NTU student who told SM 'I don't know what I'm defending anymore' contesting AMK GRC

[BuiKia]

Mr Lim Zi Rui, who is juggling his campaigning and studying for his final examinations this month for an aerospace engineering degree at Nanyang Technological University (NTU), said: 'We know the odds are stacked against us.

'Like the story of the phoenix, which was destroyed and rose from the ashes, we hope to be like that. We're in it for the long haul.'

He said: 'There is no optimum age to join politics. When you have to step forward, you have to step forward.'

One of three children of an engineering firm supervisor and housewife, he made the news last year for speaking up at an NTU Ministerial Forum. He had told Senior Minister Goh Chok Tong that 'I really don't know what I'm defending any more' with the influx of foreign workers into Singapore.

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When Lim Zi Rui brought up this issue during a Ministerial Forum dialog between SM Goh and NTU students, SM Goh must have been caught ‘off guard’ because he gave a very poor response. As an SM and PM for more than a decade, we expect him to have a good answer to this question because as a high ranking leader of this country and it is his responsibility to preserve the sense of belonging among Singaporeans – it is something he has to foster among the people he leads.

“When I was younger, I was very proud of being a Singaporean. But that was about five, ten years ago. Five years later, with all the changes in policies and the influx of foreign talent, I really don’t know what I’m defending any more..”
- NTU Student, Lim Rui Zi

“You want to have a home. Who’s going to build your HDB flat?”
- SM Goh Chok Tong

I’m really surprised at the answer given by SM Goh. Singaporeans have never taken issue with the construction workers brought here by the construction industry. They don’t take up citizenship or permanent residency here and they fill jobs Singaporeans have moved away from. They have been here for almost 3 decades since the early 80s and they stay at temporary housing at the construction sites and dorms. This is different from the recent influx of the past 10 years that intensified competition for jobs and housing….and it is this extension of the policy that brought in workers at all levels for jobs that are normally filled by Singaporeans that is the issue.

“This is your country,” SM Goh replied. “What do you want me to do to make you feel you belong?”

“For my part, don’t worry about me,” Mr Lim said. “I will definitely do something, if I can, for Singapore. But I can tell you honestly that the sentiment on the ground is a bit different.”

“If this is happening, it is very serious,” said SM Goh.

“If the majority feel they don’t belong here, then we have a fundamental problem. Then I would ask myself: What am I doing here? Why should I be working for people who don’t feel they belong over here?” asked SM Goh

 

[Equalisation]

Re: NTU student who told SM 'I don't know what I'm defending anymore' contesting AMK

eeerrrr ..... doing NS to defend the millions of foreigners her ......

 

[Hans168]

Re: NTU student who told SM 'I don't know what I'm defending anymore' contesting AMK

eeerrrr ..... doing NS to defend the millions of foreigners her ......

defending the millions MIW's have in bank incl Switzerland....... BVI

 

[winners]

Re: NTU student who told SM 'I don't know what I'm defending anymore' contesting AMK

defending the millions MIW's have in bank incl Switzerland....... BVI

Aiya, why you people still don't know. Our CPF board is already low in cash. That is why they need to extend yr HDB loans to 30 years, increase the minimum sum and most important of all, keep extending your CPF withdrawal age. Much of it has already been squandered by the loses incurred by GIC and Temasek. The PAPies are already well prepared and if they will be booted out 1 day, an A380 will be waiting at Changi to fly these elites out of S'pore. (Remember Marcos from the Philippines?) Thereafter, all the oppositions (or the ones taking over S'pore) would have is a bankrupted S'pore.

 

[neddy]

Re: NTU student who told SM 'I don't know what I'm defending anymore' contesting AMK

Aiya, why you people still don't know. Our CPF board is already low in cash. That is why they need to extend yr HDB loans to 30 years, increase the minimum sum and most important of all, keep extending your CPF withdrawal age. Much of it has already been squandered by the loses incurred by GIC and Temasek. The PAPies are already well prepared and if they will be booted out 1 day, an A380 will be waiting at Changi to fly these elites out of S'pore. (Remember Marcos from the Philippines?) Thereafter, all the oppositions (or the ones taking over S'pore) would have is a bankrupted S'pore.

Spot on. Except it will not be an A380. There are not many airports or RSAF overseas airbases that will land an A380.