TR EMERITUS – The Voice Of The Lunatic Fringe – 淡马锡评论 – formerly Temasek Review

Roy’s speech at #ReturnOurCPF Protest

My Speech At 12 July #ReturnOurCPF Protest: Be United And Be The Change We Wish To See Roy Ngerng Change is coming as we speak. For the past 20, 30 years, every time Singaporeans ask questions, we ask the government to let us know what they are doing with our CPF, but the government will tell us that it is not in our interests to know. It is not in the national interest to know. For the past 20, 30 years, our CPF became lesser and lesser, the interest rates on our CPF became lower and lower. But the CPF Minimum Sum kept going higher and higher. In some years, it jumped by more than 10%. The government says that it wants to increase the Minimum Sum because of inflation. But why has the CPF Minimum Sum grown by more than 10% when the inflation rate is only 2% to 3%? Today, we still don’t have answers. The government says the CPF Minimum Sum is good for us, but when we are not even able to save enough in the CPF to meet the Minimum Sum, then what is so good about the CPF Minimum Sum? The Government Suddenly Admitted To The Truths In June This Year Singaporeans have been asking the government to let us know the truth for many years now. Many decades now. The government has always never wanted to answer. The government has never wanted to tell the truth. But over the last two months, suddenly, everything changed. Why did things suddenly change since May this year? In 2012 and 2013, I found evidence on the government websites which prove that our CPF is invested in the GIC and Temasek Holdings. By May this year, the government deleted all this information on their websites. By May this year, the GIC still told us that they do not know if they are using our CPF. By May this year, Singaporeans still do not know if the GIC and Temasek Holdings use our CPF to invest, because they did not want to tell us the truth. Because, the government did not want to tell us the truth. By May this year, Singaporeans knew nothing about what the government is doing with our CPF. Then all of a sudden, in June this year, everything changed. In June, the government admitted for the first time ever that they use our CPF to invest in the GIC. In June, the GIC admitted for the first time that they use our CPF to invest! In June, for the first time, the Temasek Holdings told us that they do not invest our CPF. But is this the truth? An ex-director from the Ministry of Finance wrote a book and she revealed that from the 1970s, the Temasek Holdings was using our CPF to invest. So, how come the Temasek Holdings suddenly says it doesn’t? So, in the past, did the Temasek Holdings invest our CPF? When did they stop? In May this year? And why did the government suddenly stop giving them our CPF? Remember, Temasek Holdings earns even higher interest rates than the GIC. Suddenly, in June this year, the government admitted the truth to many things. From not wanting to let Singaporeans know, the government bowed down to the pressure from Singaporeans and finally admitted to the truth. But did they say sorry? Did they tell us sorry for hiding the truth all this while? In June this year, I lost my job. If The Government Is The GIC, Why Did They Take 30 Years To Tell Us The Truth? But why did the GIC take so long to tell us the truth? Why did the GIC keep pretending to us that they do not know whether they invest our CPF? Why did the government and the GIC play with Singaporeans, when the government is on the Board of Directors of the GIC? Why did the government and GIC play with Singaporeans when the Singapore prime minister, deputy prime ministers and other ministers are on the Board of Directors of the GIC? Why? Why were Singaporeans treated like fools? The government knew since the 1980s that our CPF is invested in the GIC. The GIC knows that they are using our CPF to invest since the 1980s. So why did they treat us like fools? In June this year, suddenly the government admitted to the truth. Finally, Singaporeans, we were able to push the government to give us answers. But we had to push for 30 years! How many of us have lost our lives in this 30 years? How many of us have died fighting for answers and never got them? How many Singaporeans had to beg the government for answers? How many of us have to keep begging but the government wouldn’t tell us the truth? After 30 years, in June this year, finally the government admits to the truth. But still, they have not apologised. Singaporeans Are Taking On The Risk For GIC’s And Temasek Holdings’ Investments The CPF is our money. The CPF is our hard-earned money. The government says our CPF is not a cheap source of money for them to use. But the government takes our CPF and gives us only 2.5% to 4%. Then, they take our CPF to earn 5% at the GIC and 16% at the Temasek Holdings. Our CPF is not a cheap source of funding? Our CPF is very cheap! Who in their right mind will give someone our money, let them give us only 2.5% back, and then take our money and earn 16% for themselves? We would