TR EMERITUS

Daniel Goh A few people messaged me about the news of Prof Daniel Goh being called up by WP disciplinary committee for "interview". Apparently they are not happy about what is happening in WP, particularly the way the leadership is managing the party. I have left WP more than 15 years ago, after having contributed to its revival through the rebranding exercise from 2001 to 2006 GE. I have no regret in leaving WP and that's part of my history. The fact that these few people who message me with regards to this happening but not putting up their views on social media, is already the sign of a totally muffled political party culture within WP. I have always said this is a culture which is more PAP than PAP. The reasons stated by the disciplinary committee of calling Daniel Goh for interview is pretty laughable. Do the leaders of WP really think that PAP has no idea how its Parliamentary caucus works? Hey, they even know what documents Sylvia Lim brought with her to the meetings! It is kind of naive and daft to think PAP is that incompetence when it comes to intelligence gathering! The most comical reasons given was what Daniel Goh has written on his FB has damaged WP leaders' standing! No one should question their standing, their behavior, their doings and their management style!? They are some sort of supreme beings and they should always be praised, not questioned or made to look bad or stupid! Ever since I have left WP, it has an unwritten rule WP members, especially cadre members and CEC members are basically banned from talking about politics, policies or party matters on social media. This is why you hardly see any known non-MP WP writing about politics or policies, lest party matters on social media. Daniel Goh has breached that unwritten rule and that's the reason he is called to be disciplined. Most probably he will be sacked as party member or removed from cadre membership or suspended as either one. Of course, Daniel Goh has hinted that the leaders of WP are doing this because party elections (OPC) is just round the corner and what Daniel Goh has done or possibly do in the OPC, openly questioning the current leaders of their management of the saga, may undermine their chance of getting elected or reduce their votes. This is entirely possible and it is all written in the "reasons". It is not about WP public standing but the credibility of the leaders has been undermined. To put across an important point, I don't really agree with Daniel Goh most of the time, especially on certain economic policies he has proposed in the past. But I respect him for providing an alternative views for public discourse and debate. In fact, I don't agree with his current view that PAP is not WP or any opposition's "political opponent". PAP is the biggest giant political opponent of all all opposition parties. Although they have smart people running the country for past decades but their direction and aspirations have changed which we oppose. You can be friends with any PAP Ministers or members in private but when it comes to politics, they are your opponents, mistake it not. Daniel Goh seems to be an idealist or even naive on the political front but he has all his right to freedom of expression. No one should be gagged if we want to work for a vibrant democracy. Instead of using their powers in the party machinery, the leaders of WP should have stood up and rebuke him on his questions. Else, doesn't that look exactly like PAP, using laws, administrative powers, POFMA, ISD and such to shut people up? Ok, folks, for all your fear of speaking up publicly over this issue, I have done it for you. But don't bother me again next time. You got to grow some guts to say out what's in your mind. If not, how would voters expect you to speak up for them?   Goh Meng Seng      Read More →

My friend just told his company had 7 new positions, all filled up by Pinoys. I asked him if the hiring manager is from Philippines, he said no. He is Singaporean but he was from Philippines, now holding Pink IC. And I asked again, these Pinoys are also from Singapore? He said yes they are Permanent Citizens and New Citizens. Is this alarming? So the govt keeps saying local employment has increased but more and more local PMETs cannot find meaning PMET jobs and end up doing PHV and Food delivery? PSP and WP had been asking a lot of difficult questions on employment and population but the establishment had always played hide and seek, and even labeling Leong as nonsense. I again asked a number of friends in other industries, they said it is common, if the hiring is foreign born whether he is holding employment pass or PR or new citizen, he will hire his own natives. In the banking and IT industries, this is rampant and clear. As for other industries, it is also the similar. Do you seriously think they do not know the problem they created? You walk in MOM, you also be shocked the number of foreign born in there. Do you think this has become a very serious and big problems for local born Singaporeans? Or you still waiting for establishment to change even after so many decades?   Melanie Teo      Read More →

One of the scariest things about the 377A debate is that it often reveals a national obsession with a**holes. If you scroll through enough forums, you will notice a strange belief that has been placed in the national psyche, which is a belief that there is an evil conspiracy by the West to make Singapore decay by allowing gay people to have sex. Whenever I read these comments, I am inevitably reminded of one of the greatest lines in cinematic history, which was “Who I f**k and who I don’t f**k is none of your f**king business,” which came from the movie “The Fabulous Baker Boys,” staring Bo and Jeff Bridges alongside Michelle Pfeiffer. Our obsession with what other people get up to in the privacy of the bedroom has become hysterical and it would be funny if we did not have serious social issues that need to be addressed. OK, I get that not everyone is going to be comfortable with the very idea of two guys in a relationship. However, while that idea might not be the most comfortable to entertain, there is no reason why two consenting adults should be considered criminal in the eyes of the law (despite the government’s promise not to enforce it). At the same time, the homosexual community needs to understand that things are not going to change overnight and making people comfortable with your choices is going to get you further than antagonizing them. So, now that the most useless and pointless of laws is going to be repealed, its time for the us to move on. The homosexual community should celebrate a small victory and then move onto the next battle, which is to get the rest of society ready to accept that homosexual unions need legal protections, which was a point that was ironically raised on social media by Ms. Stephanie Thio, joint-managing partner of TSMP Law. On the other hand, our “religious” community needs to understand that their faith’s require them to be so much more than the police of other people’s bedroom activities. If you take the Christian Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John) for example, you will notice that Jesus was more interested in feeding the poor and healing the sick than who f**ed who. Jesus was not the only great teacher obsessed with relieving suffering. In Islam, there is a belief that God does not intend poverty for people and Muslims are obliged to donate towards the less fortunate. Much as the government may not want to admit it, we have a growing underclass and there are plenty of people that have fallen through the cracks of our glorious system. Thanks to Covid, we have migrant workers who do our back breaking work in return for the right to live in places where we would not step into unless we were in a hazmat suite. You have employers who take pride in not paying such workers. If you want to limit the scope to born and bred Singaporeans, look at the plight of many of our elderly, who make up an unhealthy portion of the homeless and hungry. Go into any fast-food joint and you will inevitably see an elderly person doing the heavy lifting because, well they need something to pay for their old age. Sure, our number of horribly poor may be less than many other places but you consider the fact that we are one of the “richest” nations on a per capita basis, there is no reason why our own people, from the hardest working generation, digging through trash cans to survive. There are enough horror stories of how many of these people ended up that way because the kids they helped make into success stories screwed them. I don’t know about you but each one of these horror stories shows that there was a decay in values somewhere along the line and like or not, this was happening in Singapore long before the government entertained the idea of repealing 377A. This is where our religious organisations need to step up. They have “moral” authority, financial means, and a network to get things done. Think about someone like Professor Thio Li-Ann, who is by all accounts a brilliant scholar of laws. Can you imagine if someone of her capabilities focused on making the law protect us when we are at our most vulnerable (in our old age) instead of worrying about everyone’s a***hole being poked. Think of Joseph Prince of New Creation Church, who is clearly very gifted when it comes to raising money (I believe his record is $21 million in 24 hours) to build bigger and better facilities for his church and ensuring that the homeless have shelter. Think about how much better we would be if the people who claimed to speak for God focused a little less on who was f***who and the plight of those who were being f**ed by the system. This was what Jesus was focused on and we need to return to this basic when it comes to those who claim to be close speak for the Almighty.   Tang Li *Although I’ve been based mainly in Singapore for nearly two decades, I’ve had the privilege of being able 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 →