TR EMERITUS

Editor's note: This article is an verbatim excerpt of a longer article by the same author and can stand on its own without a change in meaning or context. The other part of the original article has also been scheduled for publication. In the 1980s, our first prime minister, Lee Kuan Yew had "trouble" with foreign publications which occasionally criticised his government’s policies. Angered, he was determined to stop them from commenting on “domestic politics”, something that was absurd, unhelpful and unjust. He was frustrated when letters from James Fu, his press secretary to those foreign publications correcting “falsehoods” were refused publication or published in edited versions. Fu's letters were usually too long for publication in the Letters Column and were accordingly edited. To punish those foreign publications for refusing to publish the government's rebuttals in full, The Newspaper and Printing Presses Act was amended to enable ministers to unilaterally restrict or gazette the publications and restrict their sales to ridiculous quantities like a few hundreds instead of the thousands that the foreign press were selling. When the Far Eastern Review refused to sell their 500 magazines after being gazetted, the government resorted to blatant infringement of copyright laws. NTUC was authorised to photostat the magazines, blocking out advertisements and selling them at cost. Foreign publications were naturally unhappy. Several unsuccessful law suits resulted but none of those suits was determined by the Privy Council, the highest court in those days. Asian Wall Street Journal failed in its attempt to appeal to the Privy Council because the Singapore Court of Appeal reserved its judgement till after the passing of an amendment that abolished appeals to the Privy Council (see Ridiculous, Untold Tales of Singapore p157, published by Function. The PAP government does not accept alternative opinions. With the advent of online publications and social media, the laws of the 1980s have to be updated and fine-tuned. Thus we have POFMA. The mechanism to stop or prevent the spread of alternative opinions remains – the ministers and their subordinates can request the POFMA OFFICE to unilaterally issue Correction Notices which are basically the opinions of the government. The recipients of these notices have no choice but to publish the link to the government’s FACTUALLY website. In this way, the writer/publication is humiliated while the minister feels good that his views are published on the threat of heavy financial penalties. POFMA or Protection from Online Falsehoods and Manipulation Act 2019 is a just a law that is intended to remind Singaporeans that the government is the master and they are simply servants.   Teo Soh Lung      Read More →

US military doctors confirm in testimony before US Senate that in the first 10 months of 2021 compared to the five year average from 2016-2020, there were increases among vaccinated US military personnel of miscarriages by 279%, of female infertility by 471%, of male infertility of 344%, and birth defects by 156%. The following is an inexhausive list of young and healthy pregant mRNA-vaccinated women who died during and after pregnancy. Thousands and thousands of others are suffering the same fate in countries all over the world, except Singapore. Depending in which country these women died in, had it occured in Singapore, it would most probably be "medical misadventure", absolutely nothing to do with the Covid-19 mRNA vaccines. 1. Sue Maroroa Jones (age 31) – died on May 11, 2023 New Zealand – International NZ Chess Champion Sue Maroroa Jones, age 32, died suddenly after giving birth to her 2nd child, on May 11, 2023, due to “post natal complications” (click here) 2. Crystal Candler (age 35) – died April 27, 2023 Narrows, VA – 35 year old Crystal Candler, who worked as a Child Care Director, died while pregnant at 35 weeks on April 27, 2023 (click here). She suffered an unspecified “medical emergency” at 35 weeks gestation and died 5 days later on April 27, 2023. Her baby survived. 3. Dr. Sheena Nageli (age 34) – died April 25, 2023 Boerne, Texas – 34 year old Dr. Sheena Nageli, a pediatric chiropractor, delivered baby Juliette on April 20, 2023 and died on April 25, 2023 (click here). Sheena had her baby girl with a home birth on April 20, 2023. In the process of recovering from the birth, it was determined on April 24, 2023 that she was battling a localized infection “unrelated to her pregnancy”. Sadly, that infection, for inexplicable reasons, spread quickly. Despite quick medical intervention she died the following day on April 25, 2023. 4. Kelsey Holder (age 32) – died March 21, 2023 Brentwood, TN – 32 year old 5th grade teacher Kelsey Holder, died suddenly on March 21, 2023 with her stillborn baby (click here)   More to come...      Read More →

