TR EMERITUS

'Singapore cannot allow doubts or erosion of public trust of institutions to take root'- Edwin Tong (ET). That was the crux of what ET said at the opening keynote address of this year's CNA Leadership Summit. That man, ET, true to his legal training was totally at ease at uttering politically correct stuff but when I ponder about what have happened to the pap and some of their key people of late, I cannot help but feel so disappointed and disgusted even. This commentary is about trust and the abuse, erosion and/or the absence of trust. When lhl presented what was essentially a family quarrel among him and his siblings in Parliament which comprised mainly his subordinates instead of our courts and the other party was not able to access the same opportunity to rebut him, to me, trust in our system had taken a big knock. When ET lamented to Goh CT that his junior ministerial salary is too low and he has to support his in-laws lalala... again, trust in our system under the pap was under assault. When lhl first knew of the monkey business that was going on between Tan Chuan Jin (TCJ) and Cheng Li Hui (CLH) as early as 2020 and still allowed him and CLH to continue in their parliamentary roles over the years, again, trust and confidence in him as an effective Prime Minister to do the right things to uphold morality and standards was dragged through the mud. And last but not least, although aware of TCJ's extra marital adventure, still lhl didn't stop TCJ from chairing the Raeesah Khan's case parliamentary committee hearing. In fact of all the people in the committee, he was clearly the most unqualified but the most senior one. I can still go on about how Trust was abused and trampled by the pap government itself. I choose to observe and ponder about things and developments in my country. I refuse to enjoy blind sucking although it is more fun, more blissful, less strenuous and lesser headache. I choose to be right and not merely blind sucking politically correct stuff spew by big titled people. Think.   Simon Lim      Read More →

MPs losing their seat due to affairs makes you think more deeply about what marriage means in a world whose values and views about it have been shifting. Divorce rates have increased. Breaking up percentage is close to 40% in some conservative countries, some even 50/50. On the average, marriages meant to last a lifetime don’t last a lifetime. They have become more seasonal. When the going gets tough, temptation, personal trials and all, we tend to give up and move on to greener pastures. It’s just another season of our life, so we console ourselves, and life is made up of many of these seasons of necessary changes. Marriage may be the crucible of where our love and commitment are openly and seriously tested, but the test is getting harder and harder to pass. It seems like we are taking the test on a daily basis and the marks are slipping. If a metaphor helps, the dish before us always seems to be colder than the hot dish next door. The world is flatter, and worldly lures via technology are therefore more transparent to all. We get distracted easily, and lust as the secret mistress of passion is quietly elevated to rival love as the covenantal head of the household. And we justify our indiscretions with a thousand reasons just to keep our conscience in a state of quiet assent. God’s aversion to or detest of divorce doesn’t stop men from devising ways to embrace it as a means to an unbridled and enlightened self, and as an expression of one’s freedom of choice. As an excuse for a change of heart, we tell ourselves that the marital vows is a bondage that stymies the ultimate goal of personal growth and flourishing. When the kitchen gets too hot, just get out instead of sticking around to drowse the fire. Choose the road of least resistance. Why fight it? Why go all the way when you may be selling yourself short where there is someone out there who can give you lasting happiness, right? What good is a marriage for me if I am not happy? Maybe the serpent with good intention is just figuring out a better way for me when he invites me to bite into that juicy and fresh forbidden fruit. He has my interest and happiness at heart all along. Isn’t he the most misunderstood character throughout history? Well, it is always a struggle to set lust apart from love. In the throes of our own swirling appetites, we may just mistake them for twins. But lust always starts out in the dark. We do not want to be publicly associated with it. Love is in the light. It is publicly celebrated. Lust is transactional. It’s also transient. Love is relational. It’s transforming. Lust is me-first. It is driven by pleasure. Love is others-centred. It is driven by the joy of sacrifice. And marriage is that joy, one that is deeply rooted in self-sacrificing love, both enduring and transforming. When lust takes over, a marriage becomes transactional, and a conscience nourished by love is soon held captive by the capriciousness of lust. It becomes pleasure-driven, and everything’s permissible, but not beneficial. A society built on this lust, that is, the lust of the flesh and eye, the lust for power and fame, and covetousness, stands on sinking sand, whose foundation is shaky and values are flexible. Nothing is timeless anymore. All is seasonal, until blandness sets in, and your heart goes hunting for the next new thing to satisfy your appetite. Let me end with what the late rabbi Jonathan Sacks wrote about marriage, which, in his view, holds the society together: - “More generally, marriage is