TR EMERITUS

OPINION With elections looming around the corner, the ruling party is again making use of the power of its incumbency to change the rules of the game and shift the goal-posts in order to "engineer" another electoral result which will ensure their continued political hegemony. In other modern democracies, the best result a political party can achieve is a simple majority to form the government without having to enter into a coalition with another party. Under the unique Singapore political system, the PAP has set such high "standards" for itself that anything less than the status quo (winning 82 out of 84 seats) is considered a failure or in the words of MM Lee Kuan Yew, a "freak" result. (according to Dr Yaacob, this will be a "once in a fifty year" event) Throughout the years, the PAP has cleverly manipulated the system to maximize its chances of winning in every elections, be it through rampant gerrymandering via the GRC system, serving a dose of pork-barrel politics to threaten the electorate or using the state media to discredit and demolish their opponents. Nothing is left to chance. The latest announcement by Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong that an additional "cooling-off" day will be introduced in the next election should not be dismissed as something trivial for it is a reflection of the behind-scene preparations which have been going on for the last few months. The "cooling-off" day is supposed to give voters more time to "calmly" reflect on their decision and to prevent public disorder from breaking out. All campaigning including mass rallies, door-to-door visits and display of party logos and symbols in public places will be banned on the “cooling-off” day which is extended to cyberspace as well, but there is one exception: the news reporting on the election in the state media and the traditional broadcasts of political parties will not be affected. The PAP's greatest fear lies in the electorate being swayed by charismatic speakers and articles in the new media which lies beyond their control. The additional day is actually an "insurance policy" for them to attempt to influence the outcome of the election in the last minute should things turn out not the way they wanted or expected. During the 2006 elections, the opposition rallies are attended by tens of thousands of Singaporeans while the PAP rallies only managed to attract a paltry crowd. Even PM Lee's son admitted that the opposition rallies are more exciting. Though the new media did not play a major role then, blogger Alex Au of Yawning Bread still managed to embarrass the state media which censored photos of the huge turnout at opposition rallies by posting photos of the large crowd attending the Workers' Party's rallies on his blog. Mr Brown's "Bak Chor Mee" parody which poured sarcasm on the PAP's constant harping on the Gomezgate issue was a hit among netizens and exposed the hypocrises of its leaders. Despite their recent forays into the new media, the PAP has literally no conceivable presence in cyberspace which is dominated by blogs critical of the establishment or sympathetic towards the opposition cause. The "cooling-off" day will help to counter the advantage enjoyed by the opposition in these two aspects and to tap on the inherent strengths of the PAP which will be given longer air time on TV and favorable coverage in the state media. In other words, this means that only pro-government voices are allowed to heard in the public domain on the eve of polling day which will surely tilt the playing field in favor of the PAP. For those who have already made up their minds long before the election, they do not require an extra day to make a "rational" decision. The target group is voters with no political affiliations and have not decided who to cast their votes for. Due to the general apathy pervading the entire nation, a significant proportion of Singaporeans may fall into this "swing" group which have the potential to determine the final result in closely fought contests. With Singapore voters becoming more politically astute and demanding coupled with the emergence of the new media as an alternative source of information to counter the official propaganda from the mainstream media, the odds of a "freak" result happening in the next election is not as remote as it seems. While it is highly unlikely that the PAP will be booted out of government or even denied their customary two-thirds majority due to the ineptitude and weakness of the opposition, there is a good chance that they may lose a GRC which will deal a psychological blow to its aura of invincibility. GRCs are considered as impregnable "fortresses" of the PAP which had never lost a single one since the scheme was first introduced in the 1988 general elections. Once a GRC falls into the opposition hands, the floodgate will open with more and more Singaporeans joining the ranks of the opposition to challenge the PAP as predicted by MM Lee himself the likely scenario in the post-LKY era. The Malaysian opposition party Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) founded by former deputy prime minister Anwar Ibrahim was considered a "goner" before the 2008 general elections. After it won an unprecedened 31 seats to become