have taken the money back and tell them not to touch our money! Can we ask the government not to touch our money? But they won’t let us! The government tells us 2.5% is “fair”. They say the GIC takes on the risk for Singaporeans, and gives us a secure rate. Is this true? It is Singaporeans who are taking on the risk for the GIC! We keep working so hard, and keep earning CPF. Without our CPF, will the GIC and Temasek Holdings have the money to use? We have to lend them our CPF to use, and if the GIC and Temasek Holdings make losses, who will have to pay? Singaporeans are the ones taking on the risk! It is us who have to live in fear, not knowing if our retirement money will come back, because the government takes our CPF to invest without our permission! And today, it hasn’t come back! If the GIC and Temasek Holdings need money, the government will give them more money. They call it “capital injections”. Where does this money come from? If Singaporeans need the money to be returned to our CPF, will the government give us more money? Has the government ever done so? Has the government ever done so? They pay us 2.5% to 4%. Then they happily take our money and invest. If we will not take on the low interest, will they have the money to invest? Mr Chiam had also said, “Imagine your uncle asks you to save and invest 36% of your income through him. He gets a return of 12% and gives you 2.5% of it. The excess returns are kept by him. He also tells you that you have no choice, because only he knows how to take care of you.” Then, is he really taking care of you, or is your uncle really taking care of himself? The government says that the GIC is taking on the risk for Singaporeans. But no! It is Singaporeans who are taking on the risks for the GIC. And then what happens, the GIC keeps earning more and more money, while Singaporeans keep having lesser and lesser. Now, if indeed the GIC and Temasek Holdings have been taking our CPF to invest over the past 3 to 4 decades, then it is time the government come clean with Singaporeans. How much did the government use our CPF to invest in the GIC and Temasek Holdings? How much of the returns that were earned by the GIC and Temasek Holdings were not returned? How much tens and hundreds of billions of dollars were earned by the GIC and Temasek Holdings but were not returned? These returns have to be returned back to Singaporeans. It is time the government come clean to Singaporeans, be honest and tell us the truth. The Government Should Pay Singaporeans Good Money To Use Our CPF But you know what, actually the government should reward Singaporeans for giving our CPF to the GIC to invest! First, the government never asked if they could take our CPF to invest. Then, after they have taken our CPF, they tell us that they have a right to use it, and not report back to us on how they use it. Finally, they tell us that they should get to keep the interest earned and give us only a little back. But what about Singaporeans? The government took our money away without our permission. Shouldn’t the government reward Singaporeans for being so kind to them? Shouldn’t the government give us high interest rates? We are not beggars asking for bits and pieces of help from the government. The CPF is our money. You want to use our money, you jolly well pay for it. You want to use our money, then you better pay us good money for it. This is what we should be demanding to the government! The government’s allegiance should be to Singaporeans. We voted for the government to protect us, to take care of Singaporeans first! We did not vote for the government to take care of the GIC or the Temasek Holdings first. Is the government more interested in taking care of the GIC because they are also on the board of the GIC? Don’t forget, without our CPF, the government won’t even be able to earn from the GIC. If the government knows not to bite the hand that feeds it, then the government jolly well know that without Singaporeans, they won’t even have the money to use. They can act like princes now because of our money. So, lest they forget, we are the masters. And lest we forget, we are their masters. So, if they want to use our CPF to invest, then they better pay us good money for it. If they want to use our CPF, ask us nicely, and we will decide if we are even interested in lending them our money. The CPF is our money, why did they become the moneylender, instead of us? Why did they become the moneylender and threaten us with our money, when it is our money? And let’s not forget. Until June this year, we did not even know the government were taking our money to invest in the GIC. The government only admitted to using our money to invest in GIC in June this year! For the past 30 years, the government has been using our money to do all these things and Singaporeans didn’t even know! Will President Tony Tan Speak Up For Singaporeans’ CPF? The President of Singapore is supposed to take care of our CPF. Today, what has he said about the CPF? Has the President Tony Tan helped Singaporeans asked any hard questions