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Coffeeshop Chit Chat - Bros, can u believe wat stupid Hen said?</TD><TD id=msgunetc noWrap align=right>
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</NOBR> </TD><TD class=msgDate width="30%" noWrap align=right>Aug-20 10:47 am </TD></TR><TR class=msghead><TD class=msgT height=20 width="1%" noWrap align=right>To: </TD><TD class=msgTname width="68%" noWrap>ALL <NOBR></NOBR></TD><TD class=msgNum noWrap align=right> (1 of 14) </TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></TD></TR><TR><TD class=msgleft rowSpan=4 width="1%"> </TD><TD class=wintiny noWrap align=right>19547.1 </TD></TR><TR><TD height=8></TD></TR><TR><TD class=msgtxt><TABLE border=0 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%"><TBODY><TR><TD>Reality on the ground must match ideals
</TD></TR><TR><TD><!-- headline one : end --></TD></TR><TR><TD>Govt has upheld tenets of Pledge, says Eng Hen, rebutting NMP Viswa </TD></TR><TR><TD><!-- Author --></TD></TR><TR><TD class="padlrt8 georgia11 darkgrey bold" colSpan=2>By Lee Siew Hua, Senior Political Correspondent
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<!-- START OF : div id="storytext"--><!-- more than 4 paragraphs -->EDUCATION Minister Ng Eng Hen yesterday responded in detail to Nominated MP Viswa Sadasivan's motion that the House stay mindful of tenets in Singapore's Pledge when it debates national policies.
The second Cabinet minister to speak on the motion, he argued that reality has to match ideals enshrined in a Pledge. But he showed that this was a tough call, illustrating with the tumultuous experiences of Rwanda, France and Thailand despite their gloriously worded anthems and pledges.
Rising to speak, he began in a conciliatory style, before delivering almost a point-by-point rebuttal of Mr Viswa's arguments.
The minister said he was glad the motion had been tabled this year, as the 50th year of self-government was an 'appropriate' time to reflect on ideals found in the Pledge.
He also agreed with many aspects of the NMP's speech on Tuesday, including the point that the the Pledge is a 'vital and powerful tool' to teach national values to children and unite Singapore.
'We treasure this Pledge,' said Dr Ng. 'But the power and resonance come only when our actions match those words.'
'Far from compromising these ideals in the pursuit of economic growth, we have been defenders of these ideals in building a nation,' he declared.
He said the future that Mr Viswa prescribed for Singapore was one with more political parties and more newspapers to print what they like, more welfarism, and the re-politicising of schools and universities - which implies staging 'public rallies whenever they want on whatever topics they like'.
Mr Viswa, he felt, also wished for this political scenario: 'When political leaders are impugned or maligned, relax, take it in your stride, don't defend yourselves. Ditto, government policies. Be thick- skinned.'
He questioned Mr Viswa's view that these were 'conventional practices of democracy', and asked:
'Is it so blindingly self-evident that they will work magic for us? If multiple parties and newspapers ensure stability, then how do we explain the problems of India, the Philippines, Taiwan or Thailand, which have an abundance of them - parties, newspapers and problems?'
They have not moved faster, he said. 'Singapore has progressed because we did not seek to be like others, but chose our own paths.'
He also found it difficult to square Mr Viswa's prescriptions with reality. He asked: If there was no freedom of speech, for instance, why had the NMP been free to move the motion, and why had the NMP scheme been set up - precisely to allow independent views in the House?
He said Mr Viswa spoke of economic and socio-political progress as if they were trade-offs, one requiring a sacrifice of the other. But this divide was artificial: 'Surely both must be judged by the ultimate test of whether it has led to the betterment of society and its citizens.'
To Mr Viswa's question if the Government had been accountable, Dr Ng said: 'Every five years or so, Singaporeans decide if we have kept our promises and vote - that is the greatest accountability in our system.
'If the PAP Government is corrupt or incompetent, I can assure the NMP that re-politicisation of Singaporeans will spontaneously occur very quickly and we will be booted out.'
The Government, he added, presents a 'frank accounting of our vulnerabilities' and the House is open in debating sensitive issues like ministerial pay and foreign worker policy.
Replying at the end of the debate, Mr Viswa tried to seek common ground with Dr Ng and other PAP MPs who had spoken against his views.
He said he was 'heartened' that the minister did not think economic goals and aspirations were mutually exclusive. 'That's precisely what I am asking for...to pay even more attention to the tenets of the Pledge when striving for economic progress. I never saw the two as mutually exclusive.'
