Chitchat Why Jamus Lim join Workers' Party ?

[jw5]

from msn.com:

COVID-19: Remove mask mandate outdoors, says MP Jamus Lim​

SINGAPORE — With far lower transmission rates of COVID-19 outdoors as compared with indoors, and "clear signs of mask fatigue", Sengkang GRC MP Jamus Lim is advocating for the mask mandate outdoors to be relaxed, save for crowded spaces.

In a Facebook post on Tuesday (21 September), Associate Professor Lim acknowledged that masks are an important tool, with clear evidence that they work in containing the spread of the virus.

"In an ideal world, folks would keep masks on all the time, of course, except perhaps when in the presence of those living in the same household," he said.

"But in reality, keeping the mask on constantly is stifling, and all the more so in our hot and humid climate," he added.


Prof Lim pointed out the those who work outdoors such as cleaners and gardeners don't have an excuse to unmask. Meanwhile, people unmask once indoors to obtain relief.

"I’m sure we all know of coworkers who unmask, especially in smaller meeting rooms and offices. There are clear signs of mask fatigue," he said.

"If we had to choose between indoor and outdoor masking, the former is clearly preferred, because risks of infection indoors are much higher. We aren’t machines, and public health policy should ultimately be sustainable," he added.

Prof Lim suggested with the virus now endemic, Singapore's COVID-19 policy can be evolved to pay more attention to indoor air quality, even as there is strict mask adherence indoors.

"Hopefully we will keep revisiting our stances, informed by the latest science," he added.

 

[jw5]

from straitstimes.com:

Is it time to ease outdoor mask rules? Not yet, say experts on WP MP Jamus Lim’s suggestion​

SINGAPORE - Mask-wearing rules should not be eased until the impact of such a move on the healthcare system is deemed to be minimal, said infectious diseases specialist David Lye.

This assessment is likely to be dependent on the number of unvaccinated seniors over the age of 60, said Associate Professor Lye, who is the director of the Infectious Disease Research and Training Office at the National Centre for Infectious Diseases (NCID).

"If everyone can bring the remaining 80,000 unvaccinated seniors to get vaccinated, it will be really helpful," he said.

While it is understandable that many are tired of Covid-19, Prof Lye said it is too early to consider relaxing restrictions now, given the ongoing rise in daily new cases.

"With rising cases that need oxygen or intensive care, and deaths, this is not the time to relax safe management measures. Eventually, when we are certain that the impact on our healthcare system is minimal from Covid-19, our government may relax mask-wearing outdoors."

Prof Lye was responding to a suggestion by Workers' Party MP Jamus Lim that Singapore should move towards relaxing mask-wearing rules in certain outdoor settings.




In a Facebook post on Tuesday (Sept 21), Associate Professor Lim said masks work in containing transmission and remain an important tool in Singapore's fight against Covid-19.

But he said the risk of transmission outdoors is "far lower" compared with indoors.

Having to wear a mask all the time can contribute to mask fatigue, which can in turn increase the risk of indoor transmission, he argued.

"Keeping the mask on constantly is stifling, and all the more so in our hot and humid climate," said Prof Lim.


"Not only that, it often leads to people ripping their masks off once indoors to obtain some relief. I'm sure we all know of co-workers who unmask, especially in smaller meeting rooms and offices."

This behaviour is "the wrong way around", given the higher risk of transmission indoors, he added.

"My view is that we should move toward relaxing our outdoor masking rules, except perhaps where there is still close interpersonal contact, like in markets and other crowded spaces, but insist on strict adherence indoors," said the Sengkang GRC MP.

"More generally, we can evolve our Covid-19 policy to pay more attention to indoor air quality, especially when we treat the disease as endemic."

Experts who spoke to The Straits Times agreed that the transmission rate in outdoor settings is generally lower than in indoor settings, but they noted that this depends on several factors and it can be complicated to apply such a policy.

Prof Lye noted that outdoor transmission can occur in crowded settings where people congregate, but he added that it is difficult or impossible to define crowdedness.

"If you are alone in the forest, you will not get Covid-19, but Singapore is generally very crowded."

Dr Tan Teck Jack, who is chief executive of Northeast Medical Group and holds a master's degree in public health, said the authorities have to weigh the risks when formulating any policy, as well as other factors like ease of implementation and whether the policy is simple and easily understood.

