The Workers' Party

[sengkang]

'LIGHT IN THE DARK 2013'


LIGHT IN THE DARK 2013!, a dinner fundraiser, was organized by Social Health Growth (SHG), was held on 18 May 2013 at NTU Alumni Club.

SHG aims to help disadvantaged families raise their children to become healthy and contributing members of society. SHG believes that every mother and child should not have to struggle with the basic necessities of life. They work closely with grassroots groups to identify families in dire need of assistance and help the families with daily necessities, counseling and job placement. To ensure the sustainability of the livelihoods of these beneficiaries, SHG also runs wellbeing and education programmes such as financial literacy and children enrichment workshops.

Mr Alson Boo, Chairman and President of SHG launched LIGHT IN THE DARK 2013! with an Opening Address to welcome all distinguished guests, sponsors, as well as the special guest, MP Lee Li Lian. The event was well attended by more than 200 individuals and organizations. Sponsors donated items such as jewellery and paintings to be auctioned. Proceeds from the dinner tickets and auction would go toward helping the causes of SHG.

MP for Punggol East SMC, Ms. Lee Li Lian, who was invited as special guest, took the stage to commend the good work done by Social Health Growth. She spoke on how her role as an MP and grassroots leader have given her greater insight and empathy towards disadvantaged families.

It was heartwarming to see many passionate and like-minded individuals and organizations participating in this event. This event has created a greater public awareness of SHG and its social causes and gave participants a greater understanding of the challenges faced by disadvantaged families.

Reported by: Jacky Koh Chee Koon
Photo credit: Jacky Koh Chee Koon

Emcees for the evening.

 

[sengkang]

'LIGHT IN THE DARK 2013'


LIGHT IN THE DARK 2013!, a dinner fundraiser, was organized by Social Health Growth (SHG), was held on 18 May 2013 at NTU Alumni Club.

SHG aims to help disadvantaged families raise their children to become healthy and contributing members of society. SHG believes that every mother and child should not have to struggle with the basic necessities of life. They work closely with grassroots groups to identify families in dire need of assistance and help the families with daily necessities, counseling and job placement. To ensure the sustainability of the livelihoods of these beneficiaries, SHG also runs wellbeing and education programmes such as financial literacy and children enrichment workshops.

Mr Alson Boo, Chairman and President of SHG launched LIGHT IN THE DARK 2013! with an Opening Address to welcome all distinguished guests, sponsors, as well as the special guest, MP Lee Li Lian. The event was well attended by more than 200 individuals and organizations. Sponsors donated items such as jewellery and paintings to be auctioned. Proceeds from the dinner tickets and auction would go toward helping the causes of SHG.

MP for Punggol East SMC, Ms. Lee Li Lian, who was invited as special guest, took the stage to commend the good work done by Social Health Growth. She spoke on how her role as an MP and grassroots leader have given her greater insight and empathy towards disadvantaged families.

It was heartwarming to see many passionate and like-minded individuals and organizations participating in this event. This event has created a greater public awareness of SHG and its social causes and gave participants a greater understanding of the challenges faced by disadvantaged families.

Reported by: Jacky Koh Chee Koon
Photo credit: Jacky Koh Chee Koon

 

[sengkang]

'LIGHT IN THE DARK 2013'


LIGHT IN THE DARK 2013!, a dinner fundraiser, was organized by Social Health Growth (SHG), was held on 18 May 2013 at NTU Alumni Club.

SHG aims to help disadvantaged families raise their children to become healthy and contributing members of society. SHG believes that every mother and child should not have to struggle with the basic necessities of life. They work closely with grassroots groups to identify families in dire need of assistance and help the families with daily necessities, counseling and job placement. To ensure the sustainability of the livelihoods of these beneficiaries, SHG also runs wellbeing and education programmes such as financial literacy and children enrichment workshops.

Mr Alson Boo, Chairman and President of SHG launched LIGHT IN THE DARK 2013! with an Opening Address to welcome all distinguished guests, sponsors, as well as the special guest, MP Lee Li Lian. The event was well attended by more than 200 individuals and organizations. Sponsors donated items such as jewellery and paintings to be auctioned. Proceeds from the dinner tickets and auction would go toward helping the causes of SHG.

