TR EMERITUS

It would be highly irresponsible of the PAP to call for a general election in the midst of the coronavirus outbreak. Large events that attract crowds like sports, church services have already been cancelled or suspended. We call on the PAP to categorically rule out calling a general election until the threat of a community spread of the coronavirus has been convincingly eliminated. It is the only responsible thing to do.   Tan Jee Say Singaporeans First Party        Read More →

One of the most interesting relationships in international diplomacy is relationship between Malaysia and Singapore. As one commentator said in the 1997, Malaysia and Singapore are like two kids in sandpit who love nothing better to do except hit each other over the head with their plastic spades. The strength and weaknesses of both countries mirror the other and if they found a way of working together, they’d be a world beater. The world holds Singapore’s government up as a model of efficiency and effectiveness. Outsiders are prone to reminding the locals that Singapore works better than just about everywhere else. However, Singapore is a tiny place and we have, as the government has often reminded us, no resources. Malaysia, by contrast, has a government that is a byword for inefficiency and corruption (think 1MDB) but it has plenty of resources. Lee Kuan Yew’s (Singapore’s founding father is reported to have once described the concept of an independent Singapore as a ridiculous notion) original dream was for Singapore to be a dynamo for a proud and strong Malaysia, providing the know-how in utilizing the resources. Unfortunately, human nature and the personalities involved in Malaysian and Singapore politics did not allow this to happen. Singapore, as we’re often reminded, was kicked out of the Malaysian Federation on 9 August 1965 and had to survive despite lacking just about every necessary resource. The rest, as they say is history. We are, as one Indian expat said, “Frenemies.” In the game of one-upmanship, Singapore has enjoyed a far more successful win-lose record against Malaysia. Our Ministers have great fun pointing across the Causeway whenever anyone from the International Business Community wants to talk about things like government transparency and efficiency. The government loves being able to remind the population that whatever their grumbles, things are inevitably worse in Malaysia. It’s even more fun for us when Western businessmen complain about bring shaken down for bribes on the Malaysian side of the Causeway. My most educational experience in the regional politics was when I first moved back nearly two decades ago and made a day trip to Malaysia with a friend’s driver. The man’s greatest happiness was bribing Malaysian officials – this is a sport for Singaporeans, it reminds us that we’re doing much better than the Malaysians (firstly the bribe is relatively cheap – 50RM is SG20, then it’s also something we can’t do in Singapore, so we come to Malaysia to do it.) If Singaporeans are accused of being a tad smug, its because we’re the tiny nation that’s doing much better than the big brother across the Causeway. Having said all of that, Malaysia has just managed to pull one up on Singapore. On Tuesday 24 March 2020, the Malaysian Government allowed its citizens to apply to withdraw RM500 a month for over a year in order to help people deal with the effects of the coronavirus. More can be read on Malaysia’s move here: At the time of writing, Singaporeans are wondering if our government would allow us to follow suite and withdraw a certain sum from our CPF accounts. I’ve read somewhere on my social media feed that our leader in waiting, Mr. Heng Swee Kiat, may allow us to make a one-off withdrawal of SG$2,000 but I can’t confirm the source. Malaysia for all its faults, is at the very least admitting that the global economy is going to tank and livelihoods will be affected. People all over the world are avoiding going out. Businesses are bound to shut and as countries go into lockdown, trade and tourism will be affected. At the time of writing, even big names like SIA are asking people to take pay cuts and go on unpaid leave. The Malaysian solution recognizes that people are going to suffer and they need to find a solution. So, what better way to help people but than to let people use their savings. The RM500 is not going to make a major difference but it will help people. Singapore’s problem is that it has grown so used to success that it cannot envision the possibility of things going south for an extended period. Malaysia has had an element of “unemployment insurance” for decades. It’s a small component of its social security system but it exists and Malaysians who become unemployed have something to help them out when things turn to the shit. Malaysians are being allowed to use money financed by themselves. Prior to spread of the coronavirus, Singapore’s Minister for Manpower, Ms. Josephine Teo, actually stood up in parliament and argued against introducing any form of “unemployment insurance.” I’ve blogged about this in my entry “We’re not asking for the lottery” on 28 February 2020. I don’t want to run down the government’s handling of the situation, which has been generally good as can be expected, but surely the signs were there that things would go south and that the ordinary citizen would get affected. It’s this simple, Singapore got so used to success, particularly the economic variety, that it cannot envision a situation where bad times would have a long-lasting effect on the population. Hopefully the virus will help to change that. Tang Li *The author blogs at http://beautifullyincoherent.blogspot.com/    Read More →

Senior Minister Teo Chee Hean When I heard Senior Minister Teo Chee Hean’s response to MP Christopher de Souza’s question in parliament (25 March 2020), I was puzzled as to why Dr Tan Cheng Bok had suggested a caretaker government for Singapore when at least 13 months are available for the PAP to call an election. Indeed, I thought it was quite a silly suggestion. I was also surprised that a PAP member of parliament took the trouble to raise a question on Dr Tan’s behalf. TOC’s article clears my mind. https://www.theonlinecitizen.com/…/unconstitutional-to-de…/… Never trust the mainstream media. I think it is dishonest and disgraceful for the mainstream media to cover a parliamentary debate in a manner that leaves people like me with a wrong impression. It should either report the question and answer fully or omit it completely. It should check a doubtful question, in this instance, the question raised by de Souza with the source i.e. Dr Tan himself. Christopher de Souza’s question was clearly to give Senior Minister Teo Chee Hean an opportunity to belittle Dr Tan and to enable him to speak at length about the “caretaker government” and accuse Dr Tan of “misleading people”. Minister Teo is really talking nonsense when he elaborates on caretaker governments. With the PAP super majority in parliament, it can make laws in a matter of hours or minutes and at its whims and fancies. There will never be a need for a caretaker government, at least not in my lifetime. The misleading question (or misleading report) of MP de Souza also enabled the minister to give a long lecture on the Constitution, as if the PAP has any high regard for this document. If it has any regard for our constitution, it would not have amended it so freely and so frequently. It would have treated it with deep respect, like how the American people treat their First Amendment. So let’s talk about reality. Minister Teo wants to hold a general election in the midst of this dangerous COVID-19 pandemic where the number of infected people in Singapore keeps rising every day and the whole world is in turmoil. It wants a so called “CLEAR MANDATE” from the people. In other words, it does not want us, the people to criticise its work and the measures it takes to control the disease. It does not care about adding more burden to our overworked health care workers. It does not care about our well being. The lesson I learn from the media report of this incident is that we must always doubt what we read and hear from the mainstream media. We have to exercise caution and common sense. We have to look for alternative news!     Teo Soh Lung      Read More →