TR EMERITUS

UK Independence Party leader Nigel Farage (above) and Ukip candidate Diane Jones celebrate. (27 May)   Tony Blair calls party 'nasty and unpleasant' while Ed Miliband says concerns about immigration are not prejudiced. Labour divisions over the threat posed by Ukip have been thrown into the open after Tony Blair defended his government's record on immigration as Ed Miliband said many people rightly believed politicians had failed to understand their concerns on the issue. The former prime minister described Ukip as "pretty nasty and unpleasant" hours before Miliband said that many people who voted for the party loved Britain and did "the right thing" in their communities. Miliband, who said people who raised concerns about immigration were not prejudiced, delivered his conciliatory message to Ukip voters in the marginal seat of Thurrock in Essex after Nigel Farage's party captured five council seats, depriving Labour of control of the council. A continuing Ukip presence in the seat could pose a threat to Labour, which should capture the seat with a swing of just 0.1% from the Tories to Labour. "Immigration has been changing communities fast, including here in Thurrock – a growing west African community, people coming from eastern Europe. The pace of change is quicker than it has ever been," the Labour leader said. "Over the last decades there were big changes happening in our country and fewer and fewer working people thought that anyone in politics was getting those changes, that anyone in politics could do something about them." Read more: www.theguardian.com/politics/2014/may/27/labour-divided-threat-posed-ukip  Read More →

There's a situation brewing in my neighbourhood that I need some advice on. I live in Bedok Reservoir Road. Near the Kaki Bukit/Eunos site. Just a few blocks down from block 137, one of four blocks that surround an open playground with a field and a little fut-sol court. It is also adjacent to a basketball court. These fields and courts are the ones that were mentioned in the papers when our MP got in a sort of a fix when he proposed the upgrading and got some flak for a lucky draw if the residents agreed. That was all over our 'renowned' local papers recently. Well the upgrading was 'voted' in and not surprisingly, by the residents in the four blocks that surround these courts. You see, apparently, the residents in two of these blocks live in maisonettes and they have been complaining about the youths playing and then chatting loudly till the wee hours in these areas. Logical complains, may I add. Fair and well. Wait till the upgrading is completed, then we'll have twice as much noise. But that will be another story soon, I'm sure. But here's my real issue. Photo: Google Earth There's an RC at Block 137 behind which, in a very dark and almost secluded area, there is always, every night, a bunch of foreigners who gather to access a free WIFI signal. They can on occasions gather up to 15 people at one go, especially on weekends. And when some leave, others will replace them. Initially, when it started, I somehow believed it was maybe intentional, maybe by the RC. To create a sense of discord among the residents to show how things have differed since the last election. Who knows how all this politics works. I'll get one fact straight here though. My family has lived here, in this estate, for over 25 years. And we are VERY pro 'opposition'. So don't be giving me any flak for being a PAP IB. Over the past year or so since this all started, the number of foreigners and some young local teenagers has grown. Though more often than not, it's always mostly the foreigners. They will sit there, lie down even with their feet up the walls, and litter the place with their beer cans and leftover food. Wearing their sarongs, you can imagine the sight. My family, my neighbourhood friends and I are truly fed up with the situation. These men make it very uncomfortable for anyone, especially women to walk past. My wife, and my neighbours' wives are among them too. Mind you, these men were there when children played at the playground too. This playground has since closed due to the renovation being done. And the whole place is even darker now without any lights left on! I first called the Aljunied Town Office, which believe it or not, is in the next block! Block 136. The lady there told me to call the police. So I then called the NPP and the officer there just said that he will forward the complain. Ironically it's actually legal to piggy back on WIFI in Singapore. I don't give a hoot about that actually. [Ed: It's illegal to piggyback on private WIFI. There have been cases where people were prosecuted for it.] The situation got worse over the months, to the point that, I went to that very RC behind which these men gathered. The young lady there, the only person around, told me that they themselves have received numerous complains from residents of that area too. She also informed me that the office has switched off their internet WIFI access and that she herself has had to chase these foreigners away. I then left a message in my MP's FB to look into the matter. He replied that he will. Two weeks later, and after noticing a worsening situation, I posted to him again. He then requested a meet up to discuss the situation. Whatever for, I don't know. I have already given him all the details. I, like my neighbours, do not wish to be in the public’s presence. Politicians can afford that. We peasants can't. And now, the closure of the grounds has made the situation even worse. There are no more lights left on at night. 2 days ago, as I walked backed home around 2 in the morning (I have to work odd hours), there they were again as usual. This time they didn't even move from the path. One of them even had his shirt off and was sleeping in the way next to his bicycle. I wish I could have taken a photo, but the place is so dark it's impossible to and using a flash will certainly draw attention to me. Making me a target, or worse still, the people I care about. I have no qualms with these hard working men really doing the hard chores in our country. And I truly understand their need to keep in touch with their families back home, or watching their local TV shows. And surely a free WIFI connection for them is a blessing to take advantage of. But to do so, along the sanctity of the streets near our homes is a tad too far. I am sure they too would not like to hear news from their families in their home towns of strangers loitering around their own homes. I, for one, as a taxpayer, would support the idea of having them a free WIFI connection in their own dormitories. Paid for by their pay masters even, who ought to know better. Why can't our ever rich government afford that? It will give these men a sense of dignity too instead of cycling around to get one for free, So there lies my problem. My neighbourhood friends problem. Our dilemma. Forgive me if I was too long winded in writing this. I apologise sincerely. It's just that I, we, want our sanctity and sense of peace back. Right now, we don't know how. We did our part voting for 'the other side', but even they aren't able or willing to help. It almost seems like our friends are actually sleeping with the enemies. So who do we turn to now? * Letter has been forwarded to AHPETC.  Read More →