MP for Punggol East SMC, Ms. Lee Li Lian, who was invited as special guest, took the stage to commend the good work done by Social Health Growth. She spoke on how her role as an MP and grassroots leader have given her greater insight and empathy towards disadvantaged families.

It was heartwarming to see many passionate and like-minded individuals and organizations participating in this event. This event has created a greater public awareness of SHG and its social causes and gave participants a greater understanding of the challenges faced by disadvantaged families.

Reported by: Jacky Koh Chee Koon
Photo credit: Jacky Koh Chee Koon

 

[sengkang]

'LIGHT IN THE DARK 2013'


LIGHT IN THE DARK 2013!, a dinner fundraiser, was organized by Social Health Growth (SHG), was held on 18 May 2013 at NTU Alumni Club.

SHG aims to help disadvantaged families raise their children to become healthy and contributing members of society. SHG believes that every mother and child should not have to struggle with the basic necessities of life. They work closely with grassroots groups to identify families in dire need of assistance and help the families with daily necessities, counseling and job placement. To ensure the sustainability of the livelihoods of these beneficiaries, SHG also runs wellbeing and education programmes such as financial literacy and children enrichment workshops.

Mr Alson Boo, Chairman and President of SHG launched LIGHT IN THE DARK 2013! with an Opening Address to welcome all distinguished guests, sponsors, as well as the special guest, MP Lee Li Lian. The event was well attended by more than 200 individuals and organizations. Sponsors donated items such as jewellery and paintings to be auctioned. Proceeds from the dinner tickets and auction would go toward helping the causes of SHG.

MP for Punggol East SMC, Ms. Lee Li Lian, who was invited as special guest, took the stage to commend the good work done by Social Health Growth. She spoke on how her role as an MP and grassroots leader have given her greater insight and empathy towards disadvantaged families.

It was heartwarming to see many passionate and like-minded individuals and organizations participating in this event. This event has created a greater public awareness of SHG and its social causes and gave participants a greater understanding of the challenges faced by disadvantaged families.

Reported by: Jacky Koh Chee Koon
Photo credit: Jacky Koh Chee Koon

 

[sengkang]

[h=5]Chen Show Mao[/h]
Happy Vesak Day. Vesak Day commemorates the Buddha's birth, enlightenment and passing. Many celebrate it by radiating loving-kindness. This may also mean making a special effort to bring happiness to those less fortunate among us, such as the sick.

"Blessed is the loving-kindness that is developed and cultivated, frequently practised, made one’s vehicle and foundation, firmly established, consolidated, and properly undertaken..."
-- Mettanisamsa Sutta in the Anguttara Nikaya of the Pali canon

http://www.hairforhope.org.sg/#



Hair for Hope 2013
[url]www.hairforhope.org.sg
Every shaven head in Hair for Hope represents the understanding by an individual of the ordeals that a child with cancer is subjected to. By volunteering


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[sengkang]

[h=5]Daniel PS Goh[/h]
Haven't read the papers today, didn't know I was featured with a picture of me looking funny in ST Insight! Thanks to Alvin for posting. A bit paiseh that ST put me alongside Profs Kishore Mahbubani and Chan Heng Chee. But I do have a different view about trust in our public institutions.

(Bernard Chen asked me why I look so angry. I said, "There was a hand appearing out of nowhere trying to grab me. That is a look of terror!" :P. BTW, the pic was taken by ST when I spoke at WP Youth Wing Youthquake last year.)





CONTEMPT or CRITICISM

 

[sengkang]

[h=2]WP must stay grounded, says Low[/h]


Posted on May 24, 2013 12:24 PM Updated: May 24, 2013 12:25 PM By Andrea Ong


Mr Low and Ms Lee Li Lian on the stump during the Punggol East by-election campaign in January 2013. Picture by Raj Nadarajan.


THE Workers’ Party’s star may be on the rise in recent years but it must remember to keep both feet firmly planted on the ground, said party chief Low Thia Khiang.


