TR EMERITUS

I refer to Chan Chun Sing's challenge to students that if they can get Taylor Swift to perform in their school for free, they will get a day-off. I am a senior citizen, a citizen of an older generation and the way I was brought up, my life's values and experiences are different from the many students today, still, in this current case where students across many schools appealed to various ministers just so that they can have a day-off to queue for tickets to watch their idol's performance and the way CCS handled it, I would grade him a weak pass. Just a very weak pass only. Let me explain. Unlike CCS, if I were in charge, I will never condone or entertain students getting out of line and/or bargaining with the authorities and in this case, it is none other than the Education Minister himself just like I will never condone a soldier getting out of line and/or bargain with the Ministry of Defence regarding certain decision or policy. I would rather CCS stamps his authority on this one, no if and no but but alas, what he has done exposed so nakedly the stuff of a weak minister that he is made off. Going forward, there will be more international sporting superstars, entertainment celebrities, superstars of all sorts who will come to Singapore to perform and it is totally possible that given the current precedence being set, such challenge will very likely be extended to students in future too and at some point in time, his challenge will be breached. When the Pandora box is opened, I ask what is next? Never mind whatever generation of citizens our government is dealing with, I wish that all our government ministers at all times truly have the iron in them to do the right thing and not any kay kiang things, politically popular or politically correct but soft things only. Think.   Simon Lim      Read More →

It’s been a rather wild few days for me as a blog publisher. In the last few days, I’ve seen more people flock to my obscure part of cyberspace in the last five days than I have in the last few years. As a rule of thumb, socio-political blogs don’t attract much traffic and are notoriously hard to make money from. Nobody goes online to read pro-government news when they can read it off the Straits Times. Nobody wants to be seen pumping too much money behind anyone mildly critical of the government. Then, this is Singapore and we live in an age of extremities. You are either a government book licker or you foam at the mouth whenever a government minister appears on TV. I don’t do either. I like to think I question objectively and give credit to the parties when credit is due. I’ve been told that I’ve been branded as “anti-establishment” and when I worked freelance, I few people pointed out that I was probably too “anti-establishment” to get much work. On the other hand, I’ve also been labeled a government boot licker by the online crowd. Apparently, I’m influencing people to be more pro ruling party by subliminal indoctrination and I’m handsomely rewarded and living a life of luxury. So, since both sides don’t like me, I don’t get much readership. If I get 70 plus people looking at a simple posting, I’m happy. It’s reflected in the revenue I make of the blog. Online advertising as managed by Google pays very badly and it took me six-years to get adsense to pay out $150. Then things changed. My last piece, which talked aboutthe lack of leadership has sent statistics soaring. I’ve gone from being happy with 100 viewers a day for the entire blog (from the global community) to some 2,000 plus per day in the last three days. Ad revenue has gone up too and it looks like I may get my second payout way ahead of schedule: What happened? Well, I can’t tell you that I’ve become a significantly better writer overnight. I can’t tell you that a magic fairy dropped by and decided to make everyone in Singapore read my last piece. I don’t think I said anything that was especially radical or insightful that would be make the great and good rush towards my insignificant corner of Cyberspace. The only conclusion that I can think of is that readers are p**ed off about certain things and desperate to find something that vindicates their views about a certain topic. It’s a case of come and read this – this guy is saying what we all think. This is perhaps something that the powers that be need to take note of. Why do certain corners of cyberspace get a sudden rush of attention? In the post-9/11 world, one could say that this is an indication of terrorist threats. However, let’s take a step back. How much of a threat is terrorism on the scale of things and are does terrorism become a convenient excuse to suppress opinions that one doesn’t like? In the case of Singapore, we need to look at the development of online media. How did sites like Independent Singapore and TREmeritus (both of which pick up my pieces from time to time) and let’s not forget the Online Citizen come into being in a media environment where editors know what’s good for them? The fact remains, the internet has made information easily accessible. Setting up a website costs significantly less than it does to set up a TV station or a newspaper. Anyone can set up a website. Websites are also easily accessible. You can click a button to get a website. You don’t need to leave the house and go to a shop like buying a newspaper. Getting access to a website is easy and cheap unlike say a newspaper or TV program. However, there are other aspects of online media, which the bureaucrats couldn’t understand. People were willing to work for free. As far as our bureaucrats are concerned, people only do things for money. So, when it comes to the media, it was made such that journalists in the main stream received decent salaries in return for doing what they were told to do. Not only did the mainstream have a grip on the revenue side (where else where you going to advertise), they also had a control of one of the biggest costs components in any business – labour. If you want to work as a journalist in Singapore, its either SPH or MediaCorp. These are the only guys with the money to pay salaries. This isn’t the same for online media, which gets people who are pretty much volunteers. Without volunteers, many of the websites would have shut down ages ago. However, they’re not short of labour. So, here’s the question, why do people volunteer their time to produce news stories if they’re not getting paid? Whilst I don’t have the empirical evidence, it’s clear that people are not satisfied with a single source of information. People are willing to offer their time and energy to create alternatives or they need a place to vent and demonstrate their frustrations. When one source of information refuses to even pretend to provide answers to the basic needs of the consumer, the consumer will then look elsewhere. Which is probably why I need to thank Mr. Ng Yat Chung for helping make my little corner of cyberspace that much more known. It was not my writing but his performance as a CEO of both NOL and SPH, which was interesting to the public. The fact that Mr. Ng tried to bully his way into being absolved for the mishaps made him a laughing stock and his defenders in government looked sheepish for even being near him. So, I’d love to say that I did something special to make my little blog a little less insignificant. However, credit must go to Mr. Ng for being a master clown in the art of being a donkey. This is something that people who lash out at the media should understand. While there is undoubtedly plenty of manipulation of the message in the media (I used to work in PR), in most cases, the media is conduit to more people to see how people expose themselves.   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 →

