TR EMERITUS

Policeman-turned-politician Abner Afuang (left) torches the Chinese flag in a protest action against China’s latest 'bullying' of the Philippine Navy in disputed South China Sea territories. As we all know, violence has broken out in Vietnam in protest against Chinese incursions into South China Sea territories. Now, we even read about (http://www.voanews.com/content/filipinos-join-vietnamese-anti-china-protests/1915785.html) Filipinos and Vietnamese residents staging a joint protest against China in Manila, demanding that China stop oil drilling in the South China Sea. The Philippines itself is protesting against Chinese land reclamation on a reef that it claims is theirs. The question here is, how will all these developments, which have nothing to do with Singapore, impact us here given that we have a large number of Vietnamese, Filipinos and mainland Chinese working here? As such, I would beseech the authorities not to allow the Filipinos to celebrate their Independence Day at Ngee Ann City on 8 June. Can you imagine thousands of Filipinos suddenly being patriotic and burning the Chinese flag in protest? What if they decided to hit back at the Chinese? How are they going to differentiate between Chinese Singaporeans and mainland Chinese? So, for safety sake, I would like to plead with the authorities not to let the Filipinos celebrate their Independence Day especially in these uncertain times when nations are feuding over territories in the South China Sea. Concerned Citizen * Submitted by TRE reader.  Read More →

Dr William Wan (ST Photo) This tot crossed my mind when I read ('Dr William Wan running for NMP post'): The general secretary of the Singapore Kindness Movement (SKM), Dr William Wan, is applying for the post of Nominated Member of Parliament (NMP). He told the media that his nomination papers were submitted yesterday (14 May). SKM’s mission is to inspire graciousness through spontaneous acts of kindness, thus making life more pleasant for everyone [Link]. The patron of SKM is PM Lee Hsien Loong and its adviser is Minister Lawrence Wong. As to why he could be a Trojan Horse (albeit an unwitting and unintended one) for FTs, here is the evidence that made me conclude (reasonably I hope) that he believes, “In S’pore, FTs are more equal than S’poreans”. William Wan - Where has all our empathy gone? Dr Wan came out to defend Anton Casey (‘SKM condemns ‘online lynching’ of Anton Casey‘). The Straits Times then carried an article by Dr Wan in which he condemned the online behaviour of Singaporeans. He felt that Singaporeans had shown a lack of empathy towards Anton Casey. Casey had described Singapore MRT commuters as “poor people”. He said, “Normal service (after getting his Porsche back from the workshop) can resume, once I have washed the stench of public transport off me FFS!” (FFS is an acronym for “for f**k’s sake”.) In his article, Dr Wan lamented that “something has gone wrong with us Singaporeans”. He said incidents like Anton Casey “reiterate the need for us to reassess our social media habits”. Defending Casey, Dr Wan surmised that he was perhaps “simply being thoughtless and careless” when he posted the offensive remarks … (TRE) He ignored suggestions to show that he cared for S’poreans down on their luck by doing for them a thoughtful, gracious act that he did for FTs. [T]o show empathy for foreign workers, SKM and Coca-Cola Singapore delivered free cans of Coke to foreign construction workers at a high-rise work site via drones [Link]. Dr Wan said, “What we hope to do is to encourage Singaporeans to make showing appreciation to foreign workers part of our daily lives.” (TRE). I applaud him (and Coke) for providing the foreign manual workers with cold drinks. It was a thoughtful, gracious gesture. But I find it strange that he then ignored suggestions that he should arrange for some drinks for Singaporeans too. I’ll let TRE tell the story: TRE has suggested that perhaps he should show empathy for his displaced fellow Singaporeans too (‘How about showing empathy for displaced SG workers?‘). One suggestion would be to get his volunteers to hand out cans of Coke to Singaporeans seeking employment help at the Workforce Development Agency. There is no need to use any high-tech flying drones in this case – his volunteers just need to stand at the door and give out canned drinks to our fellow Singaporeans who need help and comfort. He does thoughtful, gracious gestures only for FTs? Doesn’t charity begin at home? When it was reported that PM got flak for saying on the occasion of an Indian festival: “Singapore belongs to all of us, Singaporeans, new arrivals, people who are on permanent residence here, people who are on employment pass here.”*, I tot that the complainants were going too far. I tot they read too much in the word “belonging” and were being extremely petty and mean. But, if as it is likely, William Wan, gets to be an NMP, I now can understand and even sympathise with those S’poreans unhappy with the PM’s comments, even if I disagree with their views and pettiness. BTW, wonder why PM left out those on S Passes and work permits, many of whom are Pinoys, and Indians when he said, “Singapore belongs to all of us, Singaporeans, new arrivals, people who are on permanent residence here, people who are on employment pass here.”? Very strange given that he was talking on the occasion of an Indian festival and given the data: [T]here has been a significant increase for S Pass holders between Dec 2011 to Dec 2013. 47,000 to be exact. This is 15,900 or 51% more, as compared to the period of Dec 2009 to Dec 2011. Work permit holders increase substantially too, by 77,000 during the period of Dec 2011 and Dec 2013. It’s a 47% or 24,700 increase from previous 2 years. Our total foreign workforce increased by 123,700 between Dec 2011 to Dec 2013 – that’s more than 60,000 each year. (http://www.theonlinecitizen.com/2014/05/foreign-workforce-numbers-moderating-or-increasing/) An honest mistake by PM? Or should we read something in his omission of S Pass and Work Permit holders? What do you think? xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx *          At a grassroots event in Ang Mo Kio to celebrate the Indian New Year, Mr Lee was reported to have said that “the event was an embodiment of the theme as well as on a larger scale where everyone participates as one big Singapore family” and that Singapore was a place “where we all celebrate one another’s festivals and happy events together.” He added that “Singapore belongs to all of us”, which he said included “Singaporeans, new arrivals, people who are on permanent residence here, people who are on employment pass here.” Cynical Investor Source: Thoughts of a Cynical Investor  Read More →

Family of American found dead in Singapore now calling for U.S investigation (18 May)   I can’t stop thinking about the strange circumstances surrounding the tragic death of a promising young American electric engineer in Singapore two years ago. His name was Shane Todd and his story is a cautionary tale for sanctimonious ideologues like Edward Snowden. Unlike Snowden, Todd defended America’s secrets and doing so may have cost him his life. While local authorities in Singapore claim that Shane committed suicide, his family is convinced he was murdered. For better or worse, so am I. Rather than recapitulating the circumstances surrounding Todd’s death Todd’s story, I would refer readers to an enormously compelling piece that appeared last year in the Financial Times about Todd’s death. Read more: www.forbes.com/sites/williampentland/2014/05/18/shame-in-singapore-if-edward-snowden-betrayed-america-america-has-betrayed-shane-todd  Read More →