“The Singaporean electorate now has higher expectations of the Workers’ Party, but I have no personal ambitions to be the Prime Minister,” he told two visiting Chinese academics last month.


“What we have to do now is continue being realistic, be grounded in serving our constituents and the people, and appeal through the system to help solve their problems,” he added in response to a question about the WP’s longer-term plans.


The academics, who are from Chinese independent think-tank Charhar Institute and currently on stints at the Nanyang Technological University, observed one of Mr Low’s meet-the-people sessions in Aljunied GRC and spoke to him after it ended. Their session was before the recent parliamentary debate on town councils which had the PAP and WP slugging it out over who was politicising and trying to capitalise on the issue of town councils. A transcript of the academics' interview is available on Lianhe Zaobao’s website. (http://www.zaobao.com.sg/news/zbo/story20130522-207333)


In the interview, the WP chief reiterated that while 2011 marked a breakthrough and step forward for opposition parties after the WP’s victory in Aljunied GRC, it is still early days yet for the opposition - repeating the cautious note he struck after the WP won the Punggol East by-election earlier this year.


“As your country’s late leader Deng Xiaoping once said, ‘we are crossing an unfamiliar river by feeling for stepping stones’,” he told the academics. “Both the ruling party and the opposition parties will have to take their bearings from time to time and recalibrate their direction as they adapt to this new stage of political development in Singapore.”


Asked if the WP’s three constituencies - Aljunied GRC, Hougang and Punggol East - would become the party’s base and vote bank in the future, Mr Low said the WP has not considered the idea.

How the party fares in these constituencies next time will depend not just on the WP but on the bigger picture of Singapore’s development.

While the WP has traditionally contested wards clustered in the north-east of Singapore, Mr Low said it is premature to talk about the party’s “base” or vote bank. For instance, he said, the results of the Punggol East by-election, which the WP won with 54.5 per cent of the vote, had surpassed the party’s expectations. “At the time, we were not confident about which way the votes would swing.”


Mr Low observed that politics here have unique characteristics after decades of evolution. The Singaporean system borrows aspects of Western parliamentary democracies like the system of “one man, one vote”, he said. On the other hand, it also taps on principles of traditional Asian politics which emphasises the Government’s authority and overall control of social development.


“It has not been easy for opposition parties to grow in this environment. They are at a disadvantage because the Government has almost full control over the nation’s resources and information,” he said.


The People’s Action Party (PAP) government can also bank on its track record since Independence, said Mr Low.
On whether the WP will place special importance on inducting more highly-qualified and young members, Mr Low said credentials are not everything. Members from elite and grassroots backgrounds both have their own strengths, he said, adding the party also pays attention to qualities like sincerity and character.


Asked where he thinks China can learn from Singapore, Mr Low said the learning goes both ways. For instance, former Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong had picked up the idea of residents’ committees from a visit to China, he said.


And on the WP’s political ideals, he said the party will continue striving for its 2011 campaign slogan of “Towards a First World Parliament”. It aims to bring about a country which is more democratic and just, to be an effective check on the Government and to provide an alternative voice to the electorate, he said.

http://www.singapolitics.sg/news/wp-must-stay-grounded-says-low

 

[sengkang]

Daniel PS Goh

[h=5]As promised, the full transcript of my email reply to Lianhe Zaobao's Yang Yang interviewing me on the future of hawkers.

YY: Do you think hawker business is of low social status in Singapore?

DG: Traditionally, being a hawker was seen as a respectable occupation. ...
[/h] The Future of Our Hawker Food Culture
[url]www.danielpsgoh.com

This is the full transcript of my email reply to Lianhe Zaobao's Yang Yang interviewing me on the future of hawkers. The article, "高龄小贩淡出 少壮圆梦入行" was published on 26 May 2013...

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[h=5]Yee Jenn Jong, JJ (余振忠)[/h]
I wonder how this new Licensing Plan will affect our Press Freedom ranking, which is already at a record low of 149 out of 179 countries.