The emergence of the Delta variant has also complicated matters. The variant is known to be more transmissible but it is still unclear how lethal it is compared with other variants, Dr Tan noted.

"I would err on the side of caution and keep the mask policy intact," he added.

"As a whole, we are very law-abiding in Singapore. We should continue to support those who abide by the rules."

Infectious diseases specialist Leong Hoe Nam said one reason outdoor transmission has not been consistently proven could be the greater difficulty of tracking people's movements outdoors.

"There is no SafeEntry QR code on every corner and street. If there was, we may find that outdoor transmission occurs significantly. Absence of evidence is not evidence of absence," Dr Leong said.

He also noted how the United States rescinded its mandate on outdoor mask-wearing for vaccinated people in late April, only for states like Oregon to reimpose the rule last month after a surge in cases driven by the Delta variant.

Prof Lye was concerned that loosening mask requirements outdoors could weaken the public's mask-wearing habit in general.

"A person who does not wear a mask outdoors is more likely to forget to wear it indoors, as a matter of human nature and habits."

He also said mask-wearing remains one of the most effective and cheapest ways of reducing one's risk of contracting Covid-19 and other respiratory viruses like influenza.

"I will continue to wear my mask indoors and in crowded outdoor environments even after the Government eventually relaxes the rules. It is easy and it protects me."

 

[jw5]

Jamus returns to house visits.

Jamus Lim​

13 hrs ·
After a month physically away, it was nice to return to house visits, estate walks, and meet-the-people sessions at #Anchorvale. As usual, it has been invigorating to connect with residents, although there is much feedback to work on and things to improve.
The #workersparty continues serving our residents on the ground, albeit with appropriate safe distancing measures, and keeping to very small teams. Personally, it has also meant that I’ve been able to get a keener sense of emerging conditions, and to better address them.
It’s been a rapid return to a busy schedule. Residents sometimes express surprise to see us around, and thank us for visiting and listening to them, but I don’t see it that way at all. We signed up to serve the people, and so that’s just what we’re supposed to do. #TeamSengkang #SengkangGRC

 

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Jamus speaks to residents.

 

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Jamus visits residents.

 

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Jamus visits and speaks to residents.

 

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Jamus has some words of encouragement.

Jamus Lim​

6 hrs ·
There is at least one of us that is delighted that Singapore has reverted back to work-from-home over the next month! While some have been frustrated by our stop-go #COVID-19 policies, let’s remember that there is a silver lining in every dark cloud, and that after the rain, the weather turns fair (at least, that’s how our Chinese compositions always went). As a nation, we will get through this together.

 

[jw5]

from msn.com:

Jamus Lim: “We signed up to serve the people, that’s just what we’re supposed to do”​

https://www.msn.com/en-sg/news/worl...p-since-1950/ar-AAOUmnP?ocid=msedgdhp&pc=U531

Singapore — Workers’ Party Member of Parliament Jamus Lim (Sengkang GRC) is back to doing in-person meetings with the residents of Anchorvale, the ward he represents.

Assoc Prof Lim just recently returned to physically seeing residents again, after having been gone for a while. Along with his wife and daughter, the Sengkang MP was in the United States last month “for family reasons.”

Upon his return, like other travellers, he served a Stay-Home-Notice for 14 days.

On Friday morning (Sept 24) in a Facebook post, Assoc Prof Lim expressed gladness at seeing people in his ward again, calling it “invigorating.”

© The Independent Singapore
“After a month physically away, it was nice to return to house visits, estate walks, and meet-the-people sessions at #Anchorvale.

As usual, it has been invigorating to connect with residents, although there is much feedback to work on and things to improve.”

He went on to say that WP MPs, volunteers and other members, have continued with “serving our residents on the ground,” although they go in very small teams and while implementing safe distancing measures.

“Personally, it has also meant that I’ve been able to get a keener sense of emerging conditions, and to better address them,” he added.

Assoc Prof Lim called resuming his activities on-ground “a rapid return to a busy schedule.”

He added that residents are sometimes surprised to see the WP team, and even thank them for visiting them and listening to them.​

“But I don’t see it that way at all. We signed up to serve the people, and so that’s just what we’re supposed to do,” wrote Assoc Prof Lim.​

The Sengkang MP has kept a close eye on Anchorvale and depended on other WP members for help in this as well.

