Crumbling of Singapore?

[ckmpd]

Singapore Govt has a major problem slaughtering sacred cows. Even the reversal of the Stop at 2 policy needed explicit concurrence from the Old Man. With such a dominant figure, it is very difficult to reverse policies. Let's see whether this will change with his passing.

There are two main problems with SG. They are:

LKY
Balless pap leaders who dare not stand up to LKY

 

[ckmpd]

Let's see whether this will change with his passing.

I have doubt it will change even after LKY's passing as LHL is truly a useless, no clue leader.

It will only change if LKY passes away and LHL is ousted.

May God help Singapore to rid it of LEE family's influence after passing of LKY.

 

[Charlie99]

If the PAP was neglecting Singaporeans, your story might have some relevance. However, nothing could be further from the truth. Neglect is the last thing on the minds of the PAP leaders.

The PAP works very hard at providing ample opportunities for ALL Singaporeans to thrive and prosper and there are many assistance schemes for those who fall behind. For every $1 in taxes the poor pay, they get $5 of assistance in return in the form of subsidies and rebates.

Just because the PAP does not spoon feed it's [emphasis added] citizens and kill the work ethic with lavish welfare schemes does not mean it is neglecting the people. It does mean that it's being a responsible government and is adopting sound policies to encourage and reward hard work.

The unemployment rate figures pretty much sum up the situation. The unemployment rate for Singaporeans hovers around 2%. This figure is the envy of the developed world. The US unemployment rate is stuck at 10% with no signs of improvement. The European Union unemployment rate is a whopping 10.2%. HK is 3.5%. Australia is 5.3%.

You can see all the figures at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_unemployment_rate

I urge all of you to check facts and figures rather than launch emotive arguments using terms such as "neglect", "uncaring", "arrogent", "crumbling". These terms are more suited to an argument between a couple of love birds and have no place when it comes to debating the health of a nation.

I stick to the facts and the figures and by any measure, Singapore is doing extremely well. Life may have been a bit easier in the 80s when everyone was handed a job an a platter with no competition whatsoever. However, all honeymoons come to an end and just because Singaporeans are now required to put in more effort in order to acquire the comforts of life certainly does not mean that the govt is not living up to its responsibilities.

I cannot believe that Mr. Sam Leong made an inadvertent mistake.
* it's mean it is
whereas its is possessive
and based on the above context, I believe the appropriate word is [ its ] .

 

[ckmpd]

Today paper, 2 May 2012:

"My wife, a university honours graduate, quit her job to coach the children at home, but is herself exasperated at the standards required of pupils today.

I have yet to observe any beneficial effects of pushing children so hard in primary school, apart from high stress levels and sapping of intellectual curiosity.

Besides removing the joy in learning, another side effect of today's education system is that my children hardly have time to enjoy childhood.

They have less time to play outdoors, to read their favourite books (which is a great way to improve one's English), to explore new hobbies or to learn about the world around them - all because of so much homework.

The scenarios are the same with other subjects. The schools are not teaching less, nor are the pupils learning more."

Many things are going wrong in Singapore. The pap wants Singaporeans to be betterer, cheaperer, fasterer. But this is at a tremendous cost. The toil is on the people's well being.

Crumbling of Singapore indeed! How long can Singaporeans go on at the pace with higher cost of living, lower pay, more congestions on the buses, mrt, insufficient hospital beds, more uncouth behaviour from 3rd world migrants, less family time, lower FTR, etc?

 

[ckmpd]

The cries of the parents are wide and deep. Does the pap know what's happening? Education, Health, Infrastructure, Scial issues, Sports have all been grossly mismanaged.

What's LHL, TCH, Tharman, HSK, CCS, GKY, VB all been doing? higher GDP at all costs kills Singapore in the long run!

 

[pretender]

I do not want to go personal on this one. What I do is not as important as what the rest of Singapore will do. What will the rest of Singapore do?

There is one very important example in history - Taiwan. For centuries, the Qing emperors took the Taiwanese for granted, neglected Taiwan and did not make any effort to develop the territory. Eventually under pressure from the Japanese, Taiwan was ceded to the Japanese.

Although mainland forces stationed there fought bravely against the Japanese against imperial order, eventually the local population, frustrated by long term neglect by the Chinese Emperors, opened the gates to the cities and let the Japanese in.

Even today, a large portion of the Taiwanese population think well of the Japanese even though they were the aggressors. This illustrates what can happen to a country when its leaders neglect its people.

i can only hope that the Pee Ah Pee ministars read this and do some serious reflection.

if a country is run like a company where making profit is the top priority , good luck to all ye sinkies.