How the G came up with the licensing plan
[url]www.breakfastnetwork.sg

by Bertha Henson Inside a bunker in Singapore, two bureaucrats, Chin Oo Eng and Nina Kan, are discussing ways to control the universe. They’re starting


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[h=5]The Workers' Party[/h]
"We are pleased that the NEA Advisory has finally clarified the following regarding hawker centres :-

1. Spring cleaning is expected to be carried out on a quarterly basis; and
2. The ceilings, beams and exhaust ducts are to be cleaned at least once a year.

It is clear from the Advisory that Town Councils do NOT need to clean the ceilings, beams and exhaust ducts at each spring cleaning exercise, but annually. It is also clear from the Straits Times’ article dated 1 June 2013 that the Town Council had carried out cleaning of the ceilings, beams and exhaust ducts last year. We reiterate that no authorized TC staff told any hawker or anyone of any additional charges to be imposed for the cleaning.

We hope this clarifies to the public that AHPE TC has duly carried out its responsibilities as required."





Media Release - 1 June 2013 | AHPETC
[url]www.ahpetc.sg
We refer to NEA’s “Advisory on Maintenance of Hawker Centres” dated 31 May 2013 which was sent to the email address of our Managing Agent at 8.05 pm on the same day, and promptly reported in the Straits Times and Zaobao on 1 June 2013.


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[sengkang]

[h=5]Yee Jenn Jong, JJ (余振忠)[/h]
"We are pleased that the NEA Advisory has finally clarified the following regarding hawker centres :-

1. Spring cleaning is expected to be carried out on a quarterly basis; and
2. The ceilings, beams and exhaust ducts are to be cleaned at least once a year.

It is clear from the Advisory that Town Councils do NOT need to clean the ceilings, beams and exhaust ducts at each spring cleaning exercise, but annually. It is also clear from the Straits Times’ article dated 1 June 2013 that the Town Council had carried out cleaning of the ceilings, beams and exhaust ducts last year. We reiterate that no authorized TC staff told any hawker or anyone of any additional charges to be imposed for the cleaning.

We hope this clarifies to the public that AHPE TC has duly carried out its responsibilities as required."





Media Release - 1 June 2013 | AHPETC
[url]www.ahpetc.sg
We refer to NEA’s “Advisory on Maintenance of Hawker Centres” dated 31 May 2013 which was sent to the email address of our Managing Agent at 8.05 pm on the same day, and promptly reported in the Straits Times and Zaobao on 1 June 2013.


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[h=5]Yee Jenn Jong, JJ (余振忠)[/h]
This latest move from the Government has raised many questions and concerns. When Parliament next sits, you can expect WP MPs to be asking the Minister for Information and Communications many of these questions, and pressing him for a response.


Internet regulation déjà vu | geraldgiam.sg
geraldgiam.sg
Would the Government want to be seen to be “shutting down” websites like TOC and TRE, which are known to express very independent and sometimes sharp

 

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[h=5]The Workers' Party[/h]
"By way of email dated 7 Feb 2013, NEA informed the Town Council that 'the Hawkers’ Association will make the necessary arrangements with their contractors on the scaffolding erection / dismantling during the spring cleaning period from 4-8 March 2013.'

We leave it to the public to judge whether any reasonable person would take the sentence to refer merely to the provision of canvas rather than the erection / dismantling of scaffolding itself, as NEA now claims. The TC took NEA’s email in good faith and left the arrangement of the scaffolding in the hands of NEA and the hawkers’ association.

We understand that the hawkers’ association themselves then approached our cleaning contractor, ATL Maintenance Pte Ltd. TC was not privy to any discussions between the hawkers’ association and ATL.

NEA claimed that the hawkers’ association had referred ATL back to the Town Council which was acknowledged on 19 February. We have checked these claims and found them to be untrue.

Our contractor informed us that the hawkers’ association had approached them for a quotation for the scaffolding, which they had provided, but nothing further was heard by our contractor.

Our property manager also confirmed that he had told the hawkers’ association that the Town Council was not involved in any private arrangements made by the hawkers’ association.