the largest opposition party in parliament, its membership shot up by more than 100 per cent in less than a year. The stakes are getting higher and higher for the PAP. The loss of a GRC or a few more single wards in addition to the two opposition wards of Potong Pasir and Hougang will herald a new dawn in Singapore politics. No amount of gerrymandering, propaganda or repression, let alone a "cooling-off" day can deter a politically aware, educated and informed citizenry for supporting alternative parties to break the political monopoly enjoyed by the PAP continuously since the 1966 elections when the opposition Barisan Sosialist made a colossal blunder by boycotting it. The real battle will not be fought during the campaigning period or on the eve of polling day, but on every single day after Singaporeans gave the PAP another "overwhelming" mandate in 2006. From the ministers giving themselves a big pay rise, the relentless influx of foreigners, sky-rocketing prices of public housing, investment losses of Temasek and GIC, rising cost of living to a series of repressive laws introduced to curtail the civil liberties of Singaporeans, the PAP's "track record" is for all to see. Can we afford to give them another blank cheque to do as they please for the next five years? By the time the next election is held, the PAP would have been in power for more than 5 decades. The time is ripe for a "freak" election to occur. Related articles: >> SDP opposes "cooling-off" day and calls for a genuine electoral process >> Low Thia Kiang: Cooling-off period will give PAP an extra day of campaigning >> PM Lee: 24 hour "cooling-off" period at next GE >> Websites of political parties will be bound by cooling-off day rules  Read More →

Written by Our Correspondent Singapore's popular blogger Mr Brown aka Lee Kin Mun had his article on the Bukit Timah flooding which was published 2 days ago in Singtel digital medial portal - inSing.com removed following a complaint lodged by the Ministry of Environment and Water Resources. Mr Brown shot to fame during the 2006 general elections with his parody "Bak Chor Mee" poking fun at the PAP leaders' "over-reaction" at the James Gomez incident. His article, titled "mrbrown and the flood" is a satire making veiled criticisms of the government's response towards the flooding in parts of Bukit Timah 2 weeks ago which caused immense damage to the buildings and cars there. Its first paragraph pours sarcasm on the reaction from the Minister of Environment Dr Yaacob Ibrahim: "I think we need to appoint a Minister of Freak Incidents soon. After all, who is going to deal with the kind of incidents like the recent flooding of Bukit Timah? According to the authorities, the kind of rainfall that can cause such flooding was a 'freak' event that occurs only once in 50 years." Another reads: "If your Ferrari happened to be submerged in a basement car park that fateful freak of a day, and your insurance does not cover "use of car as submarine", you can still find solace that the next time this kind of flooding occurs, it will be 50 years later." Dr Yaacob Ibrahim claimed that the flooding was a "freak" event which occurs once in fifty years and there is nothing his ministry can do to "plan ahead" for it. Dr Yaacob had used the same excuse to describe a similar flooding in Thomson area in 2006. After the flooding, PUB moved in to install flood sensors along the canals in Bukit Timah and also promised to widen them soon though construction work will only commence next year. Mr Brown wrote that further clarification from his editor "reveals that it was the Ministry of the Environment and Water Resources that raised their objections to the column to MICA, who then conveyed the feedback to Singtel." "The column I wrote entitled "mrbrown and the flood" was removed from the Insing site because Ministry of Information, Communications and the Arts (MICA) the Ministry of the Environment and Water Resources (MEWR) took issue with it and asked for it to be taken down. From what I understand, MICA's MEWR's issue (via MICA) with the column was that it criticized a minister and a ministry," he added. The Singapore government is well-known for its low tolerance for criticism and dissent. A senior Straits Times correspondent Sue-Ann Chia was rapped by Senior Minister Goh Chok Tong a few months ago for her "inaccurate" article on a PAP MP. This is not the first time which Mr Brown had got into trouble with the authorities. In July 2006, his column in TODAY daily was suspended following a satirical article on the rising cost of living in Singapore. In a harsh rebuttal to Mr Brown published in TODAY, the press secretary for MICA K Bhavani wrote: "mr brown's views on all these issues distort the truth. They are polemics dressed up as analysis, blaming the Government for all that he is unhappy with. He offers no alternatives or solutions. His piece is calculated to encourage cynicism and despondency, which can only make things worse, not better, for those he professes to sympathise with. mr brown is entitled to his views. But opinions which are widely circulated in a regular column in a serious newspaper should meet higher standards. Instead of a diatribe mr brown should offer constructive criticism and alternatives. And he should come out from behind his pseudonym to defend his views openly." The overbearing official response and subsequent treatment of Mr Brown drew widespread criticisms from bloggers and netizens. A group of 20 plus Singaporeans and citizens wearing brown T-shirts turned up at City Hall MRT station in support of Mr Brown. Since the unhappy incident, Mr Brown appeared to have "toned down" a little on his blog. He wrote later that he was worried that he might get into "trouble" with the authorities. Read Mr Brown's article here  Read More →