fundamental to the moral enterprise because it is the supreme example of the transformation of two “I’s” into a collective “We”. It is the consecration of a commitment to care for an Other. It is the formalisatuon of love, not as a passing passion but as a moral bond. To see what is at stake we need to understand the difference between two things that look and sound alike but actually are not, namely, contracts and covenants.” “In a contract, two or more individuals, each pursuing their own interest, come together to make an exchange for mutual benefit…A covenant is something different. In a covenant, two or more individuals, each respecting the dignity and integrity of the other, come together in a bond of love and trust, to share their interests, sometimes even to share their lives, by pledging their faithfulness to one another, to do together what neither can achieve alone.” “A contract is a transaction. A covenant is a relationship.”   Michael Han * The author is a Director at Hoh Law Corporation and blogs on Facebook.      Read More →

Isn’t it weird that while many Singaporeans take pride in believing that we have arrived as citizens of an advanced economy, the irony is why are there still so many among us who could not think critically? Take the upcoming PE2023 as an example, isn’t it like an arranged marriage when all the candidates must be screened and approved by the PAP-led government before the people can get to decide? Does the PAP really think that it still has the moral authority to play the paternal role in the lives of Singaporeans? Like the elites of old who strive to arrange marriage among its own circle, the PAP is still trapped in this perverse thinking that only they can attract the best candidates and all their ministers are “whiter than white”. Truth is, the use of money politics to attract and retain its politicians and activists has started to backfire on the them as we can see from the endless scandals and extra-marital affairs that have been plaguing the PAP all these past years. Systemic Flaws In Qualifying Mechanism Used In PE2023: Like a bad karma, the endless scandals, and the erosion of trust and morality of the PAP has also magnified the systemic flaws in the qualifying mechanism used in our elections, especially in the upcoming PE203. While Tharman Shanmugaratnam may be self-qualified by his ministerial appointments to contest in PE2023, he can also be technically disqualified by the Presidential Election Committee “PEC”, who is vested with tremendous amount of “Discretionary Power” despite it not being mandated by the people, for the massive S$30.8 billion loss suffered by MAS when he was their chairman. This was rightly pointed out by Michelle Lee, who has put up a petition for Dr Tan Cheng Bock to stand in PE2023. The same is true for many of those PAP-elites who can simply just walk into any Presidential Election just because they were all given some kind of imperial seals. Do you know that Tan Chuan Jin, the disgraced Speaker of Parliament can still qualify for PE2023 if he decided to enter because he was not sacked by PM Lee Hsien Loong but was allowed to resign from his post, and as such, get to keep all his retirement perks and benefits, including his right to contest in PE203 or beyond? If he does, will the PEC dare to disqualify him based on the strong “circumstantial evidence” that his extra-marital affair proves that he is not a person of good character, and ended up also proving that the current qualifying criteria that favour politicians is flawed and should be scrapped? What if Chan Chun Sing, the Education Minister decides to stand in a Presidential Election and ended up unable to recite the National Pledge while hosting foreign dignitaries? The same is also true if Vivian Balakrishnan or S. Shanmugam, who despite the scandalous Ridout’s fiasco, decides to run in any of our Presidential Election. Of all the Tans who contested in PE2011, how many is aware that Tan Kin Lian is “technically” still qualified to contest in PE2023 despite being the only candidate to lose his election deposit? By now, can you see just how stupid and defective the current qualifying mechanism used in PE2023 really is? In a sick way, isn’t PE2023, in its current form, an arranged marriage where we, the citizens of Singapore, can only pick from one of the candidates that the PAP-led government has shortlisted for us? Is this even democratic or logical for a nation that is supposed to be a First World Country? If the people did not give the PEC its “Discretionary Power”, then where did they get their discretionary power from? By virtue of this discretionary power vested in the PEC, isn’t it at the service of the one who appoints them? The Power of One United People - The Democratic Way Forward As A Nation: It is time for Singaporeans to stand up as “One United People” if we want to end all these absurdities and stupidities that are plaguing our democratic system and election mechanisms to ensure that meritocracy will consistently triumph over mediocre, by having the best people among us to represent not just our parliament but also the highest public office in the country, which is the Presidential office. It is indeed karmic that the ways the PAP-led government tried to conduct its own investigations involving its own ministers and parliamentarians are only fuelling more political jokes that are being whispered at coffee-shops all around Singapore, and in the process, make the men in white look horribly dirty these days. But why is the PAP-led government, despite already having