on where our CPF is going? What is the government doing with our CPF? How much of our CPF has the government taken to use? How much of our CPF has the government taken to use which they have not returned? Does President Tony Tan know these answers? Does he know these answers when he was the Deputy Prime Minister of Singapore? Does he knows these answers when he was the Deputy Chairman and Executive Director of the GIC? As the President of Singapore today, has he asked these questions? Or will he ask these questions? Will the real Tony Tan please stand up? Why Did The Government Set A High CPF Minimum Sum When They Know Singaporeans Will Not Even Be Able To Meet It? In 2011, Tharman revealed that the median CPF Life payout is only $260. This means that more than 50% of Singaporeans are able to take out less than $260 from our CPF every month. Last week, for the first time ever again, the government admitted to more truths. After hiding for so long, the government finally revealed more truths. Today, we finally know that as many as 85% of ALL Singaporeans are not able to meet the CPF Minimum Sum in cash. The government says that the Minimum Sum is calculated to be just enough for basic living expenses for a lower-middle income household. But if 85% of us do not have enough in our CPF, that means we do not even have enough to retire on. The government says the Minimum Sum of $155,000 will let Singaporeans take out $1,200 every month. But 85% of us will not even be able to take this amount out! In fact, 50% of us might not even have $60,000 in the CPF. If so, we won’t even be able to take $500 out every month! Then, what is the CPF Minimum Sum for? Why did the government set a Minimum Sum, when they know full well that the large majority of Singaporeans will not be able to meet the CPF Minimum Sum? Why did the government set such a high Minimum Sum, but do not help Singaporeans to meet it, by giving us higher CPF interest rates? Is their planning so bad? Or is it because the government doesn’t care? The government told us that the CPF “rates … are far higher than the equivalent rates provided by similar products out in the market today”. Now that I don’t have a job, I will invest my CPF and see if this is true. I can share my investment history every month. I know someone who invested her CPF Ordinary Account in early March and has made a profit of about 3% on about 40% of her portfolio after about 4 months. This means that she has already got a partial return of 3% after only 4 months which is still higher than the 2.5% a year. How much will she get after a year? 9%? This will be three times higher than what the government is willing to give! So, let’s see if what the government wants us to believe is truly right. Is 2.5% really far higher than other returns we can get? The Government Push Up Housing Prices, To Make Us Pay More From Our CPF For Their Flats Now, for the first time ever, the government finally reveals that Singaporeans have to spend half of our CPF to pay for our homes. Why did the government make us pay half of our CPF for our homes, then tell us to pledge our home to pay back half of the CPF to meet the CPF Minimum Sum? Where is the logic in that? Is this bad planning? Or does the government even care? Finally, Khaw Boon Wah admitted last week that, “Firstly, we control the construction programmes. Secondly, we set the price (for the flats).” So, finally, the government admits to the truth. If the prices of HDB flats keep going up, who are the ones who keep pushing them up? If Singaporeans cannot afford our homes, who are the ones who made it difficult for us to buy our homes? If Singaporeans cannot save enough in our CPF to retire, because we have to take our CPF to buy the flats, who are the ones who made it impossible for us to retire? The Government Takes Our CPF, Makes Us Borrow From It, Earn From It And Keep It For Themselves In 1983, The Straits Times reported that the government borrows our CPF to give to HDB to build the flats. HDB then lend us back our money at a higher interest to buy the flats. How come the government borrows from our CPF and then earn from it, by lending our money back to us? And when we sell our flat, we also have to pay more money back to the government. The government says that because we take our CPF out to use, they cannot give us the 2.5% interest on our CPF. So, now we have to pay this interest back. They call this the accrued interest. I know there are some people, after they sell their homes, they are happy that they are able to make a profit out of it. But then, their happiness was short-lived, because they were then told that they have to put the profit back for this accrued interest. Then our CPF is taken by the government for their investments, and the returns are not given back to us! The government says the CPF is our money. Do you see yourself earning any money here? The government takes our CPF to use at a low interest. Then they take our CPF and lend it back to us on a higher interest. And then when we sell our homes, they want us to pay the