Do you know that since Lee Hsien Loong became the Prime Minister of Singapore in 2004, no death row prisoner has been granted clemency? This means that three presidents – Tony Tan, SR Nathan and Halimah Yacob have never been advised by the cabinet to grant any clemency. At least 80 people have been hanged since 2004. Between 1991 and 2003, at least 414 people were executed. The vast majority of executions were for drug trafficking and occurred during the time when Yong Pung How was Chief Justice, Chan Sek Keong was Attorney-General and Sim Poh Heng was Director of Central Narcotics Bureau. In this period, only six people were granted clemency. The last person to be granted clemency was in 1998 when Ong Teng Cheong was the President. Tharman Shanmugaratnam had been a cabinet minister since 2015. We don’t know how the cabinet decide on whether to grant or reject clemency petitions, whether each minister reads all the documents relating to the petitions, including court documents. We don’t know whether Tharman Shanmugaratnam had recommended clemency for anyone. We don't know how many of those executed submitted clemency petitions. That none of the 80 odd death row prisoners was granted clemency for nearly 20 years is however exceedingly disturbing. Tharman Shanmugaratnam is now standing for election as president. If he is elected, what will be his stand on the death penalty? Will he read all the files pertaining to petitions before him? Will he try to influence the cabinet ministers before they decide whether to grant or reject a petition? It would appear that society is changing rapidly but the government’s attitude towards crime and punishment remain static. It is reluctant to change its hardline policies towards drugs and the death penalty. Judging from the attitude of the young with regard to the recent case of Tangaraju Suppiah, I think society’s attitude towards the death penalty has changed. Never before have young people taken the trouble to walk to the Istana on a public holiday simply to present letters asking the President to spare the life of Tangaraju Suppiah. They didn't succeed. But they have learnt that people will continue to go to the gallows if they do nothing. Ministers who maintain a hardline belief that the death penalty deters crimes will be in for a shock if they do not heed this change. The President of Singapore may be powerless. But are we to expect that because of this lack of constitutional power to grant clemency, he will do nothing but obey the advice of the cabinet or will he do more than being the rubber stamp of cabinet? If Tharman Shanmugaratnam is elected as the next president, what is his stand on the death penalty? Is he an abolitionist? If he is, will he persuade the cabinet to spare the prisoner and break this evil 20 year spell of hanging people? Photo shows young people walking to the Istana to present clemency petitions for Tanagaraju Suppiah in April 2023.   Teo Soh Lung      Read More →