 

[Charlie99]

Sarah Sum:

"My husband has a PhD in computer science and I have post grad qualifications in a child related field, yet we struggle with just the idea of sending our 5 and 3 year olds into the education system here. We need to migrate to get a life for our kids, the kind of childhood we want for them. What schools need here is to lower teacher-pupil ratio, spend the money on getting children inspired by teachers who have time for them. Children do not need huge buildings and fantastic hardware to learn, they need people to guide them how to think, show them how the world works and how to get along with each other. Here, the schools build robots out of our kids, kick the life and creativity out of them with a warped focus on achievement. To what ends? Achieving high marks does not make a child smart, creative, compassionate, a problem solver. Unfortunately only a small percentage of parents care enough about our kids think this way. I believe the bulk of parents here still think nothing of making their children sit through lessons, assessments and more papers each day. That accounts for flourishing of tuition centres - to better complete the robotic process and nail the coffin of childhood"

Perhaps, you may wish to consider emigrating for the sake of your children.

About 8 or 9 years ago, Iwhen I was visiting Singapore, I met with the young doctor, [nayr69sg] and his family.
This doctor and teacher wife, have migrated to Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, a few years ago.

A few notes on my migration are as follow:
1. Born and raised in SG, completed NS, graduated from university in SG
2. worked a few months in SG, attended several NS reservist in camp trg
3. the travelled to Toronto, without knowing any individual
4. qualified as a CA in Canada
5. qualified as a trustee in bankruptcy (licensed by the Office of the Superintendent of Bankruptcy in Ottawa)
6. married with 4 young children
7. the children do not have much homework, and may not be under similar pressure like Singapore students

If I can be of any assistance or you wish to meet me for discussions, I have ben in SG for the past week, and leavin in a week. Please send me a private message.

 

[ckmpd]

i can only hope that the Pee Ah Pee ministars read this and do some serious reflection.

if a country is run like a company where making profit is the top priority , good luck to all ye sinkies.

PAP ministers know abt this. But the issue is whether they will do some serious reflection as they know that the next GE is at least four years away. they know that they are secure until then. That's the calibre of the pap ministers. They are self serving and dont care and wont do anything to improve the lives of Singaporeans unless it affects them

 

[ckmpd]

Perhaps, you may wish to consider emigrating for the sake of your children.

About 8 or 9 years ago, Iwhen I was visiting Singapore, I met with the young doctor, [nayr69sg] and his family.
This doctor and teacher wife, have migrated to Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, a few years ago.

A few notes on my migration are as follow:
1. Born and raised in SG, completed NS, graduated from university in SG
2. worked a few months in SG, attended several NS reservist in camp trg
3. the travelled to Toronto, without knowing any individual
4. qualified as a CA in Canada
5. qualified as a trustee in bankruptcy (licensed by the Office of the Superintendent of Bankruptcy in Ottawa)
6. married with 4 young children
7. the children do not have much homework, and may not be under similar pressure like Singapore students

If I can be of any assistance or you wish to meet me for discussions, I have ben in SG for the past week, and leavin in a week. Please send me a private message.

Hi Charlie99,

Thank you for your good suggestion.

Is the offer of assistance to Sarah Sum or to me?

 

[ckmpd]

CNA 3 May 2012:

"SINGAPORE: A 35-year-old woman has been arrested for allegedly robbing a senior citizen and punching him in the face.

The incident happened at an apartment block along Eu Tong Sen Street on Monday afternoon.

The 85-year-old victim lost S$900 to the suspect and was left bleeding.

A resident of the block called for the ambulance after chancing upon him.

Police said the suspect, who is a permanent resident here, had befriended the victim recently before the attack.

The woman was arrested in Geylang on Wednesday afternoon and will be charged in court on Friday.

If convicted of robbery with hurt, she could be jailed up to 20 years."

This is the kind of PR the PAP has invited into Singapore! Crumbling of Singapore indeed!

 

[ckmpd]

LTY said today that the Ministry of Transport is reviewing whether it is possible to increase the number of COEs..His last annoucement was six months ago when he whacked the motoring public with a duble hammer...reduction of car growth and also rectfied Raymond Lim's mistake.

The public advised him then of the dire consequences of hiw twin hammer but the pap refused to listen.

Now after causing so much damage with runaway COE prices, he finally backed down.

Why didnt the pap consider the consequences of their bad policies before implementing them?

 

[ckmpd]

From I believe in Meritocracy:

"i think the capable parliamentarians would agree with me that GRC IS VERY UNMERITOCRATIC.
THE GOOD MPs WOULD PREFER TO STAND ON SINGLE WARDS TO PROVE THEIR CAPABILITIES;only those who are doubtful about their own abilities prefer the GRC."

 

[ckmpd]

SG's Low Fertility Rate:

"young people between the ages of 25 and 29 are reluctant to date or get married because they are too caught up trying to scale the corporate ladder.

“(Meritocracy) is what pushes our young Singaporeans into overdrive in paid work,” she said, before adding: “Because we are a capitalist economy, work achievements have transformed the way we deal with ourselves until it has become, for many, the only mark of success.”