interest back. Then they take our CPF and do not return us the interest earned. Is the CPF still our money? Or is the CPF the government’s money? The government says they take on the risk for Singaporeans when they invest our money. But who are the ones really taking on the risk? Is it the government, or is it us Singaporeans? Singaporeans Do Not Own Our Homes. The HDB Owns The Flats Today, we know that we don’t own our homes. The government keeps saying that we own our own homes. But we don’t. We only lease it from the government. For the first time this year, the government admitted that our homes will have no value at the end of the lease. Then, are our homes still our homes? Or are we just paying very expensive rental for temporary shelters? Khaw Boon Wah admitted last week that, “Firstly, we control the construction programmes. Secondly, we set the price.” Khaw Boon Wah also said that once the lease on our homes end, our HDB flats will go back to the HDB, because HDB owns the land. Then, we don’t own our homes! Why does the government keep telling Singaporeans that we own our homes? Then why does the government keep making us pay so much from our CPF to buy the flats that are never going to be really homes we own? Then why does the government make HDB flats so expensive when they are not even homes we own? Then why does the government make us lose so much of our CPF to pay for their flats which we don’t own, until we cannot save enough to retire? Do Singaporeans Have Enough To Retire On After Paying For The Flats? Today, we know that a 4-room flat cost only $100,000 or less to build. Then why does the government sell us the flats at $300,000? What happened to the $200,000? Does the government gets to keep it? If the land is owned by the government, then why do they need another us to pay another $200,000 to them? Now, what is the purpose of public housing? Dr Goh Keng Swee had envisioned public housing to be for the masses. Public low-cost housing which can provide a roof over our heads. Dr Goh Keng Swee wanted to give us a home. He wanted Singaporeans to have a home to call our own. Dr Goh Keng Swee wanted us to live in a home that we can be proud of, that Singaporeans can truly be proud of, for our country. Dr Goh Keng Swee had a dream. But what happened to this dream? Today, how many of us can feel truly happy and proud to own our homes, or do we have to keep worrying as to whether we would ever have enough to pay for our homes? And even after we finish paying for our home, will we ever have enough to retire? Does The PAP Understand How It Feels To Be An Ordinary Singaporean? The old PAP had a vision for Singapore. They had a dream. They wanted to create a home for Singaporeans. They wanted a place where Singaporeans could live and be happy in. The old PAP were a responsible government which took care of the people. The same cannot be said of the PAP today. What is the vision for the PAP today? Growth-at-all-costs? High GDP? But what about the lives of Singaporeans? What about our happiness? What about who we are as people? The PAP today is of course very happy, sitting with their million-dollar salaries. How will things will ever be too expensive for them? But of course, they will never understand how it feels to be poor, to be unemployed, or to have to fear for your lives, day in, day out. But I do. I have lost my job. Like many of you, I fear whether my life can still be protected. I fear whether there is a government which has the integrity and dignity to take care of the lives of all Singaporeans. When I lost my job, the government sent a press release to support my sacking. Which government in the world would send a press release to celebrate its own sacking of its own citizen? Which government in the world would laugh and cheer when its own citizen is left out in the cold, unprotected and scared, and then blames you for not working hard enough? No, this is not what a government is supposed to do! A government is supposed to take care of its people, to protect them and to give us a secure place to live in. This is what the old PAP understood. This is what the old PAP believed in. And they made it happened. They grew Singapore to one where we were proud of. But does the PAP today know this? Do they know how it feels to be unemployed, and so how important it is to have unemployment benefits? Do they know how it feels to fear not having enough to pay when you go to a hospital, and how people choose not to go to a hospital, and so how important it is to have higher healthcare subsidies? Do they know how it feels like to work so hard as a cleaner or a hawker, and to devote your time and energy to commit into your job, and how these jobs require the passion and skills that every job does, and how our workers should be paid higher wages? Do they? Now, I do. I have lost my job. I have had to fear going to the hospital. I have had to take on odd-jobs. When you go to Starbucks and the first thing you do is not to look at which drink you like to drink and buy it, but which drink is the cheapest and so you