<TABLE border=0 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%"><TBODY><TR>Aug 15, 2009
A WISH FOR TOMORROW'S RALLY SPEECH
</TR><!-- headline one : start --><TR>Looking for that 'S' factor
</TR><!-- headline one : end --><!-- show image if available --></TBODY></TABLE>
<!-- START OF : div id="storytext"--><!-- more than 4 paragraphs -->TOMORROW'S National Day Rally speech is important as Singaporeans seek to know how our leaders will guide us out of the recession and the plans Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong has for the country in the year ahead.
Apart from the usual menu of incentives and policy changes, I hope Mr Lee will give us more of the 'S' factor: 'S' as in 'Special' in being a Singaporean.
Immigration is one key way the Government hopes to solve the population problem. Because of this, there is a view among Singaporeans that the balance of advantage between citizens and newly arrived residents has changed. Singaporeans are concerned about how intensive immigration is affecting their lives, jobs, education, the cost of living and accommodation.
A Singaporean needs to feel special as a Singaporean. The benefits he enjoys as a citizen should not be merely a trifle more than those enjoyed by a permanent resident.
For example, the vaunted difference of being able to vote is not exercised universally as many Singaporeans do not get to vote in most elections because of uncontested seats. I have yet to cast a vote after five elections.
As for the privilege of owning an HDB flat, with the current escalation of costs, housing is no longer as affordable as before, with the price of an HDB flat closer to that of private apartments. And if one is single, the advantage becomes negligible.
The average Singaporean does his national service (NS), pays his taxes and goes about his daily life. What he also wants is for it to be acknowledged, specifically and unequivocally, that being a citizen is worth taking up arms for in a potential conflict, as also staying here when the going gets tough.
If he sheds his blood and gets in harm's way while doing his NS duties, why not offer him free medical care for life, for example, rather than subject him to a subsidy or means testing?
National survival may dictate that we allow immigration and recruitment of top talent from everywhere. Yet we should do this without giving the sense that we are marginalising our own people.
So my wish for tomorrow's speech is that Mr Lee offers Singaporeans that 'S' factor.
Peter Loon Seng Chee
A WISH FOR TOMORROW'S RALLY SPEECH
</TR><!-- headline one : start --><TR>Looking for that 'S' factor
</TR><!-- headline one : end --><!-- show image if available --></TBODY></TABLE>
<!-- START OF : div id="storytext"--><!-- more than 4 paragraphs -->TOMORROW'S National Day Rally speech is important as Singaporeans seek to know how our leaders will guide us out of the recession and the plans Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong has for the country in the year ahead.
Apart from the usual menu of incentives and policy changes, I hope Mr Lee will give us more of the 'S' factor: 'S' as in 'Special' in being a Singaporean.
Immigration is one key way the Government hopes to solve the population problem. Because of this, there is a view among Singaporeans that the balance of advantage between citizens and newly arrived residents has changed. Singaporeans are concerned about how intensive immigration is affecting their lives, jobs, education, the cost of living and accommodation.
A Singaporean needs to feel special as a Singaporean. The benefits he enjoys as a citizen should not be merely a trifle more than those enjoyed by a permanent resident.
For example, the vaunted difference of being able to vote is not exercised universally as many Singaporeans do not get to vote in most elections because of uncontested seats. I have yet to cast a vote after five elections.
As for the privilege of owning an HDB flat, with the current escalation of costs, housing is no longer as affordable as before, with the price of an HDB flat closer to that of private apartments. And if one is single, the advantage becomes negligible.
The average Singaporean does his national service (NS), pays his taxes and goes about his daily life. What he also wants is for it to be acknowledged, specifically and unequivocally, that being a citizen is worth taking up arms for in a potential conflict, as also staying here when the going gets tough.
If he sheds his blood and gets in harm's way while doing his NS duties, why not offer him free medical care for life, for example, rather than subject him to a subsidy or means testing?
National survival may dictate that we allow immigration and recruitment of top talent from everywhere. Yet we should do this without giving the sense that we are marginalising our own people.
So my wish for tomorrow's speech is that Mr Lee offers Singaporeans that 'S' factor.
Peter Loon Seng Chee