MP Alex Yam Last week during the Parliament debate on President’s address, Chua Chu Kang GRC MP Alex Yam suggested on Wednesday (28 May) that NS should be expanded beyond just male citizens to include parties such as women and first-generation PRs, if the SAF Volunteer Corps (SAFVC) proves successful. His suggestion echoes several calls by other MPs to involve women in defence of the country. Mr Yam expressed support for the SAFVC, which will be set up in the middle of next year by MINDEF. But Mr Yam added that managing volunteers in the Corps may be challenging. "The training and management of volunteers is difficult enough in the social sector. I believe it will be even more challenging within a regimented organisation," he said. The Corps targets those exempt from NS - such as women, first-generation Permanent Residents and new citizens between 18 and 45. Mr Yam said he sees a great potential in this initiative, for Singaporeans to contribute further toward the "inclusivity of NS as well as address the issue of falling enlistment due to population dynamics in the future". Mr Yam also took the opportunity to reiterate the role of the community in Total Defence. He said it cannot just be a day of celebration, but be a way of life for Singaporeans. Who is Alex Yam? The 33-year-old Alex Yam is one of the youngest PAP MPs [Link]. He came up from the PAP grassroots. He started volunteering at the People's Association when he was as young as 20 years old. In 2000 just after his 'A' level, he was awarded the National Volunteers Award by the Life Insurance Association of Singapore (LIA). After he came back from his study at the University of Kent in 2005, he joined NUS and worked as an administrative officer for 2 years. In 2006 at the age of 25, he joined NTUC. Since 2006, he has been serving as the Strategic and Planning Head of the NTUC Youth Lab. At around 2006, he also became the Secretary for Buona Vista Citizen's Consultative Committee (CCC). And in 2009, he was appointed Vice Chairman of the Standing Committee in Northwest CDC. He also became a board member of CDAC. In 2011, at the age of 30, he was invited to participate in the general election as a candidate for PAP and became an MP in Chua Chu Kang GRC which is led by Minister Gan Kim Yong. The next year, he was further appointed as Deputy Executive Director at PAP HQ [Link]: HQ statement on the appointment of Mr Alex Yam as PAP HQ Deputy Executive Director The PAP is pleased to announce that Mr Alex Yam, MP (Chua Chu Kang GRC) will join the PAP HQ as its Deputy Executive Director wef 1 April 2012. Mr Alex Yam who is Head, Strategies & Planning/Youth Lab at NTUC ARU will continue his work at NTUC and will divide his time between NTUC and PAP HQ. As Deputy Executive Director at PAP HQ, Mr Yam will help strengthen HQ functions of providing administrative and logistical support to the HQ Exco, the district and branch committees, WW, YP, PPF and Social Media.  In addition, he will focus on implementing initiatives  in areas such as outreach, feedback ,communications and political education. During an incident in 2012, involving a Filipino family whose kid kept playing the drums loudly in a block at Yew Tee, MP Yam defended the family. He later wrote on his Facebook page ('Filipino drumming in HDB: MP Alex Yam seek cooperation of everyone not to let issue become more emotive'): "I learnt that the drummer is a special needs student with mild learning disability. To help with his psycho-motor skills, he took up drumming. The family had been made to understand that strict practice timings should be adhered to and additional sound-proofing be done wherever possible. A letter from the principal should also be obtained. But what happened subsequently took everyone by surprise. Eggs were thrown at the door of the drummer’s flat. Upset this has happened, neighbors on the 5th and 4th floor also got involved. Soon after, the issue made the blogs and other websites. It has now taken a life of its own almost completely divorced from the original issue, which is highly unfortunate. But I realized that it does give an opportunity to all of us to reflect on an emotive topic. Let me state categorically that painting the issue as one about foreigners versus locals is highly inappropriate. This issue is clearly about noise disturbance."      Read More →