TR EMERITUS

By Hazlin Hassan, Malaysia Correspondent KUALA LUMPUR - UMNO has received a slap in the face just ahead of its key annual meeting, with many voters polled in a survey seeing Malaysia's biggest political party as corrupt and out of touch with the ground. Respondents to the survey also said that International Trade Minister Muhyiddin Yassin was the best choice for the deputy prime minister's position, a contrast from Umno pundits, who expect another leader to emerge as the new No. 2. The 1,031 respondents also felt that the views of ordinary Malaysians should be considered while picking leaders in internal Umno polls, going against the conventional political wisdom that the leaders are picked only by party members. The party's chiefs are currently elected by about 2,500 top Umno cadres in elections that are held every three years. The survey was conducted last month by independent pollster Merdeka Centre for Opinion Research. Respondents comprised 57 per cent Malays, 31 per cent Chinese and 12 per cent Indians based on random sampling. The survey showed that a year after the watershed general election that empowered the opposition, voters were clamouring for a bigger say in how the country's leaders were picked. 'This survey indicates the Malaysian public's keen interest in Umno's election,' Merdeka Centre chief Ibrahim Suffian said in a statement. 'They also have strong views about the problems affecting the party while at the same time harbour high hopes that those elected...will be able to fulfil their wishes.' From March 24 to 28, Umno will hold its annual assembly, which incorporates the triennial party polls. Its president and deputy president traditionally become the prime minister and deputy prime minister respectively, and many of its top leaders are Cabinet ministers. The survey found that 79 per cent of the voters polled wanted Umno delegates to 'take into consideration the views of ordinary Malaysians in determining Umno leadership line-up as it influences national politics', the Merdeka Centre said. 'Why should the power to appoint the leaders who will rule 27 million people be in the hands of such a select few?' asked 43-year-old housewife Connie Wong. The survey showed that a high percentage of voters have a negative image of the 3.2 million strong party. A total of 61 per cent of those polled viewed corruption as Umno's most serious problem, while 13 per cent said its second most serious problem was being 'out of touch' with the public. Voters were also worried the party had 'weak leaders' and that it was a 'weak manager of the economy'. In a startling reflection of the Chinese voters' rejection of the Malay party, which leads a multiracial coalition, the poll showed that just 1 per cent of Chinese respondents hoped Umno would 'continue to lead the country'. Three per cent of Indian respondents hoped the same for Umno. In contrast, 19 per cent of Malays wanted the party to continue leading the country. A similar 1 per cent of Chinese respondents said they had hope for Umno to develop the country, yet none expected Umno to 'perform well and keep the promises'. As for the qualities they desired in Umno leaders, 21 per cent of the respondents ranked 'being just to the people' or being 'close to the people' (11 per cent) as among the most important. Deputy Prime Minister Najib Razak is slated to take over as Umno president and Malaysian prime minister by early next month. But the Umno deputy president's post, and hence the deputy prime minister's post, will be decided by the party from among three men. Umno pundits are saying that Malacca Chief Minister Ali Rustam is leading in the unofficial count, followed by Tan Sri Muhyiddin and Rural Development Minister Muhammad Muhammad Taib. But if Malaysian voters were allowed to make their pick, Mr Muhyiddin would be the outright winner. Source: Straits Times  Read More →

By Eugene Yeo and Fang Zhi Yuan When we first received the email attached with Dr Allan Ooi's farewell letter in PDF format two days ago, we were initially sceptical of its authencity. We read Allan's letter many times again and again which moved us literally to tears. We spent the entire night deliberating if we should publish it. It took an agonizingly 16 hours before we published it. The mainstream media had launched a smear campaign against Allan since his passing to protray him as a melancholic young man stressed out from work. Various papers had even speculated that the cause of his untimely death was due to gaming or gambling without substantiating their claims. In the midst of the media frenzy, nobody asked about the role of SAF which had yet to release an official statement other than Allan had AWOLED from his duty last October. Allan mentioned in his letter explicitly in no uncertain terms that he was very angry with his work which is the main reason why he chose to leave Singapore. While we are in no position to judge Allan's decision to end his own life, he was indeed hard done by the mainstream media in its eagerness to deflect attention away from the establishment. They have been most insensitive and cruel towards Allan, his family and friends who have been deeply hurt by what was written. We were well aware of the repercussions of publishing the letter. Our reputation which we had build up so painstakingly over the last few months will go down the drain immediately if the letter turned out to be a hoax. Even it were indeed true, we will definitely be criticized for infringing on the privacy of his grieving family. We knew we would find ourselves in this catch-22 situation once we release the content of the letter and we are mentally prepared for the brickbats coming our way. We do not need do this to drive traffic to our site which is increasing anyway. While we have commercial ads on our site, we plough most of the fees we earned from Google back to our readers in the form of vouchers for their participation in our current affairs quiz. This blog exists to be a beacon of truth and justice in our society, not to make