If NEA had felt that any of the above arrangements were not in accordance with requirements, NEA, being the co-ordinating agency, could have easily clarified the matter instead of perpetuating the confusion."



Media Release - 3 June 2013 | AHPETC
[url]www.ahpetc.sg
Aljunied-Hougang-Punggol East Town Council (AHPETC) notes with concern the inaccuracies contained in the releases from National Environment


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Gerald Giam question to Talking Point on News Sites licensing - 04Jun2013


I took a call from Channel NewsAsia's "Talking Point" last night to discuss the MDA's latest online news website licensing regime. This is the video clip of the segment where I gave some of my views on the new scheme and asked the Minister some questions.

<iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/6_2JWLiHwmY?feature=player_detailpage" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="360" width="640"></iframe>

 

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Gerald Giam question to Talking Point on News Sites licensing - 04Jun2013


I took a call from Channel NewsAsia's "Talking Point" last night to discuss the MDA's latest online news website licensing regime. This is the video clip of the segment where I gave some of my views on the new scheme and asked the Minister some questions.

<iframe width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/AE-H_HCX7rA?feature=player_detailpage" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

 

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[h=5]The Workers' Party[/h]
"Being a responsible Town Council with the interest of residents and stallholders at heart, AHPETC is always prepared to work with the relevant government agencies for the benefit of the residents it serves. Even in cases where we may have disagreed with the approach of the agency, we are always prepared to compromise and to work together for common good, so long as the interest of residents is not jeopardised."




Media Release - 7 June 2013 | AHPETC
[url]www.ahpetc.sg


I find the conclusion of the NEA on 6 June 2013 that “AHPETC tried to get hawkers to pay extra cleaning costs, and when that failed it deflected the


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[h=5]Pritam Singh[/h]Spoke at a Singapore Model Parliament 2013 panel discussion today organised by the NUS Political Science society and the Pro Bono Office of the NUS Faculty of Law, alongside Chris de Souza and Janadas Devan, moderated by A/P Reuben Wong of the NUS Political Science Department. As expected, the questions from the students were insightful, of a high-quality and thought-provoking. But one of the highlights for me was when two students from my alma mater, Jurong Junior College came up to me and introduced themselves after the event. I perked up when they told me where they were from and I really enjoyed conversing with them. To all students from neighbourhood schools, national examinations are a great leveller, so work hard and promise yourself that you will do your very best. You owe that to yourself. That is good enough. To my two young friends, good luck for your 'A' levels at the end of the year!

 

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I welcome the release of the documents by National Environment Agency (“NEA”) so that the public can make their own judgment.

In response, we are also releasing, at Annex A, the email thread from NEA to Aljunied-Hougang-Punggol East Town Council (“AHPETC”) stating that “the Hawkers Association will make the necessary arrangements with their contractors on the scaffold erection / dismantling during the spring cleaning period from 4 – 8 March 2013”.



Media Release - 9 June 2013 | AHPETC
[url]www.ahpetc.sg


I welcome the release of the documents by National Environment Agency (“NEA”) so that the public can make their own judgment.


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[h=5]The Workers' Party[/h]
"AHPETC has been consistent in its attitude and is always prepared to cooperate with government agencies for the benefit of the residents it serves. However, the Minister should not mistake this to mean that AHPETC can be bullied or is an easy target to be used by the government to score political points.

As this episode wore on and even earlier in April 2013, the Minister visited the hawker centres at various markets in Aljunied-Hougang-Punggol East (AHPE) town. In doing so, the Minister could have used his not insignificant powers as Minister overseeing the NEA and exercised his leadership to reach out to all parties, including both the Hawkers Association and AHPETC, to resolve any matter amicably. We expected that as Minister, he would use his office to play a positive and constructive role in this episode, but this was apparently not to be."





Media Release - 10 June 2013 | AHPETC
[url]www.ahpetc.sg
I have been truthful in communicating the Town Council’s position on the facts of the matter concerned. Equally, there is no reason to doubt the honesty of Aljunied-Hougang-Punggol East Town Council (“AHPETC”) staff in this matter. If the Minister has any proof to the contrary, he


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