buy it. When you stop going to Starbucks and stop going to restaurants and even when you have to meet your friends there, you will eat at somewhere cheap before you go to meet your friends at the restaurants, so that you can save. When you would lie in bed at night, feeling the pain shoot right through your body, but endure the pain because you know you cannot afford to lose a few hundred dollars at the hospital. When you break your back cleaning the toilets and stand for hours in the heat, trying to remember the food orders for the customers and realise how every job has its value, every person has their value, and how we have to treat every person with the equal respect and dignity that we should have, no matter whether you are a cleaner or a CEO, because all of us are special. Can the PAP today understand this? Will The PAP Do The Right Thing? Will the PAP today have the integrity to pay our workers a minimum of $1,500 or $2,000, or would they rather continue to earn millions and billions in their own companies? Will the PAP today have the honesty to increase healthcare expenditure to 70% or 80% like all advanced countries do, or would they rather Singaporeans continue to choose to die because we cannot afford to see a doctor? Will the PAP today have the justice to return our CPF to us, after years of earning from it, making money from it, so much so that today Singaporeans cannot retire? What Singaporeans Want Is A Government Which Will Take Care Of Us Now, what we want are not grand stories of how the CPF interest rates are “fair” when they are the lowest in the world. What we want is not to know that the CPF Minimum Sum can let us retire with $1,200 every month when 85% of us will never be able to do so, and half of us will not even be able to see $500 every month. What we want is not for the PAP to tell us that a CPF Minimum Sum is so good for us, when there is no minimum wage, and there is no way we can grow our CPF to ever meet the Minimum Sum. Now, what we want is a PAP who has the integrity, the honesty, the justice and the conviction to fight for the people, and not against the people. Now, what we want is a government which will take care of us. And if you are not going to do so, please, please, just leave. Let us start all over again. Let us create policies that will protect us, that will fight for us, that will allow us to live lives with dignity, with courage and with respect. Now, that is all we ask for. For Singaporeans are patient, caring people. We believe in you, as long as we know that we can trust you. But when you have broken that trust, then you have broken it. And we can never trust you again. This Is How We Fix The CPF It's very simple. Do you want to give Singaporeans high interest rates? Yes or no? If yes, you will just increase it. If no, you will tell us all sorts of things, that the interest rates are fair, that it's risk-free. Low is low. Don't keep pretending to Singaporeans. In other advanced countries, from 2009 to 2012, they were able to earn 7.4% every year. Then why must Singaporeans be forced to accept only 2.5%? It's very simple. Do you want to give Singaporeans the choice? Do you want to give Singaporeans the freedom? If you want, then you will let us have the choice to decide how our CPF should be managed and when CPF can be withdrawn. You want to give people a choice, you will give it. You won't come out with all sorts of reasons to say how you cannot trust us to do so. It's very simple. If you are sincere about helping Singaporeans, you will help. If you are not sincere, you won't help. And it's all very clear in the eyes of Singaporeans. Enough! Enough with going round and round. We want real answers. And we want it now! Singaporeans no longer want the government to tell us stories. We want answers. We want the truth. And we want it now. The government is not a place for the government to tell us stories and pretend that they are helping us, when we can see with our very own eyes what they are doing, and what they do not want to do. The solution for our CPF is very simple. One, let our wages grow so that our CPF will grow. Two, increase the CPF interest rates so that our CPF will grow. When our wages and the CPF interest rates grow, our CPF will automatically grow. Then, do we still need the CPF Minimum Sum? If the government only wants to put in a CPF Minimum Sum, knowing full well that if our wages and the CPF interest rates don't grow, that we will never be able to meet the CPF Minimum Sum, then can you even call the CPF Minimum Sum a solution? It is not a solution. The solutions are to first, increase our wages and second, increase the CPF interest rates. Third, be completely honest with Singaporeans what they are doing with our CPF funds in the GIC and Temasek Holdings, today and before. Four, give Singaporeans the choice to decide when we want to take out our CPF. Five, return our CPF to the CPF Board and let an independent board manage our CPF, with transparency and accountability. If the government is sincere, and if the government is truly sincere