TR EMERITUS

I’ve just become the husband of a beauty queen. On Thursday, 31 August, 2023, my wife was crowned “World Madam 2023, Singapore Division.” It was a contest that she had entered a few months ago and she’s hopping that the contest will bring her to greater things. I bring up the topic of my wife because Vietnamese girls, like girls from elsewhere don’t have the best of reputations and whenever you mention that you’re with a girl from Vietnam or China, people assume the worst. Think of the Covid Scandal when everyone got keen on banning people from Vietnam when there was an outbreak in the karaoke lounges. This was despite the fact that Vietnam had one of the better records at managing covid. By contrast, nobody called for the banning of white Americans, despite the fact that the USA had by far and away the worst outbreaks of Covid and White Americans were the single worst demographic anywhere in the world when it came to spreading false information about the disease. We have, as I’ve often argued, a terrible habit of underestimating people from less developed parts of the world and overestimating our and the people from developed countries. People from less developed parts of the world have one crucial advantage – they’re hungry to get things done and they’re willing to support each other out. They have the ability to build systems of support which we have clearly lost. This was most visible in the online voting of the contest. The contest had an online poll where people could pay to vote for their favourite contestants. The winner of the poll was my wife with some 19,000 votes. The girl who came in second had 17,000 and also came from Vietnam. The next closest had 8,000 over. How was it such that the Vietnamese girls could gather the votes, whereas the Singaporeans could not? The answer is that the Vietnamese had built communities who would support them when asked. I lived through a wife who was calling everyone she knew to pay to vote. They got the results. By contrast, the girl who came in third ended up feeling frustrated with people whom she done favours for promising to spend a dollar or two to get her the votes. So, how do they build communities? Well, I guess you call it a system of give and take. When someone is down, there are always people to help them up and when a person is up, the community expects them to give back in someway or another. It’s a very basic principle of give and take. This is clearly not the case of the “Kiasu-Kiasi” land that we call Singapore. Helping each other seems to be anathema. This should be an area of concern in that Singapore is an aging society. The baby-boomers are now in their 70s and can expect to live at least another decade or so. While a good portion of the boomers have the means to enjoy retirement, we still have too many cases in Singapore of true-blue Singaporeans demonstrating good old fashioned Asian-Values of pushing your aged parents to work in minimal wage jobs at McDonald’s while the kids screw their folks out of a flat. So, who cares for this growing number of old folks? Well, its clearly not their native-born children. Rather, its maids from the Philippines and Indonesia and you can see volunteers from places like Vietnam: To my wife, looking after my 84-year-old mother-in-law is an honour. The old lady comes here every so often and we see to it that she’s well fed and gets to go around the island in a taxi. So, given that she sees to it that her own mother is looked after, she also extends it to other old folks. Go with her to any hawker centre and she’ll happily try and give to the old folk doing menial work. Like it or not, this Vietnamese girl is helping our community whenever she does something for our old folks. She and girls like her from elsewhere are constantly building their network among themselves and with us too by looking after our elderly and vulnerable. We should stop dismissing people from Third World countries as being useless as we sit in our ivory towers. They’re surviving conditions most of us wouldn’t wish upon our enemies. Say what you like about the “tough” school system here. That’s nothing compared to the school of hard-knocks they go through.   Tang Li *Although I’ve been based mainly in Singapore for nearly two decades, I’ve had the privilege of being able to meet people who have crossed borders and cultures. I’ve befriended ministers and ambassadors and worked on projects involving a former head of state. Yet, at the same time, I’ve had the privilege of befriending migrant labourers and former convicts. All of them have a story to tell. All of them add to the fabric of life. I hope to express the stories that inspire us to create life as it should be.      Read More →

