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A few thoughts about the Punggol East By-election
Posted on January 13, 2013by vjoaquim
Hi, I have wanted to start a blog since a long time ago. However, for one reason or another, I have not started one until today.
A Facebook user posted a comment on the Facebook Wall of Theonlinecitizen. One of the points he said was: “…The PAP is still waiting for the WP to make a wrong move and involve them in lawsuits to bankrupt them. Those advocating a confrontational stance failed to or under-estimated the ruthlessness and basic instincts of our govt…”
Since I did not agree completely with the comment, I responded with my own comment. Surprisingly, I managed to collect 34 Likes for my first long comment on Facebook. So, instead of having my thoughts lost somewhere in cyberspace, I like to post them here as the first post of this blog.
As an introduction, I like to say I love Singapore, a beautiful island that I call my home. Sadly, the government polices (since the 1990s) are not the best for our country. I am not pro-PAP, not pro-WP, and not pro-SDP. I like to say that I am pro-SINGAPORE.
“The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.”
― Edmund Burke
Ok, below is my first post of my brand new blog. This post was originally a comment in reply to another Facebook user, so please read it in that context:
The only place in Singapore where you can speak openly and not be sued is in the Parliament, known as Parliamentary immunity. It is a privilege that comes with being elected. That is why it is sad to see the WP MPs not making full use of their privilege. It is a waste of the people’s trust and faith in them. Contrary to what is said in many of the comments on Facebook, I do not think it is easier to speak and debate in Parliament than to manage a Town Council. To debate well in Parliament, you must be smart (think of the caliber of our first generation PAP leaders like the late Dr Toh Chin Chye, Dr Goh Keng Swee, and Dr Richard Hu etc.), well-read and experienced on a wide range of current (and historical) local and world affairs, courageous, able to think on your feet and rebut intelligently and convincingly. Of course it involves a lot of hard work to read, research, analyze, present and debate your case in the Parliament. You can employ a top-notch property management manager to manage a town for $15,000 a month, but you cannot employ an MP. MP = Member of Parliament. An MP is elected by the people to voice their concerns in the Parliament and to help make good laws. In many countries, an MP does not manage the town council, the mayor does that.
I think you have confused debating with confronting. Think how much skill, experience and knowledge that Obama and Romney must possess in order to debate each other during the last US Presidential debates. That is what is meant by a debate not a confrontation. Just because the current government is ruthless, does it mean all you can do is like what LTK has been doing for the last twenty years. He either keeps quiet or says “no comment”. In fact, it is because the current government is ruthless, that we need to elect MPs who are confident, brave and courageous, and can debate well in Parliament, the only place where they can speak openly about difficult issues without getting sued. There are so many existing bad policies in Singapore, the high HDB prices, the too lenient immigration policy resulting in overcrowding and job competition by too many foreigners, the non-transparency about our national financial reserves, the high CPF withdrawal age, unaffordable healthcare services especially for the elderly, high ministerial salaries, high COEs, ERPs and MRT breakdowns etc. And you think you can wait for the WP MPs to grow up and debate these issues in five years time???? Are we trying to train a WP MP on-the-job like the way PAP is training Tin Pei Ling?? PAP has so many seats, they can afford to have a few quiet MPs. But for the opposition, every seat is precious and yet they are not speaking up??? If there is an average of one MRT breakdown per month now, if the WP MPs do not speak up NOW and get some improvements done, go figure how many MRT breakdowns we will have in five years time.
That is why I cannot understand why everyone is making the SDP the bad guy. It is like a herd mentality. To be fair, you forgot that when YSL left Hougang, SDP was the first party to say they would NOT be contesting in Hougang because WP was the incumbent. But this time, WP was not the incumbent in PE, so it is fair game for everyone. If WP candidate is better, vote WP. If SDP candidate is better, vote SDP. If SDP fields Dr Paul Tambyah, I would consider him a better candidate than WP’s Lee LiLian. Say whatever we want, good brain and qualifications (besides a good heart and conscience), are important criteria for an MP. Do you think Lee LiLian (or any other WP candidate), if elected, will dare (or capable) to speak on any issue without getting an approval from LTK, who himself does not know how to debate.