money out of the misfortunes of others. We are entirely self-funded and we have no problems maintaining and developing the site in the long run without depending on the advertising income. If you notice, we have not been following this saga at all. Throughout the whole of last week, our focus was on the suicides of the two NTU students. We did not write a single commentary about Allan's case. Why did we choose to do so out of the blue? Had we wanted to sensationalize the tragedy for our own selfish interests, we would have done it right from the very beginning. Why now? All we can say here is that there are other mitigating factors involved in our decision to publish Allan's letter and we are unable to reveal anything more at present. Fortunately, Allan's friends wrote to us not long after the letter was published to verify its authencity and to express their support for us. We were no relation of Allan. Neither do we know him in person. Why should we be a busybodies to speak up for him? The reason is simple. Because if we do not speak up for him now, there will be nobody left to speak up for us when the time come. We live in a fascist state where the media is nothing more than the propaganda mouthpiece of the ruling party. There are no credible alternative sources of information for us to turn to. All the newspapers in Singapore are under the control of one single company headed by a ex-PAP minister, Dr Tony Tan. Its political bureau is staffed by ex-ISD agents. Can you imagine how powerful they are? By one stroke of the pen, they can turn buffoons into leaders and patriots into villians and there is nobody else to refute them. How many Singaporeans have seen their moral characters and standing in society completely demolished by them without any recourse of justice to turn to? Yet many Singaporeans are still not aware of the real agenda of the media in Singapore which is to serve the interests of its political master by controlling their minds, manipulating public opinion and keeping dissent against its draconian rule at bay. A dictatorship can only survive on an unthinking citizenry. Only a minority of us has seen through the charade of SPH's spin doctors. The rest of the population just simply believe every single word published by the papers without any questioning or analyzing as if it is the gospel truth. Imagine if it were you who get into trouble with the establishment one day, or your parents, your children, your siblings or your friends. Though you have done nothing wrong, the state media is called upon to demolish you completely to preserve the state's credibility in the eyes of public and you have nobody else to count on to speak up in defence for you. Isn't this a terrifying predicament to be in? We need to have different voices in our society to balance and counter one another in the court of public opinion. Let the people be the judge. It is both dangerous and foolhardy to depend on only one single source of information without listening to all sides of the story and with the ruling party forcing its own yardstick of credibility right down into our throats. We are one people, one nation and one Singapore. We owe our allegiance to Singapore and fellow Singaporeans, not to the ruling party. Let us end by sharing with you a poem by a German pastor Martin Niemoller about the inactivity of German intellectuals following the Nazi rise to power and the purging of their chosen targets, group after group.: When the Nazis came for the communists, I remained silent; I was not a communist. When they locked up the social democrats, I remained silent; I was not a social democrat. When they came for the trade unionists, I did not speak out; I was not a trade unionist. When they came for the Jews, I remained silent; I was not a Jew. When they came for me, there was no one left to speak out. Think about it. When they come for you one day, do you want to be alone by yourself with nobody to speak out for you?  Read More →

EDITORS' NOTE: The following is collated from some comments left on our blog here. We must admit there is no way we can verify if the posters were indeed friends of Dr Allan Ooi. By SAF Doc: Hi there, I am a colleague of Dr Ooi and it is truly saddening. What he wrote there was similar to what he confided in me as well. He was unhappy and desperate to leave. Whatever he wrote in the letter about having his bond extended against his will etc is true. It has happened to many saf docs… there are many of us stuck in this system now. Locked in at age 18, promised the moon and given excrement instead. Some are not unhappy, some are. The problem is, no one is allowed to resign. Dr Ooi’s family has more than enough $ to pay his bond but the SAF is afraid that if one is allowed to leave, all their docs will leave and they will have no-one left to work for them. Some of us have tried to leave, but even after they sending resignation letters and talking to the highest levels of superiors, the answer has always been “no, we don’t want to discuss the bond” or simply “no, you cannot break”. No further discussion. Short of employing expensive lawyers to fight the gahmen… we’re stuck for 18-21 years after signing the bond. It is truly saddening and SAF should be ashamed of bullying and deceiving young, bright doctors into a permanent sad future.   By LOKUN: For those of you who have cast doubts on Dr Ooi’s resilience and mental fortitude, I will suggest that you do not speak without knowing him. Going through 6 years of medical school and housemanship is truly one of the most gruelling periods in a doctor’s life, yet we know there is an end to it, as long as we persevere. Moreover, we are, at the very least, working for the benefit of people who are unwell, people who need and appreciate our help. SAF is a different ballgame altogether. Meaningless, insignificant doldrum that we are put through, more so than the normal NSF. For one to take such extreme measures as Dr Ooi did….as he clearly articulated in his letter, his decision to go was not spontaneous; it was clearly thought through and decided upon, possibly after considering all options. For one to be able to experience the hardships of being a doctor, yet now forced to end his life in a seemingly impossible dead-end…..You decided what SAF is doing to the regular medical officers. As for the media, you guys have hit a new low. Online games? Gambling? Stop spouting nonsense. You all are not fit to be called journalists. I can only hope there remains a conscience to plague you.   