I remember catching up with my oldest friend, who had transitioned from a corporate law career into teaching. She mentioned that in the course of new job, she actually had to “sweep” the school she was teaching at. She then reminded me that back when we were kids being a “sweeper” was something that parents always used as a “threat” – “If you don’t study hard, you’ll end up as a street sweeper.” I think of this conversation that I had with my oldest friend because it hit upon the topic that is a hot topic for discussion but one which nobody wants to do anything about. That is the topic of work. My friend had a point in as much as she reminded me of how professional middle class families use the threat of a future as a manual worker to get their children into what they considered “proper” jobs, which inevitably involved needing paper qualifications and sitting in an office. This mindset isn’t particularly limited to those who are “born” into working professional families. My former father-in-law put two kids through university by selling eggs. His pride was having two kids who were joining professions (my ex is a teacher and her brother works at DSTA) and not taking over his business. My former brother-in-law in particular was regarded as something of a star in the family because he had the “ultimate” job working in a government related job that paid very well and had the prestigious label of being an “Iron Rice-bowl.” I knew I was probably not fit for mainstream Singapore when at the last meeting with my ex, I told her that her family had the wrong hero. Instead of idolising her brother for doing what everyone else does (thus betraying my middle-class background), the one they should have admired was her dad who put his kids through school by selling eggs (how much does one make on an egg). Now, I do get the value of “professions.” Houses, for example, do need to be designed by architects and engineers are needed to get them up. Should one ever need surgery, one would want the person holding the knife to have studied everything there was to possibly know about surgery. The same can be said of lawyers – would you want to face a law suite without a lawyer who knew the law like the back of his or her hand? As the pace of technological pace speeds up, the importance of continuous learning will only become more important. The adage that the best investment that one can ever make is “education” is not only true, its going to be more so as things progress. Having said what I’ve just said, I believe the majority of us in the “professional sector” need revalue our perception of the world. Too many of us grew up with the idea that work outside the office was not “real work” or that it was only people who were not going anywhere in life. To be fair, I believe this attitude is generally true in just about every place on the planet. However, in Singapore, it becomes especially when you notice the fact that people in manual-labour tend to be darker skinned and from other parts of Asia. The fact that I took a waiter job in my late thirties put me at odds with mainstream thinking. As mentioned on a few occasions, one of the great pick-up lines I ever received was “Are you a Yellow Ribbon Criminal, you’re working here and the way you speak don’t gel.” Then, when I joined a proper profession in the insolvency trade, I remember a lawyer telling me “Oh you do the easy part,” when I mentioned that I do the running around whilst my boss does the paper work. I don’t dispute that my boss has the harder job. I am very clear about what I want and don’t want to get involved in based on my situation in life. However, I find it strange that people who sit in airconditioned offices think that manual work is easy. It hit home today, when I went out in the afternoon. May 2023 has seen some high temperatures and today was no exception. Even in a short distance, I made it a point to stay under shelter. Then I noticed a construction worker behind me and noticed that he had come from the sun. Then I noticed a group of them across the road working. These guys were out in the sun working on a Saturday, whilst I was avoiding the sun on what is officially my “off day.” Then I asked myself – where do people sitting in airconditioned offices staring at screens get the idea manual workers get it easy? If manual work is “easy,” why aren’t people rushing to do it? Surely, if the manual workers are having it easy when compared to the office workers, you would find people who would be willing to do it. Yet, this clearly isn’t the case. I know people who are considered “long-term” unemployed from their last office job. Instead of taking on manual work to supplement their income, they prefer to stay at home. It’s a case of having too much pride to be seen doing manual work but plenty of pride to beg friends and family for money to smoke. Why don’t people want to change places with manual workers, since manual work is not real work? Some would argue that it’s the pay. I mean, I earned from a single press release than I did in a month at the Bistrot. So, assuming that manual work paid the same as office work, would people still want to change places with the manual workers since manual work is not really work? I know I don’t want to change places with the construction workers. I like the comfort of not being in the hot sun on a Saturday. I have the privilege of being flexible with how I make my living. I can hang around the periphery of Cubicle Land and on occasion wait tables here and there. I might even get a few cents in advertising for this blog piece. It’s not that me and the rest of middle-class doesn’t have struggles. However, if you look at everything we do, we are the ones who have it relatively easy and our work, is well, not real. We are not the ones out in the sun on a Saturday. I can think of a number of construction workers who would happily take my place. I wouldn’t want to take theirs. So, the next time someone gives you the idea that manual work is not “real work,” you should perhaps ask them if they’d happy to change places with the manual workers.   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 →