It’s Huat for one, and disappointment for two. The pineapple won the day. But they were gracious about it. NKS and TKL congratulated President Tharman. “I wish Mr Tharman every success in the presidency, and I’m confident that he will make a very good president,” said NKS. But curiously, in a farewell speech last night, he took upon himself on what seems to be the fall-guy role for the people. “To the people of Singapore, I wish to say that the relatively low percentage of votes that I’ve obtained was the price that I really need to pay in order to give Singaporeans the opportunity to exercise their right to vote. That was the ultimate objective when I set out to stand for the presidency.” Mm…I thought the ultimate objective in any election is to win the majority over. If the goal was to give the people the opportunity to vote, I guess TKL would have suffice. Nevertheless, NKS, as one supporter puts it, “fought the good fight, given that he was the least known candidate among the three…He has done relatively well.” Yes, he ran the best he could, and presented a side of social norm not every Singaporean can say they are comfortable with, that is, the age and the age gap. TKL was gracious too. “I wish to send my sincere congratulations to Mr Tharman Shanmugaratnam for his success in this contest…I wish him all the best in meeting the challenges ahead, and I hope he will be able to help bring a better life for the people.” The curious thing about TKL’s presidential run is that he had the support of almost all the opposition bigwigs. Mostly in their personal capacity, they easily make the list of the who’s who of Singapore’s opposition leaders. He had the endorsement of Tan Cheng Bock, Tan Jee Say, Lim Tean, Kenneth Jeyaretnam and Chee Soon Juan. If Pritam were added to that cheery bandwagon, it would give out that unmistakable vibe of the last 2020 GE. It almost seems like TKL was carrying the torch of the wishes of the opposition leaders, for, erm…independence? Anyway, I wish TKL well. He has done what he can, the best way he can, and now, it’s time to take life easy. “I will spend more time with my grandchildren. In my free time, I will continue to do my part in voicing the hardship and aspirations of the people through other channels. Thank you and goodbye.” Looks like the former actuarial chief is going for much safer risk that pays off handsomely in the long run. Lastly, the winner. He won by a landslide, garnering 70.4%. That was close to the last GE2020 win of about 74% for Jurong GRC, which was helmed by him. He made history too - the first non-Chinese presidential candidate to win a contested election. “I believe that the vote for me and what I stand for is a vote of confidence in Singapore…It is a vote of optimism for a future in which we can progress together and support each other as Singaporeans.” Indeed, Singaporeans have voted by a strong margin a man of good fortune (“ong lai”) and prosperity (“huat ah”) into Istana for a term or two. The people have spoken, and after the count last night comes what really counts for the 2.5 million voters or more, that is, the hoi polloi (“the common folks”). The winner’s speech is but the road map for a future that still has to be taken step by step, day in and out. Whether the office of the president is redundant or not, and one can argue until the cows come home, it is still of some ceremonial, cultural and social significance, apart from its jaga role of the past reserves and deciding on key appointments. I can think of three. First, it gives the people a way to vote, not just the GE. It’s what leadership of, by and for the people means. It’s the pulsating heart of democracy, its effectiveness notwithstanding. We all want hope. We all want autonomy. They are the living breath of the citizenry. Democracy thus serves those enduring values on a silver platter, or into ballot boxes. Second, the president, when voted in, especially when he has the overwhelming mandate of the people, is a unifying force for the people. That can’t be denied. Mind you, 93 per cent of voters came out to register their individual voice. Less than 2% were rejected votes. That’s clearly one nation going towards one direction to elect one glowing representative for Singaporeans. And lastly, its about the character and integrity of the president. To put it bluntly, he takes the world by the catwalk. He takes to the world stage and do us proud, like a son or daughter would at their convocation. Symbol or otherwise, past reserves or unreserved, the president represents us all to the world. We can either raise our hands up exuding pride or suffer many face-palm moments. I believe President Tharman has it in him to raise Singaporeans up, psychologically and materially. In many ways, he is a bridge builder, and his representation will be unencumbered and focused, and it gives the presidency the mileage to make a difference in the lives of the ordinary, common folks. Yes, only time will tell. But based on past record and a character that has stood the test of time, politics and even a judicial contest, I trust President Tharman will stand tall for this little red dot, as her head of state worthy of its calling and weight.   Michael Han * The author was a Director at Han & Lu Law Chambers and blogs on Facebook.      Read More →

A large majority of Singaporeans have voted for the status quo. We respect that. We must also not forget that the real person who fought for the right reasons - for the common people - is Mr. Tan Kin Lian. He has already achieved all that he had wished for his and his family's well being. Yet he stepped out of his comfort zone to continue his good work which he had done for 30 long years to make sure that all who had insured with the cooperative which he helmed were taken good of. Those thoughtless people out there who chose to only mock and belittle his courage and contributions are simply a bunch of self centred beings who fail to see the big picture. They only see him as an insignificant nobody who deserves to be ridiculed for the few light hearted remarks that he might have uttered in jest. A significant number of people, including myself, see him in different a light. We see him as a selfless man who could do wonders in a mission to make Singapore a better place to live in. He knows very well that what he wanted to do is not a walk in the park. But he tried nonetheless though he could have spent an easy retirement with his family. That is why his supporters came out to stand by him. I wish him all the best. Have a good rest Mr. Tan.   Mohamed Jufrie Bin Mahmood      Read More →