about making the CPF better, this is what they will do. The government will not tell us that the low interest rates are fair. The government will not say they cannot give us a choice. The government will not take our CPF to earn high interest rates and say they cannot give this back to Singaporeans. When the government says all these things, you have to ask yourself - does our government care about Singaporeans, or what does the government really care about? If the government doesn't work for Singaporeans, then who does the government work for? Singapore Has Become Too Expensive And Unfair For Singaporeans A survey was recently done. Today, more than 50% or more than half of Singaporeans believe that the CPF interest rates that the government give us is unfair. The government might say that it is “fair”, but Singaporeans, we have our own eyes to see. Today, nearly 60% of Singaporeans think that housing is not affordable. The government might say that the HDB flats are affordable, but Singaporeans, we have our own eyes to see. Today, nearly 80% of Singaporeans think that the cost of living in Singapore is too high. Things are too expensive in Singapore. In fact, Singapore is now the most expensive place to live in in the world. The government might say that things are still cheap in Singapore, but Singaporeans, we have our own eyes to see. The government can keep telling us stories, but Singaporeans, we have our own eyes to see. The government keeps telling us that if wages go up, prices will go up. So they tell us that they have to keep our wages low. Then why is it that even though our wages didn’t go up, prices kept going up and up? If our wages are not causing the prices to go up, then what is causing prices to go up? Is it because their salaries keep going higher and higher? If wages have not grown, and prices keep growing, then how does the government expect Singaporeans to continue to survive? 50% of Singaporeans believe the CPF interest rates are not fair. 60% think that flats are too expensive. 80% think that the cost of living in Singapore is too high. What exactly is the government trying to do to Singapore and to Singaporeans? And yet, why did it take the government 30 years to finally admit to the truth about what they are doing with our CPF? Why did it take them 30 years to let us know that they are taking our CPF money away to invest in their GIC? Why did the government try to erase all this information by May this year, so that Singaporeans will not be able to know, but then suddenly admit to the truth in June this year that they do use our CPF to invest in the GIC? Why did the government finally flip-flop? Why did the government suddenly admit to the truth? But even so, have they apologised for not telling us the truth for the past 30 years? 30 years is a very long time! It is when we start work until when we can retire. For 30 years, we didn’t have answers. For our whole lives, we work hard and toil away, because we believe that at the end of it, we can retire. We thought the government will take care of us. But at the end of 30 years, when we cannot, why did the government take 30 years to finally be willing at all to tell us the truth? Now, the government has made the GIC and Temasek Holdings private limited companies, so they don’t have to report to Singaporeans what they are doing with our money. But the GIC and Temasek Holdings use our CPF. They use public funds, Singaporeans’ money, to invest! So they cannot be private companies which can do anything they want without reporting to Singaporeans! They have to be and they are rightfully public companies, companies which are rightfully owned by Singaporeans, which should answer to Singaporeans! The government has to come clean. Let us know what the GIC and Temasek Holdings are doing with our CPF monies! Come clean, tell the truth, and give us the full reports! Be honest to Singaporeans! Answer us! The Government Cannot Make Money Off Singaporeans’ CPF Retirement Monies The government cannot use our retirement funds to make money for themselves. No, this is not what a government should do. The government cannot take our CPF and make money for the HDB. No, this is not what a government should do. The HDB cannot take our CPF and make money themselves. No, this is not what a government should do. The HDB cannot make money from Singaporeans. The GIC cannot make money from our retirement funds. The Temasek Holdings cannot make money from our CPF. No, the government cannot use our CPF to make money for themselves. No, this is not what a government should do. And once a government lets power and money get into their heads, the government is as good as gone. And the people will have to step up, rise and fight for ourselves to protect one another. And this is what you, Singaporeans, have to do. Change Will Come Only When We Are Ready To Fight For It But are you ready? Are you willing? My friends, our country will only survive as long as our people have hope, and as long as our people believe in our country. Our country can only survive when we