By Pandora: Dear Eugene, Firstly I would like to say that I respect the fact that you have a lot of balls to publish this article. I am an ex-Singaporean that went to JC with Allan and spoke to him on a few occasions. He was a very confident, arrogant, some might say but exctremely intelligent and athletic and I greatly admired that about him. That he dared to be this huge persona. When I found out about his death I thought there was no possible way this guy would kill himself unless he had absolutely no options. I am absolutely disgusted that all these lies have surfaced about him without a way for him to defend himself. What else will the Staits Times be puppeted into saying by the government next? That Allan was a crack-addict prostitute? Let’s face it, Singapore is a fascist country. And the Straits Times Newspaper is an ass-wipe of a piece of democratic journalism. The handling of this incident reminds me of why I left this country in the first place so that my children and I would have freedom of speech and to think for ourselves and always ask questions. I wish “Reporters” in the Straits Times’ would maybe try “reporting the truth” sometime. Allan ooi does not deserve to be de-famed this way. Thank you.   By Sandman: Allan’s bond was unbreakable. He exhausted all the options (from breaking the bond to changing jobs) that would not jeopardize his integrity (as a person and as a doctor) and still felt cornered because there was no way out. its either DB or losing his medical qualifications. money couldn’t pay his way out. AND ALLAN WOULD KNOW BECAUSE ALLAN DISCHARGED THE ONLY PERSON TO BREAK THAT BOND. And the fine prints within his bond states that the govt has the choice to extend his bond at the govt’s discretion. Allan was of type A personality and when you misuse their talent and give them no job satisfaction whatsoever, it will definitely be unsettling to say the least. especially when other aspects of your life appear to be as bleak. Asa well trained doctor, pilot and scholar, he was subjected to a desk job, treating mild ailments at best, and writing magazine articles for the SAF magazine & reports on most other occassions. repressing someone’s ability to achieve stifling when they’re just waiting to soar and contribute to society. His calling was to heal and help others. He had the means to but not the chance to. His tenure of housemanship saw him at his happiest. even though he worked very long hours and slept very little (because he also had a life) working at the A&E… and although he’d winge about it occasionally, everyone could see that he was happy because he was at his calling. The SAF may have had plans to groom allan for greater things in the long run, however, being a doctor isn’t exactly like any other skill set. you can groom a mathematician to be a politician, but a doctor being a politician is another story. doctors go through aptitude tests before entering medical schools to weed out unsuitable candidates. the fact that allan is a doctor showed his aptitude. and to groom him to be anything else but save lives would be a total misuse of talent. What worked for singapore 30 years ago obviously isn’t working anymore. We need change. we need to re-evaluate the way things are done because some things just aren’t working any more AND BY THE WAY, he was a “gamer” more than half a decade ago. He is hardly on the computer wiling away his time. and if he so happened to get really good at a game without much effort, it is his abilities and not his time he wasted getting there. Allan was happy being a doctor. He was upset because he wasn’t able to be one. Money is and never has been a factor for his job dissatisfaction.   From anonymous: Am a friend & have a few things to say: 1) in order to work (continue to be a doctor)anywhere else but SG, Allan will need to be underwritten, but as he’s an awolly, that’s just not quite possible. 2) he did not make his decision based on something as frivolous as a girl. And for the final time, definitely not Dawn Yang (please stop linking it’s really just getting annoying, how baseless even) 3) He and the best friend might’ve have had a minor fall out, but that is not a reason to do the do.. think about it, would u? “oh no, u don’t friend me, i’ll go die” it’s just ludicrous for anyone to even think that it could be one of his main reasons. How far do u wanna spin? u that bored? 4) Allan discharged the only ONE that managed to break the bond. He couldn’t do the same, as he wanted to continue to practice Medicine; all he wanted to do was to do what doctors are meant to do, save lives. 5) SAF needs to answer why Allan’s grievances to his superiors were never answered. Giving the benefit of the doubt that they were looking for a solution; why wasn’t he updated or kept informed? Why are they not deploying their talents properly? (and they wonder why our local talents are not staying in SG? *sighs*) 6) Not that I’m a big fan of mainstream press — but let’s be objective and factual here, all I’ve been seeing are flames thrown at ST when truth is that out of all the papers - TNP, LHZB, SMWB, RB - it was the lesser evil, and 2 out of 3 of its articles were pretty factually written; We have to be fair.(but obviously the game linking article in the Sunday Times was a joke of an article and i do hope the conjurers feel really foolish after it was published). 7) How could SMWB, of the whole letter, pick out the 2 lines that were of single sentences and totally omit the crux of the letter i.e. The questions posed by Allan to the SAF. — self-censorship  Read More →