TR EMERITUS

Like many Singaporeans, I am surprised by the emphasis that PM Lee Hsien Loong is placing on the effect of climate change at his National Day Rally last Sunday. While I do agree on the challenges and the need to mitigate its many pressing effects, I think PM Lee may have been misguided by some of his advisors to be over-emphasizing the challenges as if Singapore must now suddenly unite as one just because “winter is coming”. Hope he is not confused after watching the Game of Thrones. Firstly, the fight climate change is not something that the head of any government will just wake up one morning and decide to do some sweeping changes. It takes much time to reflect on the effects of these changes and ponder over the various options. The views of real experts, not stakeholders, must be consulted upon and the need to be smart in the utilization of our limited resources, are all paramount factors before such a major decision can be make. Spending S$100 billion is not a “tikum-tikum” play thing. Given the huge budget required, more effort is needed to look into recouping back the investment cost as at the end of the day, Singapore must go beyond just casual cost/benefit analysis and find a comprehensive approach. We need to be pragmatic and exercise prudency. In the hand of a good strategist, we should be talking about racking in billions instead of spending billions. Let us not forget that those were the hallmarks that make Singapore great despite us being just a small red dot. As such, the well-orchestrated roll-out of plans and narratives by the MSMs, and the budgetary call for some S$100 billions just sound too alarming even for a National Day Rally. When other politicians suddenly join in to rally for Singaporeans to accept what is probably our biggest single expenditure to date, critical questions ought to be asked if the challenges are really that pressing and grave, and are we really empowering our best minds in addressing challenges? Given the over emphasize of the “calamity”, I see similarity between these calls and the marketing gimmicks of a snake-oil peddler. Overview PSA relocation of their current operations from Tanjong Pagar to Tuas is already costing us S$2.42 billions just for Phase One. For it to be completed in 2040, with a finalized handling capacity of 65 million TEUs, it will take an additional three phases, and the final cost has yet to be finalized. Yet the new multi-billion dollars Tuas Terminal is not even a sure-bet as the ambitious of the Chinese’s Belt & Road Initiative (BRI) and their involvement in various strategic developments in the region changing the dynamic of future sea-route and logistic flow in the region. We have yet to hear about how Singapore is stepping up to meet these challenges strategically as these new developments will cut into our current trans-shipment pie and the question we should be asking is by how much, and how are we going to find new economic growth to make up for this projectable losses. Since PM Lee touches on climate change, I wonder why the Environment Minister is not asking him as to where he is going to find the sand to reclaim so many projected land banks. Such a major redevelopment requires careful resource planning and a sense of realism to be working within our many constraints. Which Third World country are we planning to dredge up sand from and how environmental-friendly are we really in mitigating climate change? Are we regressing backward into “plundering thy neighbours” mentality? To ensure all these developments are sustainable, we need prudent financial management to ensure that once PSA has been relocated, sufficient efforts must be placed on cost recovery. This will place great challenges on future urban planners as they would have to carry not just the burden of the new urban planning but will have to also create new revenue stream to cover the cost of the PSA relocation, address its potential losses and find new income and resources needed without harming future generations. Then, there is also the need to address basic necessities such as water security and rising temperature. Why would PAP want to reward NTUC so generously? When PM Lee agree to allow NTUC to build their new Downtown South on Pulau Brani, as a reward to the NTUC for their support of his government, anyone without much real-estate experience will still be able to question how on earth can NTUC afford to pay a fair value to our government for such premium land parcel as their “Downtown Resort” brand is just an entry level entity. To make matter worse, placing such a low-level development will erode the premium of the new development and make it much harder for future urban planners to recoup back our total investment cost. This single gesture just opens up several cans of worms for both the current 4G PAP government and their relationship with the NTUC. Are they now too close for the good of Singapore? How will they define patriotism in such a context when huge amount of tax-payers monies are being used or expended to justify their “supportive” existence? Are they now undermining the future of our country? What real economic value is the NTUC really offering Singapore all these years and can we have hard statistics to justify their existence? PM Lee push for S$1 billion spending on childcare is already benefiting the NTUC and the PAP Foundation, but if he is going to keep giving these entities such “handouts”, there must be clear justification and accountability. Since the 4G politicians have been talking about supporting our SMEs and entrepreneurs, I hope they can demonstrate that the benefits will trickle down to our SMEs and enterprises since they are paying back in taxes. On this note, I wonder if NTUC pays our government any taxes on their profit since it is registered as a “cooperative”, and if not, where are their profit and who actually own the NTUC? Can we break up the NTUC and take the profit to help us address these challenges? Averting Lost Opportunities The redevelopment of the new Tanjong Pagar area should be premise upon the primary needs of Singaporeans and balanced against our wider economic challenges. Instead of continuously pushing Singaporeans into packed heartlands like canned sardine-fish, it may be time for our urban planners to start reviewing new approaches in city-living and seafront living for future generation of middle-income Singaporeans without creating new death-traps in high cost mortgages. In itself, the proximity of people and their workplace is a greener option and it also helps us cut down unnecessary load on our public transportation, making it even greener. To support future generation of Singaporeans against a chronic climate change, water security is going to be a more pressing issue than climate change itself. As a few of our water agreements with Malaysia are near expiry, there is a more pressing need to strategically review our future water security before our taps ran dry. Instead of redeveloping Pulau Brani, it makes strategic sense to be excavating it into a bigger marina than our Marina Barrage and use the excavated sand to reclaim new land-bank around the new barrage. This single move will help address not only our water security challenge but will also allow more land bank for seafront and other high value amenities to be reclaimed with our own sand. I do not take pride that our new iconic skylines are being designed by foreign architects. From the Marina Bay Sand to the new Jewel at Changi Airport, we are looking more like Dubai. Are we really short of inspiring architects or are we depriving our best architects and urban planners from making us proud? I have nothing against using foreign professional but I am against the lack of faith whenever our best are deprived of opportunities instead of being empowered to do more for our country. Just look at the commercialization of our investment in HDB all these years. Can Subana-Jurong really compete with the best in China or India, or in other developed cities these days with entry-level master-planning solution? If we ourselves do not believe in our own talents and find the courage to empower them to do things more innovatively, then I think Singapore will degrade very rapidly. Can we avoid the Ozymandias-Trap? Serious questions ought to be asked as to why our government is now so obsessed with building to impress foreign investors and yet disregard the needs and aspiration of Singaporeans? Singapore cannot be Dubai as we have more to lose than gain in taking such a cosmopolitan approach. Emiratis in Dubai have six other emirates to retreat to but where can Singaporeans retreat to when we get too stressed up with urbanized living? The growing tension and frustrations against our current government are not without merits. Even new citizens are no fools either. They know too well that once they take up citizenship, they too will be treated like any other Singaporeans, some day, somehow. That explains why the hearts of so many new Singaporeans are still with their former motherlands and not with Singapore. When Singapore starts to crumble, guess who will be left to clean up the mess? Pride indeed goes before the fall as succinctly expressed in the Ozymandias Poem by several writers, who mocked the hubris of King Ozymandias. If those advisors to our Prime Minister are adamant about pleasing him at the expense of the nation, then all these hundredth of billions will be wasted in building ill-conceived monuments that will show future generations of the many follies of our current government and also the failure of its citizens to intervene before all is lost. Time to Rethink about Our Future: Socially and economically, Singapore is definitely at a serious crossroad and every patriotic Singaporeans, new or old, must wake up and think critically before all is lost. The current 4G PAP politicians are showing themselves to be clueless in governing our country. Now that we are witnessing them having no qualm about spending hundredth of billions without any solid economic planning, we can all be sure that the gap between the elite and the rest of its people will only get worse. So too will the burden on every one of us when more inflation and taxes are levied needlessly to support their extravagances. Dr Tan Cheng Bock is right to state that the current PAP is no longer the same as those of our First Cabinet. I can now understand why even Lee Hsien Yang would want to go against his brother and sister-in-law as I think at this rate, whatever that is left of the LKY’s legacy will also be lost. I hope future generation of Singaporeans will not hold LKY accountable or be cursing him for our collective ruin. Question is, will Lee Hsien Yang be sufficiently filial to step up and help salvage whatever that is left of the LKY’s legacy, and is he patriotic enough to want to help alleviate the plights and hardships of fellow-Singaporeans since it is looking like change of political leadership is the only real option left for patriotic Singaporeans. Even if he does it as atonement on behalf of his family, he will still have my full support if that is what it takes for us to avert the Ozymandias-Trap as I think Singapore truly deserves better.   Joseph Nathan      Read More →

