TR EMERITUS – The Voice Of The Lunatic Fringe – 淡马锡评论 – formerly Temasek Review

我们是否该重新思考国防开支的优先顺序？

新加坡政府近日宣布将采购两艘额外的“无畏级”潜艇，引发了一个重要问题：我们的国防力量，到底需要多强？毫无疑问，一个强大且可信的军队对于保障国家主权与威慑潜在威胁是不可或缺的。新加坡地处战略要冲，国土面积有限，因此需要一支现代化的武装部队。然而，当我们对比邻国——马来西亚拥有两艘潜艇、印尼正逐步扩展至十二艘——新加坡在水下战力上已处于领先地位。这不禁让人质疑，我们是否正引领着一场无声的区域军备竞赛？问题在于：当威慑的需求被满足后，继续扩军是否已经超出必要？一艘“无畏级”潜艇的估价超过十亿新元，还不包括长期的运营与维护成本。这两艘新潜艇的资金，若能转用于迫切的民生需求，例如医疗保健、老龄化支援、教育及弱势群体扶助，或许对社会的整体韧性更具意义。政府一再强调国防开支是经过审慎规划的，但当生活成本日益上升，政府却仍需将消费税（Gst）提高至9%甚至更多，这种矛盾不禁令人困惑。如果某些战略性国防项目能够延后或循序推进，节省下来的资源是否可以用于社会发展呢？ “全面防卫”不仅仅是硬件实力，更是要赢得人民的心与信任。让人民感到安心、有保障、受到重视，这种安全感无法靠潜艇来衡量，而是通过每一位国人的生活实感体现出来。这并非是在呼吁削弱我们的国防，而是呼吁我们重新思考国家的优先事项。当我们继续推进军事现代化的同时，也不要忽视同样重要的任务——巩固社会契约、增强国民凝聚力。 Cwc-Ai

2025大选—明确授权，变化中的政治格局

2025年大选结果无可争议，政府再次赢得了强有力的授权，稳固了其在新加坡政治格局中的主导地位。尽管选举结果并不令人意外，但胜利的过程却并非没有争议和复杂性。值得注意的是，选区划分的变化在本次选战中发挥了重要作用。陈清木医生与徐顺全医生等资深反对派人物，因选区重划而受到显著影响——传统支持基础被分割或并入他区，无疑左右了某些关键选区的最终结果。虽然选区调整在新加坡选举历史上并不罕见，但其公平性与透明度仍持续引发讨论。工人党虽稳守东北区的传统堡垒，但未能在本届大选中攻下新的选区。不过，该党仍获得两个非选区议员（Ncmp）席位，虽属安慰性质，却在象征意义上维持了国会内多元声音的存在。更值得关注的是，本届大选所处的人口背景正经历剧烈变化。新加坡人口从2000年的约300万增长至2025年的超过500万。考虑到多年来出生率持续偏低，这一增长几乎可以肯定主要归因于移民流入，尤其可能在华人群体中增长显著。这一趋势对国家的社会结构和政治生态产生了深远影响。展望2030年大选，各政党不仅要面对一如既往的选区调整与突发的全球事件，更需正视一个不断演变的社会结构。随着越来越多新移民成为国民，选民构成日益多元，政党在政策制定与信息传递上必须更具包容性与前瞻性。他们必须同时争取老一代公民与新加坡新公民的认同，回应共同关切，并跨越代际与文化差异的鸿沟。在新加坡持续向前迈进的过程中，其政治也必须与时俱进——反映日益多元的人口现实，同时坚守国家的核心价值观：团结、韧性与务实。 Cwc-Ai

VIDEO: Mr Chiam See Tong received a rousing welcome from Potong Pasir residents

Background: Potong Pasir MP Mr Chiam See Tong was given a rousing welcome by a Chinese, Malay and Indian dance troupe. The guests reached out to him to shake his hands as he walked to take his seat at the table. There is a distinctive feeling of “Singaporean” in the atmosphere with the diners chatting to one another in dialects, Malay and Tamil amidst a background of getai singers crooning Chinese and Hokkien songs. PART 1 PART 2 EDITORS' NOTE: The above videos were recorded in HD. You can watch HD videos on Youtube by toggling the "HD" button at the bottom bar on the right of the volume control. Related articles: 1. Interview with Potong Pasir residents on what they think of Mr Chiam’s performance as a MP 2. Dinner bash to celebrate Mr Chiam’s 25 years of service to Potong Pasir 3. Mr Chiam See Tong’s speech 4. Gallery 01: A glimpse of life in Potong Pasir 5. Gallery 02: Arrival of guests 6. Gallery 03: A rousing welcome for Mr Chiam See Tong 7. Gallery 04: Mr Chiam's speech and toast by opposition leaders Copyright © The Temasek Review, 2009 Read More →

