TR EMERITUS

From our Correspondent Following the publicity blitz last weekend in the Straits Times, the much awaited book on the PAP - "Men in White" was officially launched on 8 September 2009 by MM Lee Kuan Yew at the Art House. According to the state media, an estimated 75per cent of 10,000 retail copies of Men In White were sold within the first four days of the book's launch on Tuesday, according to Marshall Cavendish International (Asia). This is no surprise given the disproportionate amount of attention given to it by the media and government leaders when there are more pressing national issues at hand to be concerned with. Our correspondent visited Kinokuniya at Takashimaya on 11 September 3 days after the launch and noticed there were still many unsold copies lying around: [imagebrowser id=50] The books were placed at prominent corners almost everywhere in the store that it would be impossible for one to miss it. There was also a mini photo exhibition of the history of the PAP as depicted in the book. Overhead, the sound system repeated monotonously the introduction to the book: "Men in white is the inside story of one of the world's most successful political parties. Narrated in three parts, it is oral history spun in a journalistic mode and spiced unapologetically with anecdotes, quotes and human interest to breathe life into past events......" Is it against the law to give a political party so much free publicity? One can only imagine what will happen if the Workers' Party were to hold an exhibition on their party's history instead. Our correspondent bought one copy at $38.50 (original price is $42.69, 10% discount for kinokuniya members). On its back cover are introductions by the key players described in the book beginning first with: Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew: "At the time it was happening, I could only guess what my ADVERSARIES were thinking and planning to do to DEMOLISH us...." Followed by his son Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong: "Without PAP, today's Singapore would not exist.." The unspoken message contained within is unmistakable: MM Lee risked everything he had got for Singapore and we are forever indebted to him and the PAP for what we have today.  Read More →

By David See Leong Kit [Original Text of my letter to  TODAY Voices forum. Letter was published in its 16 Sep 09 edition but with last two paragraphs edited out.] Sky-high prices of HDB flats will naturally push up private property prices. Thus this issue affects all Singaporeans, even those aspiring to own private property. Its root cause was not covered in the anti-speculation measures just announced. Following our 1996 property bull run, the HDB had switched from a "cost-based" to a "market-based" pricing approach.  The selling price for a new flat is pegged not to its cost but to the prevailing market price of a similar resale flat. This has resulted in prices of new flats and resale flats chasing each other in a never-ending upward spiral that is detrimental to buyers of both new and resale flats. The Total Breakeven Cost of a new flat comprise Construction Cost (CC), Land Cost (LC) and Other Related Cost (ORC). The HDB  Pinnacle @ Duxton project has 1,848 units cramped into 50-storey blocks occupying a  small plot of land. From available public tender information, the actual CC component is $150,000 per unit.  The onus is now on HDB to publicly disclose the remaining LC and ORC components. A quick estimate of LC plus ORC is around $80,000, leading to an estimated Total Breakeven Cost of  $230,000 per flat. When launched in 2004, average Selling Price was $370,000 (actual range: $288,000 to $450,000), which translates to an average profit of $140,000 per unit sold. 428 unsold units were relaunched in 2008  at average Selling Price of $550,000 (actual range: $450,000 to $645,000), which is  $180,000 higher than initial launch prices.  This arose from the HDB  "market-based"  pricing approach, as prevailing market prices of similar resale flats nearby were between $593,000 to $670,000. For the average Singaporean, his HDB flat is the single most expensive purchase item in his lifetime.  Applicants of HDB new flats are mostly young Singaporeans wanting to get married, move into their own homes and produce babies, which will alleviate our declining birth rate. Why then is  HDB not doing the right thing as a not-for-profit  low-cost  public housing developer through passing on to such citizens the economy-of-scale cost savings in its hugh developments by pricing new flats on a cost-based breakeven basis? A Ministry of Trade and Industry public reply on the hugh electricity price hike had stated that "the Government's approach is to price goods and services at their full cost".    Why then the double standards in the HDB statement that "the prices of new HDB flats are based on the market prices of resale HDB flats, and not their costs of construction"? In promoting Singapore as a Business Hub, our Ministry of Finance constantly preach transparency and accountability in corporate governance. HDB flats are developed with public funds.  Thus, HDB must  provide transparent  replies to the two simple questions above, and disclose detailed cost figures for its Pinnacle project.  Read More →

From our Correspondent For the second time in less than a week, the government has spoken out against the new media and this time it is none other than the Prime Minister himself in reply to question posed by a mass communications student from NTU. The student if it is possible for the old and new media to co-exist peacefully instead of being adversaries. Prime Minister Lee chose not to answer the question directly, but to used it as an opportunity to launch thinly veiled attack on the new media. He said: "The difficulty we have is not in holding back diverse views in the media, but in having enough range of well-considered views which are well-argued and cogent, from different perspectives, which can contribute to the national debate." Coincidentally, there was a letter written by a Gerry Oh published in the Straits Times Forum yesterday lamenting the "sorry culture" of skewed arguments on internet forums. He added: "In new media, you get all kinds of views. You are not sure what to make of it. If you want considered views, somebody has to think, report, gather, verify, write up, get it published......All this requires a proper newspaper or news agency." Is PM Lee implying that news published by the new media is unreliable because they are not written by professional journalists and those produced by a proper news agency like SPH are trustworthy? While it is true that the Singapore media has trained full-time journalists to "think, report, gather, verify and publish" the news, it still doesn't explain their pathetic and embarrassing rankings on the World Press Freedom index conducted yearly by Reporters without Borders, an internationl media watchgroup. PM Lee waste no time to perpetuate the eternal myth that only views which contribute to "national debate" can be expressed in the public domain. The problem is these views are usually skewed in the mainstream media to propagate the government's agenda. What Singapore needs is to have a wide diversity of views and a free competition of ideas to allow Singaporeans to judge for themselves their individual merits and deficiencies and not for the government to censor, moderate and filter information to serve their own vested interests. As Singaporeans become exposed more and more to the new media, they will begin to question the objectivity of the mainstream media which is no more than a government mouthpiece. The new media may not be able to compete with the old media in terms of resources, but it can claim to retain a certain degree of journalistic independence since it is not under the purview of the government. The challenge now for the Singapore's new media is to move to the next stage of development by heeding PM Lee's exhortation to set up a formal news agency to run the news sites professionally on a full-time basis. Related articles: >> Lui Tuck Yew praised Singapore media >> Mourning 25 years of the demise of a free and independent press by Eugene Yeo >> Why there is no “Malaysiakini” in Singapore by Fang Zhi Yuan and Lim Siow Kuan EDITORS’ NOTE: [If you like our work and would like to support us, please transfer your donations via paypal to our account ([email protected]). Any amount will be greatly appreciated! Thank you!] Join our tweet at: http://www.twitter.com/temasekreview  Read More →