  Phillip Ang * The author blogs at LikeDatOsoCanMeh.      Read More →

I totally agree with Goh Chok Tong that if the PAP and the opposition parties are unable to attract truly able, honest and dedicated people to join them, then the sun must set on Singapore. In order to understand this challenge at a deeper level, I would like to offer my humble opinion about what have gone wrong with our situations in Singapore. I will list 3 reasons. Firstly, our school moral education, if there is still any and especially taught to younger students have failed badly over the decades. Our students' moral education grounding is very, very weak, to say the least. Life long human values such as loyalty, giving back to society, filial piety, honesty, bravery, consideration for others and many more are not emphasised or stressed enough. They were almost totally sacrificed and replaced with examinable subjects. This is where our education system and the Ministry of Education have failed those batches after batches of students who have graduated. To merely educate the minds but not the hearts of our students is incomplete and inferior education. I repeat. To only educate the minds but not the hearts of our students is definitely incomplete and inferior education. Secondly, many successful and outstanding Singaporeans have gone through our education system and I bet that giving back and serving society at the national level is not a priority for them. At most and to many of them, contributing to society is just donating some money here and there but that is not the same as a calling to step forward and serve one's fellow citizens. I also do not rule out the possibility of some of those so called outstanding and successful ones who join the PAP for connections and network opportunities in order to further their personal interests. Others with stronger spines and principles will simply decline the PAP's invitations without offending them if their values or principles diverge. Lastly, outstanding and successful people who choose not to join the opposition parties. Singapore is a very small place with a very short history. It must take a lion-hearted and outstanding successful persons to risk it all and join the oppositions after having seen how individuals like JB Jeyaratnam, Tang Liang Hong, Chee Soon Juan were treated, humiliated and reduced to shreds by the PAP government. The answers are pretty obvious really. Nonetheless, I believe that the mood, the guts and the tide among our citizens are turning, albeit slowly. That is a very healthy and heartening development for our country.   Simon Lim      Read More →