In my opinion, voting for WP vs PAP is like jumping from the frying pan into the fire. WP is only good at solving the “symptoms”. LTK does not have the heart, the brain nor the will to help solve and cure the larger fundamental and critical “disease” problem in Singapore now. The WP says they take care of bread and butter issues. Please tell me how are bread and butter issues independent from national policies??? If GST is high, it increases the cost of living. If immigration policy is too lenient, it leads to overcrowding and deterioration of physical infrastructure, overcompetition for available jobs and high housing prices. If healthcare policy is not right, it leads to unaffordable healthcare services etc. For e.g. lets say if a Singaporean is unemployed because of unfair competition from foreigners, (i.e. a bad immigration policy), then no matter how well you manage the town council and talk about bread and butter issues, this person’s life will still be miserable because he does not even have any income to buy bread.
You should be thankful that there are still some Singaporeans like CSJ who would dedicate their lives to protect the oppressed and underclass in Singapore by fighting for good national policies. Even if CSJ is not 100% right, he is a good intelligent man with good intentions who has suffered much under the hands of the government. I am disappointed that LTK could not be benevolent like an elder brother (considering our Asian culture) and a respectable statesman, and set a good example of being less selfish and less greedy. LTK could be classier to at least accept CSJ’s request to talk. I believe the old saying, “Pride goes before a fall”. If LTK is a humble person, he should realize his success today is not just because of his own talent, hard work and whatever else. Many notable Singaporeans (and their respective families) in the past had suffered much pain, loss, shame and sacrifice to soften the hard political ground in Singapore bit by bit, so much so that he could enjoy his current position. For example, I do not think LTK could hold a candle to the late Dr Lim Hock Siew, who suffered many years in prison and yet remained a gracious gentleman till his death without any arrogance.
Thank you for reading.
vjoaquim
Posted on January 13, 2013by vjoaquim
Hi, I have wanted to start a blog since a long time ago. However, for one reason or another, I have not started one until today.
A Facebook user posted a comment on the Facebook Wall of Theonlinecitizen. One of the points he said was: “…The PAP is still waiting for the WP to make a wrong move and involve them in lawsuits to bankrupt them. Those advocating a confrontational stance failed to or under-estimated the ruthlessness and basic instincts of our govt…”
Since I did not agree completely with the comment, I responded with my own comment. Surprisingly, I managed to collect 34 Likes for my first long comment on Facebook. So, instead of having my thoughts lost somewhere in cyberspace, I like to post them here as the first post of this blog.
As an introduction, I like to say I love Singapore, a beautiful island that I call my home. Sadly, the government polices (since the 1990s) are not the best for our country. I am not pro-PAP, not pro-WP, and not pro-SDP. I like to say that I am pro-SINGAPORE.
“The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.”
― Edmund Burke
Ok, below is my first post of my brand new blog. This post was originally a comment in reply to another Facebook user, so please read it in that context:
The only place in Singapore where you can speak openly and not be sued is in the Parliament, known as Parliamentary immunity. It is a privilege that comes with being elected. That is why it is sad to see the WP MPs not making full use of their privilege. It is a waste of the people’s trust and faith in them. Contrary to what is said in many of the comments on Facebook, I do not think it is easier to speak and debate in Parliament than to manage a Town Council. To debate well in Parliament, you must be smart (think of the caliber of our first generation PAP leaders like the late Dr Toh Chin Chye, Dr Goh Keng Swee, and Dr Richard Hu etc.), well-read and experienced on a wide range of current (and historical) local and world affairs, courageous, able to think on your feet and rebut intelligently and convincingly. Of course it involves a lot of hard work to read, research, analyze, present and debate your case in the Parliament. You can employ a top-notch property management manager to manage a town for $15,000 a month, but you cannot employ an MP. MP = Member of Parliament. An MP is elected by the people to voice their concerns in the Parliament and to help make good laws. In many countries, an MP does not manage the town council, the mayor does that.