Clarifying his call for re-politicisation of the people, he said he did not envisage 'a situation where there are riots, rallies at every corner on every subject'.
He said what he wanted was simply for 'people to be more interested, more connected with what's happening politically, because I do sincerely believe that this is going to help Singapore as we move forward'.
[email protected]
</TD></TR><TR><TD> </TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
</TD></TR><TR><TD><!-- headline one : end --></TD></TR><TR><TD>Govt has upheld tenets of Pledge, says Eng Hen, rebutting NMP Viswa </TD></TR><TR><TD><!-- Author --></TD></TR><TR><TD class="padlrt8 georgia11 darkgrey bold" colSpan=2>By Lee Siew Hua, Senior Political Correspondent
</TD></TR><TR><TD><!-- show image if available --></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
<!-- START OF : div id="storytext"--><!-- more than 4 paragraphs -->EDUCATION Minister Ng Eng Hen yesterday responded in detail to Nominated MP Viswa Sadasivan's motion that the House stay mindful of tenets in Singapore's Pledge when it debates national policies.
The second Cabinet minister to speak on the motion, he argued that reality has to match ideals enshrined in a Pledge. But he showed that this was a tough call, illustrating with the tumultuous experiences of Rwanda, France and Thailand despite their gloriously worded anthems and pledges.
Rising to speak, he began in a conciliatory style, before delivering almost a point-by-point rebuttal of Mr Viswa's arguments.
The minister said he was glad the motion had been tabled this year, as the 50th year of self-government was an 'appropriate' time to reflect on ideals found in the Pledge.
He also agreed with many aspects of the NMP's speech on Tuesday, including the point that the the Pledge is a 'vital and powerful tool' to teach national values to children and unite Singapore.
'We treasure this Pledge,' said Dr Ng. 'But the power and resonance come only when our actions match those words.'
'Far from compromising these ideals in the pursuit of economic growth, we have been defenders of these ideals in building a nation,' he declared.
He said the future that Mr Viswa prescribed for Singapore was one with more political parties and more newspapers to print what they like, more welfarism, and the re-politicising of schools and universities - which implies staging 'public rallies whenever they want on whatever topics they like'.
Mr Viswa, he felt, also wished for this political scenario: 'When political leaders are impugned or maligned, relax, take it in your stride, don't defend yourselves. Ditto, government policies. Be thick- skinned.'
He questioned Mr Viswa's view that these were 'conventional practices of democracy', and asked:
'Is it so blindingly self-evident that they will work magic for us? If multiple parties and newspapers ensure stability, then how do we explain the problems of India, the Philippines, Taiwan or Thailand, which have an abundance of them - parties, newspapers and problems?'
They have not moved faster, he said. 'Singapore has progressed because we did not seek to be like others, but chose our own paths.'
He also found it difficult to square Mr Viswa's prescriptions with reality. He asked: If there was no freedom of speech, for instance, why had the NMP been free to move the motion, and why had the NMP scheme been set up - precisely to allow independent views in the House?
He said Mr Viswa spoke of economic and socio-political progress as if they were trade-offs, one requiring a sacrifice of the other. But this divide was artificial: 'Surely both must be judged by the ultimate test of whether it has led to the betterment of society and its citizens.'
To Mr Viswa's question if the Government had been accountable, Dr Ng said: 'Every five years or so, Singaporeans decide if we have kept our promises and vote - that is the greatest accountability in our system.
'If the PAP Government is corrupt or incompetent, I can assure the NMP that re-politicisation of Singaporeans will spontaneously occur very quickly and we will be booted out.'
The Government, he added, presents a 'frank accounting of our vulnerabilities' and the House is open in debating sensitive issues like ministerial pay and foreign worker policy.
Replying at the end of the debate, Mr Viswa tried to seek common ground with Dr Ng and other PAP MPs who had spoken against his views.
He said he was 'heartened' that the minister did not think economic goals and aspirations were mutually exclusive. 'That's precisely what I am asking for...to pay even more attention to the tenets of the Pledge when striving for economic progress. I never saw the two as mutually exclusive.'
Clarifying his call for re-politicisation of the people, he said he did not envisage 'a situation where there are riots, rallies at every corner on every subject'.
He said what he wanted was simply for 'people to be more interested, more connected with what's happening politically, because I do sincerely believe that this is going to help Singapore as we move forward'.
[email protected]
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