TR EMERITUS

Written by Our Correspondent Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong reminded Singaporeans not to take racial and religious harmony for granted in a speech made at the official opening of the Singapore Buddhist Federation's new building in Geylang. He also praised Buddhists and Taoists for helping to maintain Singapore's racial and religious harmony for 40 years. "Buddhists and Taoists are among the largest religious groups in Singapore. They have always shown tolerance, setting the basic tone for our society and the general mood of tolerance and understanding among the different communities," he said.  Though he did not make any explicit mention of the Aware saga where a group of Christians tried to steeplejack a secular women NGO, PM Lee emphasized that Singaporeans of all religions should keep religion separate from politics and to uphold a secular government, a call echoed previously by senior leaders during the protracted saga in May this year. While Singaporeans from various races and faiths here have been living in harmony for more than 40 years, the country's demographics is changed radically lately by the relentless influx of foreigners especially from China and India. Many of the newcomers have different culture and habits from the locals and tend to congregate among themselves. In response to this, the Singapore government has set up a $10 million Community Integration Fund to help them integrate into Singapore society which includes free language courses. Senior Minister Goh Chok Tong mused lately if Singapore should allow immigration "enclaves" to emerge in the HDB heartland. In an earlier speech, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong exhorted Singaporeans to "embrace" foreigners as they work in industries which are shunned by citizens. His father, Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew followed up by imploring Singaporeans to "bear" with the tide of immigration to boost Singapore's flagging birth rates. 36 per cent of Singapore's population are foreigners. It is not known if the rapid pace of immigration will have a detrimental impact on Singapore's racial and religious harmony in the future.  Read More →

Agence France-Presse, 21 November 2009 THE World Health Organisation said Friday that a mutation had been found in samples of the swine flu virus taken following the first two deaths from the pandemic in Norway. However, it stressed that the mutation did not appear to cause a more contagious or more dangerous form of A(H1N1) influenza and that some similar cases observed elsewhere had been mild. 'The Norwegian Institute of Public Health has informed WHO of a mutation detected in three H1N1 viruses,' the WHO said in a briefing note. WHO spokesman Gregory Haertl told AFP that the global health watchdog did not believe 'that this has any significant impact for the time being'. However, the agency revealed that a similar mutation had been observed in Brazil, China, Japan, Mexico, Ukraine, and the United States, as early as April. 'The mutations appear to occur sporadically and spontaneously. To date, no links between the small number of patients infected with the mutated virus have been found and the mutation does not appear to spread,' the statement said Some of those cases also produced mild symptoms, Mr Haertl noted. The WHO also underlined that there was no evidence of more infections or more deaths as a result, while the antiviral drugs used to treat severe flu, oseltamivir (Tamiflu) and zanamivir (Relenza), were still effective on the mutated virus. -- AFP Republished from AFP  Read More →

Written by our Correspondent Singapore opposition politician Dr Chee Soon Juan is not new to controversy and this time round he managed to get himself in the spotlight both at home and abroad again for a series of damning interviews he gave to U.S. radio stations castigating the Singapore government for its "political repression" on the eve of the APEC Summit held in Singapore. Robert Amsterdam, a Canadian lawyer representing Dr Chee pro bono in his court cases, published an equally damaging White Paper calling on U.S. President Barack Obama to voice out his concerns about Singapore's "human rights record" during his visit here which was widely publicized in the international media.' The state media predictably published an article with a glaring headline "Canadian with links to Chee attacks Singapore's political system" to portray Dr Chee as a "foreign stooge", a label which he had found hard to shake off. This is not the first time that Dr Chee had made used of the western media to attack the Singapore government. In 1995, he staged a protest in Williams' College where then Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong was to receive a Master's degree from his alma mater. Dr Chee's "antics" was frowned about by Singaporeans who disapproved of him using "outsiders" to criticize their country's leaders, which was reflected in subsequent elections in the declining share of votes received by his Singapore Democratic Party. By and large, Dr Chee's criticisms of Singapore in the west will hardly dent public confidence in the ruling party which maintains a tight grip on the Singapore media. Neither will it have any impact on Singapore's relationships with the United States and other countries. President Obama reaffirmed the excellent bilateral relations between Singapore and the United States during the APEC Summit. He did not meet Dr Chee or bring up Singapore's "repressiveness" to its hosts. Though Singapore is a tiny country, it has always been a key strategic ally of the United States in the region. Furthermore, its "repressiveness" pales in comparison to what is happening elsewhere in the region such as China, Vietnam and North Korea. It will be foolhardy to expect the United States to strain diplomatic ties with Singapore by meddling in its domestic affairs. Dr Chee may be able to generate bring attention to his cause, but its impact is likely to be minimal at least in the near future. Not that his words doesn't hurt the ruling party a bit. Singapore's international image and standing have definitely taken a beating from the wave of negative publicity about its harsh and repressive laws to curtail the civil liberties of its citizens. Branding is especially important for a small city-state like Singapore. What is the first impression that comes to one mind when Singapore is mentioned? Probably a nanny authoritarian state in contrast to Hong Kong which is widely viewed as a modern, cosmopolitan and liberal city though it is under communist rule. One seldom hears the criticisms leveled at Singapore elsewhere - in Hong Kong, Taiwan, Japan or South Korea. Singapore can do without such persistent, if not irritating negative portrayal of its political system. As for Dr Chee, the Singapore government can well afford to ignore him given that he is a spent force who posed little or no threat to them. Being a bankrupt, Dr Chee is barred from contesting in future elections. His colleagues are unlikely to get elected either on a SDP ticket. So is Dr Chee is a patriot or traitor? Most Singaporeans certainly don't regard him as a "patriot" trying to speak up for them. To be fair to him, the mainstream media has been most biased towards him and is relatively successful in concocting an image of him of seeking out a personal vendetta against government leaders for bankrupting him. To the ever faithful followers of the state media and the ruling party, Dr Chee is a traitor who will scoop to any means to defame the Singapore government. But again, a traitor would have left Singapore a long time ago to fire pot shots at the ruling party from a safe distance afar rather than risk his livelihood and the future of his children by staying put in Singapore. Dr Chee's use of the foreign media to attack the Singapore government smacks more of desperation than a well-thought move. It is political suicide for any aspiring opposition politician who wishes to win a seat in parliament. Besides Dr Chee, no other opposition leaders or MPs have criticized the Singapore government in the international press. The ruling party has cleverly quoted them as examples that opposition politicians do exist in Singapore as long they don't defame government leaders like Dr Chee in its defence. Dr Chee is fighting a losing battle on his own without support even from his fellow opposition leaders or Singaporeans. While he deserved some credit for his fighting spirit, doubts must be raised about his political acumen. As history have shown us, the ruling party will not flinch from taking drastic actions to preserve its own interests despite international pressure, e.g. the arrests of 20 or so social workers and activists under "Operation Spectrum" in 1988. Dr Chee and the SDP will be far better off building up their support at the grassroots level so that they will have a better chance of winning a coveted seat in the next general elections. The Americans who heard Dr Chee's interviews would probably have forgotten about Singapore and Dr Chee by now. EDITORS' NOTE: Please sign up as a friend of our Facebook here  Read More →