I think you have confused debating with confronting. Think how much skill, experience and knowledge that Obama and Romney must possess in order to debate each other during the last US Presidential debates. That is what is meant by a debate not a confrontation. Just because the current government is ruthless, does it mean all you can do is like what LTK has been doing for the last twenty years. He either keeps quiet or says “no comment”. In fact, it is because the current government is ruthless, that we need to elect MPs who are confident, brave and courageous, and can debate well in Parliament, the only place where they can speak openly about difficult issues without getting sued. There are so many existing bad policies in Singapore, the high HDB prices, the too lenient immigration policy resulting in overcrowding and job competition by too many foreigners, the non-transparency about our national financial reserves, the high CPF withdrawal age, unaffordable healthcare services especially for the elderly, high ministerial salaries, high COEs, ERPs and MRT breakdowns etc. And you think you can wait for the WP MPs to grow up and debate these issues in five years time???? Are we trying to train a WP MP on-the-job like the way PAP is training Tin Pei Ling?? PAP has so many seats, they can afford to have a few quiet MPs. But for the opposition, every seat is precious and yet they are not speaking up??? If there is an average of one MRT breakdown per month now, if the WP MPs do not speak up NOW and get some improvements done, go figure how many MRT breakdowns we will have in five years time.
That is why I cannot understand why everyone is making the SDP the bad guy. It is like a herd mentality. To be fair, you forgot that when YSL left Hougang, SDP was the first party to say they would NOT be contesting in Hougang because WP was the incumbent. But this time, WP was not the incumbent in PE, so it is fair game for everyone. If WP candidate is better, vote WP. If SDP candidate is better, vote SDP. If SDP fields Dr Paul Tambyah, I would consider him a better candidate than WP’s Lee LiLian. Say whatever we want, good brain and qualifications (besides a good heart and conscience), are important criteria for an MP. Do you think Lee LiLian (or any other WP candidate), if elected, will dare (or capable) to speak on any issue without getting an approval from LTK, who himself does not know how to debate.
In my opinion, voting for WP vs PAP is like jumping from the frying pan into the fire. WP is only good at solving the “symptoms”. LTK does not have the heart, the brain nor the will to help solve and cure the larger fundamental and critical “disease” problem in Singapore now. The WP says they take care of bread and butter issues. Please tell me how are bread and butter issues independent from national policies??? If GST is high, it increases the cost of living. If immigration policy is too lenient, it leads to overcrowding and deterioration of physical infrastructure, overcompetition for available jobs and high housing prices. If healthcare policy is not right, it leads to unaffordable healthcare services etc. For e.g. lets say if a Singaporean is unemployed because of unfair competition from foreigners, (i.e. a bad immigration policy), then no matter how well you manage the town council and talk about bread and butter issues, this person’s life will still be miserable because he does not even have any income to buy bread.
You should be thankful that there are still some Singaporeans like CSJ who would dedicate their lives to protect the oppressed and underclass in Singapore by fighting for good national policies. Even if CSJ is not 100% right, he is a good intelligent man with good intentions who has suffered much under the hands of the government. I am disappointed that LTK could not be benevolent like an elder brother (considering our Asian culture) and a respectable statesman, and set a good example of being less selfish and less greedy. LTK could be classier to at least accept CSJ’s request to talk. I believe the old saying, “Pride goes before a fall”. If LTK is a humble person, he should realize his success today is not just because of his own talent, hard work and whatever else. Many notable Singaporeans (and their respective families) in the past had suffered much pain, loss, shame and sacrifice to soften the hard political ground in Singapore bit by bit, so much so that he could enjoy his current position. For example, I do not think LTK could hold a candle to the late Dr Lim Hock Siew, who suffered many years in prison and yet remained a gracious gentleman till his death without any arrogance.
Thank you for reading.
vjoaquim
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