full control over all the estates of powers in Singapore still so adamant about keeping the Presidential Office to itself? Could it be that PE2023 is proving to be too important for the PAP to win so that some of its ministers can be assured that the Ridout’s Scandal will remain closed and shut for all eternity? Or that the office of the Elected President will never be allowed to direct the CPIB or convene any public inquiry against the PAP-led government or their ministers for any wrongdoing? Is there something that may have serious material impact to Singapore that the PAP-led government does not want us to know, and that is why they must win and control the Istana too? Against so many “troubling” unknowns and uncertainties that could be plaguing our country, both politically and economically, I find it both depressing and puzzling that the opposition parties in Singapore are still largely obediently following the playbook of the PAP in all our elections, from the general election to the presidential election. If the role of the Elected President should be non-political, then why is the PAP so massively vested in ensuring that only those that they have shortlisted get to stand in our Presidential Election? Are the opposition parties even aware that there is at least one candidate who contested in the last General Election who actually qualifies for PE2023? Yes, there are quality candidates among the opposition parties and more will follow if the few key opposition parties stop acting subserviently to the PAP’s playbook and start challenging them where it matters most. And if the opposition parties in Singapore truly want to be or form the Alternative Government to the PAP, then they must start thinking more strategically and acting more decisively, and show themselves to be able to come together when it matters most by standing with the people as “One United People”, beyond their political divides and differences . To do that, they must stop trying to qualify themselves along the PAP-dictated guideline but must start challenging them democratically and creatively. People’s Choice - The Democratic Way Forward: In this aspect, Michelle, the creator of the petition for Dr Tan to stand in PE2023 is right in pointing out the fact that Dr Tan is indeed the People’s Choice for PE2023. That is why we must ask ourselves why the PAP-led government is so afraid of this 83-year old man who was once their former cadre. Unless they got some horrible skeletons in the closet that they do not want anyone to see, then there is really no reason for the PAP to fear him right? After being so close to winning PE2011 and then deprived from contesting in PE2017 when the PAP-led government reserved it for the Malay community, why don’t the people stop all these “arranged marriages” by democratically telling the PAP-led government and their appointed PEC that we want to be able to vote for the candidate of our choice? Looking at the candidates arranged by the PAP-led government thus far, and if Dr Tan’s Certificate of Eligibility for PE2011 is acknowledged and accepted for PE2023, do not be surprised if PE2023 turns out to be a fight among the potential First Ladies. There is no denying that if this come to pass, then Mrs Tan will surely win hand down, no? Whether the PAP-led government and their PEC want to accept or reject the people’s choice for PE2023, it is their call to make. But the biggest fear of the PAP will be if another titan, who is qualified and can lead the people if he decides to return to take part in PE2023, knowing well that this titan can play a more major role in shaping the future of our country in a more decisive manner, and in the process, will strategically curtail their power and moral standing. That is why the Singaporeans must play our part by being active in encouraging and supporting those who can play a decisive role in shaping our future as a nation, beyond party politics or political divides. Yes, we need the best men and women to step forward and help lead Singapore out of the terrible mess caused by the 4G PAP-led government. But if all democratic avenues to effect the change by the people are to be systematically blocked by the PAP-led government, then the next General Election is definitely going to be the end of the PAP-led government. If that comes to pass, we just have to wonder who among the 4G PAP will be so stupid to be deceived into leading the PAP in the next general election and get recorded in history as the worse performing Prime Minister of Singapore, and save PM Lee from this international disgrace. Still think that there is no political play involved in the upcoming PE2023? As such, politics in Singapore will get more dirty and messy because when the PAP is at its weakest, it is also at its most dangerous, and this is most evident as we can see from how conveniently the whole marital scandal at Workers’ Party is timed to make the PAP look whiter than white, no? That is why for those who are still stupidly talking about keeping Dr Tan for the next general election, do not be surprised that they may end up drawing Dr Tan and his legacy into the booby-trap set up by the PAP, no? Singapore is indeed in a crisis of a generation and we all need to go beyond selfish endeavours and party politics if we are all sincere about saving our country from further embarrassments and scandals. I hope more Singaporeans will step up and play their part by decisively rejecting these “arranged marriage” if we still believe that Singaporeans deserve better.   Joseph Nathan      Read More →