 

[Fook Seng]

Bro, there are many people are giving a lot of reasonable insights including Prof Lim and Prof Koh who are staunched supporters of the Govt and that brave grass-root who gave his honest, truthful feedback. But is the Govt listening? Or are they caught up in their own other world?

 

[TracyTan866]

After seeing the pap struggling over the last five months since my 1st posting of this "Crumble of Singapore?" thread, my hope for SG has gone up by one notch.

LTY is back pedalling with his COE quota issue and the frequent MRT breakdowns.

Yaacob Ibrahim is messing up big time with his simplistic Code-of-Conduct proposal. Instead of freeing up the main media, YI is trying to stifle the internet! What a no brainer solution!

HSK is struggling with retaining good teachers, reviewing curriculum, pacifying parents and relieving students' stress.

KBW is messing it up with HDB sizes rather than coming out with viable housing solutions.

GKY is still struggling with how to relieve the hospital bed shortage and pacify the overworked health care workers

The pap is not thinking out of the box but is still stuck with its mindset of importing foreigners into SG as the only solution, disregarding the castastrophic consequences to SG's social landscape.

At such a trying time in SG, we need a strong leader but LHL is not providing the kind of leadership needed. LHL is instead running around and flapping like a headless chicken. So the end of the pap is at hand.

I see SG's political landscape undergoing six stages of changes:

1. Political awakening of the electorate by Opposition Leaders
2. Electorate supports Opposition leaders but PAP still retains power
3. Key PAP supporters speak out against bad policies due to their conscience
4. Majority of PAP grassroot members support the key PAP supporters
5. PAP MPs speak out against the Cabinet's policies.
6. Internal split within PAP and PAP loses its power.

The first two stages occurred in May 2011. One year after GE 2011, we see that we are at stage three of our poltical transformation. Key and staunch PAP supporters like Prof LCY, Prof TK, Prof PS and Ho Kwon Ping have openly spoken out against PAP policies. This is an astounding turn of events considering that it's only one year after GE 2011. Some grassroot leaders are also quietly showing discomfort. When will stage four occur when many grassroots are against the pap?

The end of the pap may come sooner rather than later as many political analysts have predicted.

The wind of change is blowing strongly in Singaporeans favour

 

[TracyTan866]

there are many people are giving a lot of reasonable insights including Prof Lim and Prof Koh who are staunched supporters of the Govt and that brave grass-root who gave his honest, truthful feedback. But is the Govt listening? Or are they caught up in their own other world?

Agree...I dont have much hope on the present pap leadership.

But the beauty of democracy is that the pap will be voted out shd they not do the people's will...the days of them muting and neutralising dissent is over.

Dawn has broken for Singapore and light is at the end of the tunnel for a glorious Singapore!

 

[TracyTan866]

LTY said today that the Ministry of Transport is reviewing whether it is possible to increase the number of COEs..His last annoucement was six months ago when he whacked the motoring public with a duble hammer...reduction of car growth and also rectfied Raymond Lim's mistake.

The public advised him then of the dire consequences of hiw twin hammer but the pap refused to listen.

Now after causing so much damage with runaway COE prices, he finally backed down.

Why didnt the pap consider the consequences of their bad policies before implementing them?

well said!

 

[TracyTan866]

i can only hope that the Pee Ah Pee ministars read this and do some serious reflection.

if a country is run like a company where making profit is the top priority , good luck to all ye sinkies.

Cant depend on the pap. I dont think the pap will change! Singaporeans got to depend on themselves to change Singapore

 

[TracyTan866]

Perhaps, you may wish to consider emigrating for the sake of your children.

About 8 or 9 years ago, Iwhen I was visiting Singapore, I met with the young doctor, [nayr69sg] and his family.
This doctor and teacher wife, have migrated to Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, a few years ago.

A few notes on my migration are as follow:
1. Born and raised in SG, completed NS, graduated from university in SG
2. worked a few months in SG, attended several NS reservist in camp trg
3. the travelled to Toronto, without knowing any individual
4. qualified as a CA in Canada
5. qualified as a trustee in bankruptcy (licensed by the Office of the Superintendent of Bankruptcy in Ottawa)
6. married with 4 young children
7. the children do not have much homework, and may not be under similar pressure like Singapore students

If I can be of any assistance or you wish to meet me for discussions, I have ben in SG for the past week, and leavin in a week. Please send me a private message.

You are a blessing!

 

[TracyTan866]

The more you look at it, the more Singapore resembles Balhae. Like Singapore, Balhae had a high GDP, one of the richest state in Korean history, and both have a liberal immigration policy. In the case of Balhae, it led to an eventual collapse due to civil strives. Tracy's vision could come sooner than later.

I am hoping that the pap will end before it does irreparable damage to SG