Written by Mr Brown for insing.com I think we need to appoint a Minister of Freak Incidents soon. After all, who is going to deal with the kind of incidents like the recent flooding of Bukit Timah? According to the authorities, the kind of rainfall that can cause such flooding was a 'freak' event that occurs only once in 50 years. Environment Minister Yaacob Ibrahim even said, "We knew the diversion canal was not big enough to take this." That was very reassuring to know. I can imagine someone saying, "You know, those canals are not going to be able to take very heavy rainfall." And someone else in charge might have said, "We know. But what to do? We cannot make the biggest canals to accommodate the biggest rainfall possible. We can't cater to freaks. Anyway, once in a half-century only lah." If your Ferrari happened to be submerged in a basement car park that fateful freak of a day, and your insurance does not cover "use of car as submarine", you can still find solace that the next time this kind of flooding occurs, it will be 50 years later. So feel free to buy a new car and park it in underground car parks along Bukit Timah after this. While this is not Katrina, the residents of District 11 do not have it good, either. They work hard, live on prime land, and their homes cost millions of dollars. Plus their area does not even have an MRT station yet. And now, poor things, their district is the new Singapore River. I think we should see the bright side. Perhaps we can try to make the best of things. If you cannot stop the flooding, why not make Bukit Timah the Venice of Singapore? What could be more romantic and prestigious than living in Singapore's Canal District? Instead of driving, residents can glide down Bukit Timah in gondolas and luxury boats. Why should only Punggol get the water sports fun? The fancy schools along that stretch can have annual Boat Races there, a la Oxford and Cambridge. ACS, SCGS, Hwa Chong, NJC, St Joseph's, all competing in the annual Bukit Timah Freak Flood Inter-School Boat Race. Schools there will no longer need their own swimming pools. Instead, we can groom a new generation of young swimmers who have been trained from young to swim to school for their exams. It's not a flood-prone area, it's a waterfront lifestyle opportunity. Our submarine corps need not go elsewhere for their training exercises, too. Just get those ex-Västergötland class Swedish subs into the Bukit Timah Canal District and do their drills there. It may be challenging to create parking lots for the subs but I am sure the government will find a way. I hear they are installing some water-level sensor which will warn of rising water levels in Bukit Timah Canal. I suppose it is so that if the sensor goes off, the Traffic Police can notify nearby condominiums and residents can carry their cars upstairs to their attics or drive it to HDB multi-storey car parks nearby. Frankly, I feel a simple sign will do. Something that says "If the water level along Bukit Timah rises above this sign, please alert the authorities". Another initiative the government can consider is to start neighbourhood Flood Watch. All the homes in Bukit Timah will be issued with buckets and assigned flood duties. In the event of flooding, residents will pour out onto the streets to scoop up buckets of water and dump the water in the Bukit Timah Canal. Clever, right? That is my suggestion to our leaders. Don't fight the flood, go with the flow! It is only a freak flood, Singapore. Ah this just brings back fond memories of walking to my school along Bukit Timah Road in torrential rain, and walking right into the giant longkang near Coronation Plaza because flood waters obscured the pavement and the drain! Good times! Right! Let's move on! Who wants to volunteer to be Singapore's first Minister of Freak Incidents and Drains? Hands up! The position offers good pay and you only need to worry about stuff once every 50 years. - insing.com Republished from a google cached copy as insing.com has removed the original article after complaints by the National Environment Ministry About mrbrown mrbrown aka Mr Kin Mun LEE is the accidental author of the popular Singapore website, mrbrown.com, and has been documenting the dysfunctional side of Singapore life since 1997. Affectionately known as the Blogfather of Singapore, his readers follow his writings closely, which these days range from current affairs, his family, and even his trips abroad. Currently, mrbrown also hosts the mrbrown show (mrbrownshow.com), probably Singapore's best known comedy and satire podcast. mrbrown is married to Ginny, his long-suffering wife for 12 years, and is father to three lovely kids, Faith,  Isaac and Joy.  Read More →