understand the stakes we have in our country, to learn that in order to fight our country, our rights and our freedom, that this means that we have to step forward, that this means that we have to take a stand. It means not waiting for change to happen, but to make change happen. It means not hoping that one day the government will change, but to change the government. It means not wishing that sometime, somewhere, change will come, but to see it, hold on to it, and make it happen. For we are the change we wish to see. Let’s Join Hands In Unity And Make Change Happen Our country belongs to all of us, and until we see it, until we believe in the unity, and believe that we are all together in this, one for all, and all for one, shall we learn to come together, to hold on to one another, to look into each other’s eyes and know what it means to have to fight for our land, and to strive for our freedom. For is it not, We, the citizens of Singapore, pledge ourselves as one united people, regardless of race, language or religion, to build a democratic society based on justice and equality so as to achieve happiness, prosperity and progress for our nation. For our country, for our lives, we need to believe, we need to dream. If we want justice, equality and freedom to come to our country, we need to believe in it and make it happen. We need to step forward, join hands and make it happen. For all of us believe that change needs to happen but yet we cannot all wait for it to happen. For once we decide that we will all come together, now change will come and change for all. Fear has two ways to drive us. Fear can make us go back into our shells, and fear can make us believe the unreasonable. But fear can also make us angry. Fear can also make us passionate. Fear can also make us fearless. Now, fear can make us speak the truth. Fear can make us fight for our rights. Fear can make us rise, and hope to see things change. Now, when we no longer let fear control us, when we see the possibilities, the dreams, and the opportunities, when we believe in a future that is for all of us to live in, for each and everyone of us to strive in, and when we see it, we will let go of what has been holding us back, to see it, to dream it, and make our dreams a reality. So, see it. Believe it. Join me, join us. And let’s make this change happen. I Want A Singapore That Is For Us All, For We Are The Change We Wish To See Now, I am not against the PAP. I am not against our prime minister, our deputy prime ministers or the ministers. I am human, just as they are. And as humans, we make mistakes, sometimes for ourselves, sometimes for others, and sometimes for our country. But as humans, when we have the courage to acknowledge what has happened, to stand up, to ask for forgiveness and to forgive in return, then we can go towards a better path of peace and tranquillity. Last week, I had sat through parliament and I had seen our members of parliament, PAP, WP, SPP, NCMPs and NMPs alike, speak up with passion, with bravery and with conviction. I have also seen the MPs who speak because they have no choice but to speak a language not by them, but by those who set them. But our country is no longer one set by one or a few. Our country has to become one set by all, and for all. Now, I am not against the PAP. What I want is for a future where all Singaporeans, PAP and everyone else of us alike, can shower in our glory and in our achievements together. Where we share in our country’s growth, where we share in our country’s opportunities. And if we fall, we will help one another up. But if we succeed, so will all and one and all. Now, this is the country that I dream of, that I have seen happen. This is not a dream. It is a reality, but only we, as Singaporeans, can make it a reality. And only when the PAP cooperate with Singaporeans, and the PAP are able to come down from their pedestal and be the people, be with the people, and only when all the parties are able to put aside our differences, where our people have the awareness to reach out to one another, to speak up, and to learn our rights, can we progress and prosper towards a new beginning. But only when that happens. Today, we speak up. But tomorrow, many more will. And soon, will all of us. If we want change to happen, change starts from us. For we are the change we wish to see. And only when we believe, and make our dreams come true, shall we move together as a people, to create the society we have always dreamt of, always wanted, one that will be for all of us, that will take care of all of us and where we will all be protected. Onward, Singapore! My pre-trial conference has been postponed to Thursday 17 July at 2.30pm next week. The court date has been set for 18 September at 10am. The prime minister has asked for a summary judgment. I would like to thank my lawyer, Ravi, for fighting this case with me. Thank you to everyone for your support. And I hope that we will be able to find the best way forward with this together! Thank you. Roy Ngerng * The author blogs at The Heart Truths. Read More →