in negative light. The only way to combat this is to ensure democratic values, ideas, efforts and institutions are constituted in Singapore and to show up those who would paint democratic principles and democrats in unflattering ways. Seeing all of you here today, I am confident that institutionalizing JBJ as a democratic symbol in Singapore will not be a problem moving forward. I want to end my tribute to JBJ today by sharing with you two updates. One, I like to inform you that I have chosen not to renew my Workers Party memberships which lapsed on 31 Dec 2009. Two, that some of us, inspired by JBJ, had submitted an application to the Registrar of Society in late April 2009 to set up a political association called Singaporeans for Democracy. It is approaching 9 months since we submitted our application and we are still waiting to hear from the Registrar about the outcome. Nevertheless we have been actively following up on our application in the last months by calling up the relevant officers at the Registrar for updates. In our last call to the Registrar office last week we were informed that the results of our application will be known in two weeks – that is mid January 2010. I hope to make more information publicly available as soon as we hear from the Registrar. I was like many of you, saddened by JBJ’s demise. But I am also someone who prefers to look ahead. JBJ has done good political work and this is something we need to build on. More importantly the tone of the struggle needs to be borne in mind. If you want to take on the PAP, it should never be on a bended knee. That much I have learnt from JBJ. (Adapted and developed from my tribute to JBJ written on 1 October 2008 and delivered as a speech on 5th January 2010 on JBJ’s birthday commemoration at Speakers Corner.)   Dr. James Gomez Lecturer Communications, Public Relations & Writing School of Humanities, Communications and Social Sciences Monash University Building B, 4th Floor, Room 55 (B4.55) 900 Dandenong Road, Caulfied East Victoria 3145  Read More →

The Examiner, 5 January 2010 Tiger Woods will enter rehab in Arizona in the New Year to be treated for “multiple addictions,” according to the UK’s Daily Mail newspaper. The paper reports that Woods will be treated for sex addition and also his addiction to sleeping pills and painkillers. According to a number of news outlets, Woods uses the highly addictive painkiller Vicodin, which can boost the male sex drive. He also uses Ambien.  In a previous article, one of his first alleged mistress, Rachel Uchitel,  described having "Ambien sex" with Woods. Meanwhile, as previously reported, Woods' wife, Elin Nordegren,  plans to head to her native Sweden  with her two children and without Woods where she will spend Christmas. Nordegren plans to consult with high-powered divorce attorney Sorrell Trope before heading to Sweden, according to People Magazine.  Woods’ wife, Elin Nordegren,  is consulting with high-powered Hollywood divorce attorney Sorrell Trope, according to the New York Daily News. But it appears Woods won't give up without a fight.  TMZ.com is reporting that he is still fighting to save his marriage. Trope, 82,  has been practicing law since 1949.  His clients included Cary Grant, Rod Steiger, Nichole Kidman, Nicholas Cage, Hugh Grant, and Britney Spears. Trope has a reputation for being high-priced but worth it for his tough skills in getting what his clients want. People Magazine is reporting that Woods’ wife Elin Nordegren is consulting with Sorrell before she heads out to her native Sweden for Christmas with her two kids and without their father, Tiger Woods. Meanwhile, another major sponsor, Swiss watch company Tag Heuer, has announced it is drooping Woods from its ads in the US. Jean-Christophe Babin, TAG Heuer’s CEO, said in a statement: “The partnership with Tiger Woods will continue but we will downscale the use of his image in certain markets for a period of time, depending on his decision about returning to professional golf.” - The Examiner  Read More →

作者:费言 吴俊刚说： 【华语如果无法在家庭这道防线上收复失地，那么，政府的双语政策就只剩下最后一道防线——强制性的母语学习。而如果眼前 的语言形势继续发展下去的话，到了60%的父母不再以为孩子是华人，所以应该学习自己的母语的时候（根据早报的调查，目前有60%的父母是这么认为的）， 这道防线在政治上是极其脆弱的。】 如果吴俊刚所指的这60%愿意放弃母语的新加坡华人，是代表了大多数人的利益与霸权，就算这种结果，是这些人在当年如何被潜移默化，被威迫利诱而放弃自己的语文，我们无论如何都应该承认，新加坡华人社会，根本上已经成就了其他民族永远做不到的“弃根忘本”惊人奇迹成就。（如果你愿意认为“忘本”也是一种成就的话） 要把一个华人社会塑造成一个彻底自愿放弃自己的民族语文，愿意自己真正成为“数典忘祖”的社会，新加坡算是世上少有，非常难得地取得“成功”了。 不过，要挽救母语的颓势问题，其实也没那么悲观啦，如果我们上下都不怕世人耻笑的话。 其实，新加坡人是一种很容易被利诱的动物。很简单，你只要搞点小聪明再耍一下，例如，立法规定每个新加坡华人适龄公民，如果基本华文华语达到小学程度或过关 的话，申请组屋就有优先权，或者可以回扣5万元。。。或者进大学可以少考科目或少算几分，或者，在政府部门和公司的薪金比“华文不行的”多$50元。。。 不必再费神搞那么多欺骗世人的所谓“改善华文教学”的小动作了，不必多10年。。。就。。。 30年前，一个南大毕业生如果到政府部门找工作，人家会以鄙视的口吻先和你说：哦。。你就是从那间“被关掉”的老爷大学出来的吗？华校生到底是中了什么魔咒，怎么会一夜之间都成了二等公民，二等就业货色呢？谁有这种偷天换日的魔法法力呢？ 在一个80%华人的国家，不懂英文到底有什么罪呢？为什么连国家的地铁站，政府机构，政府文件，都可以公然剥夺自己人民以自己母语阅读车站说明和理解文字的权力呢？这是谁干过的好事他们自己心里有数！ 40年来的鄙视华文运动，仇视华文运动，恐惧华文运动发展到今天的“淋漓尽致”地步，发展到了几乎要立法强制规定“国民最低母语水平”的笑话程度，这难道还不足以让世人耻笑吗？自动鄙视和放弃自己的母语，这到底是纯粹发自民间的利益考量，或者是有心人苦心人，经过处心积虑，千方百计制造出来的“华文白色恐怖”造成的呢？ 我们当年，不就是用这种“威迫利诱、利益恐吓”的手段让人们自动放弃自己母语的吗？ 要让他们回到母语这边，问题简单嘛，倒回头进行利益贿赂不就得了吗？ 华人母语问题，绝对不会被政治化，这绝对只是关系到钞票的问题。我都说了，新加坡人是一种很容易被利诱的动物，既然当年，少损失50元就可以叫他们放弃母语，那么今天，让他们多赚50元，不就可以叫他们浪子回头，开始“拥抱和爱惜”学习母语了吗？笨！ 来源：大马论坛  Read More →