YPAP member resorts to smearing critic’s character to silence him on Facebook

Written by Our Correspondent Unable to defeat a dogged critic in a debate, a YPAP member had resorted to posting personal details about him on the YPAP Facebook in a desperate bid to discredit him and smear his moral character, reminiscent of the dirty underhanded tactic commonly employed by the PAP to demolish its opponents in past elections. Mr Alex Tan had been posting his outspoken views on the YPAP Facebook against policies like national service (NS) and the Central Provident Fund for the past six months before being barred from posting lately. YPAP administrators accused Mr Tan of indulging in name-calling and vulgarities without substantiating their claims while Mr Tan counter-accused them of starting the flame war first. A YPAP member had revealed on the YPAP Facebook Mr Tan had been put in detention barracks for five days last year, for writing a blog post listing the number of people who have died while serving NS since 2000. Mr Tan felt they (YPAP) should handle him by the content of his posts, and not his person. YPAP has since deleted the majorityof Mr Tan's posts. He should not be surprised as the PAP is adept at resorting to character assassination to cripple their opponents as epitomized by their "fixing" of J.B. Jeyaretnam, Francis Seow, Jufrie Mahmood, Tang Liang Hong, Dr Chee Soon Juan and James Gomez in the past. As expected, PAP MP and Vice-Chairman of YPAP Mr Zaqy Mohamad jumped to the defence of YPAP in Sunday Times today: "We would not ban someone just for making anti-establishment remarks. It must have been because those remarks were harsh and malicious," he noted. It is obvious that Mr Tan must have ruffled the feathers of the YPAP with his hard-hitting diatribes as it is the first time the YPAP has resorted to banning a netizen from posting on its Facebook. The rising tide of anti-establishment sentiment in cyberspace continues to impede the YPAP's efforts to reach out to the online community. A YPAP member and new citizen from India Mr Fredric Fanthome who blogged on the P65 blog, was rapped lately for his callous comments on the opposition's reaction to the proposed "cooling-off" day. Mr Fanthome had criticized the Singapore opposition for its "knee-jerk" response and exhorted it to provide "constructive criticisms" to policies instead of "opposing for the sake of opposing". Despite investing large amount of money, manpower and resources into the new media such as revamping the PAP and YPAP websites, the PAP has yet to make its presence felt in Singapore blogosphere which is dominated by independent players who are often critical of the establishment. Copyright © The Temasek Review, 2009 Read More →

詹时中在翻新后的新加坡人民党网站反对“冷静日”

来源：淡马锡评论译者：冀居·谢反对党资深议员詹时中在翻新后的新加坡人民党网站发表一则简单声明，表示反对“冷静日”。詹先生说：“所谓冷静日只不过是让行动党在反对党猛攻下喘一口气。” 他认为这是民主 (democracy) 的后退一步，他补充说：“如果新加坡要步澳洲、意大利等国家的后尘，有个所谓的‘冷静期’，那么就应该在六个月至一年内提早公布大选日期。” 新加坡人民党的网站翻新之后，还使用一句新口号：“新加坡人的新加坡”--相信会引起许多新加坡人的共鸣。移民的涌入或许是当今新加坡人最关心和懊恼的课题。由于执政党的宽松移民政策，外来人士已经占了新加坡总人口的36巴仙，和1990年相比是增加了14巴仙。土生土长的新加坡人占其余64巴仙的成数，当局并没有告诉国人。单单去年就新增了2万名新公民和9万名永久居民。面对外人大量移居的情况下，反对党只要利用社会上的这股怨气和不满，就足以影响选票。然而，由于竞选机制握在他们手上，行动党可以动用最后一分钟的修改和条例来瘫痪反对党。诚如詹时中先生指出，大选本来就不公平，因为对于大选日期，反对党向来都是被蒙在鼓里，而行动党早已了然于心。选区划分也在最后一分钟公布，以此来打乱反对党的选举步伐。此外、举凡主流媒体、警察、民事服务、基层组织和所有公务机构等，执政党都有办法牢牢控制。这就好比一场巴西和新加坡的足球赛，裁判、巡边员甚至管理球场的技术人员，统统都站在前者那一边。 1984年他击败国家发展部长马宝山第一次进入国会，詹时中先生将在本星期六和他的选民一同庆祝他担任国会议员25年的纪念。庆祝活动将在波东巴西第一道第119座旁的空地举行，估计会有1千人出席，包括好些反对党的领袖。餐费是每人30元。 Read More →