As Assoc Prof Lim was still away when Covid restrictions were relaxed and MPs were allowed to resume face-to-face meetings with residents toward the end of last month, fellow Sengkang MP Raeesah Khan, who represents the residents of Compassvale, stepped in for his Meet-the-People sessions.

More recently, however, it was Mr Png Eng Huat who stepped up for Assoc Prof Lim, who posted a photo of Mr Png on his Facebook page on Sept 7.

Indeed, WP leaders have stood in for one another in meeting residents when necessary. This happened late last year when both Ms Khan and fellow Sengkang MP Ms He Ting Ru (Buangkok) were both on maternity leave.

Party head Pritam Singh announced on Dec 24, 2020, that several WP members would “on a rotational basis and for as long as required, support Ru and Raeesah’s work in Sengkang GRC by standing in for their weekly Meet-the-People Sessions, House visits and Estate Walks.”

 

[jw5]

WP has reservations about the proposed bill.

Jamus Lim​

1 hr ·
There has been much recent discussion in activist, academic, and political circles about the proposed Foreign Interference (Countermeasures) Act (FICA), a bill whose stated aim is to neutralize foreign influence in domestic politics. The Bill is set for its second reading in Parliament early October. Typically, second and third readings occur together, and since the government has a supermajority, the 249-page bill will likely be tabled and passed in a little less than a month.
This has many folks up in arms, arguing that a wide-ranging bill of this nature—which vests significant powers to the government, in the name of national security—deserves greater scrutiny, public consultation, and debate. The #workersparty has reservations about the bill, and we have been hard at work, and have submitted a list of proposed amendments. We will explain the motivations behind our amendments in Parliament. In the meantime, those interested in examining these amendments can do so here:
https://www.wp.sg/amendments-to-the-foreign-interference.../ #makingyourvotecount

 

[jw5]

from straitstimes.com:

WP proposes changes to S'pore's draft anti-foreign interference law, citing need for greater transparency​

SINGAPORE - The opposition Workers' Party (WP) on Wednesday (Sept 29) proposed a raft of amendments to a proposed law to counter foreign interference in Singapore, such as allowing for appeals to the High Court and for statutory board chief executives to be defined as "politically significant persons".

The party's MPs also suggested a public registry listing such individuals, and that assurances made by the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) - that the proposed law does not stifle Singaporeans' own critical comments or political views - be placed in the text of the law itself.

These reflect recommendations put forth by various tech, security and legal experts in the wake of the Foreign Interference (Countermeasures) Act, or Fica, being tabled in Parliament on Sept 13.

The Act targets foreign interference in domestic politics conducted through hostile information campaigns and the use of local proxies. It will allow the Minister for Home Affairs to compel Internet platforms to block accounts, and to require politically significant persons (PSPs) to declare any foreign affiliation, among other measures.

In a statement sent to the media, the WP said it believes in the legitimate need to counter malign acts of foreign interference, but disagrees with the current form of the Bill in achieving this objective.

On Monday, its MPs gave notice to the Clerk of Parliament to table amendments to the Bill at its next reading, believed to be on next Monday or Tuesday.




The WP said its proposed amendments would result in oversight of executive action by the judiciary, a more precise scoping of executive powers to significantly lower the likelihood of abuse of power, and greater clarity and transparency around the entities and individuals affected by the Bill.

MP Gerald Giam, for instance, proposed that the list of defined PSPs, which currently covers political parties, political office-holders, MPs, election candidates and their agents, among others, also include:

- A member of the central executive council, or its equivalent, of any registered political party in Singapore;

- A senior public servant holding the office of deputy secretary or above, or its equivalent;


- A board member or chief executive of a statutory board or government company listed on the Fifth Schedule of the Constitution of the Republic of Singapore

Examples of Fifth Schedule entities are Temasek and GIC.

Mr Giam's fellow Aljunied GRC MP Leon Perera proposed that the Bill include provisions for entities or persons designated as politically significant to be listed on a free and publicly accessible electronic registry - unless "not practicable or desirable to do so on national security grounds".

He also called for reportable arrangements and transparency directives pertaining to politically significant entities to be made available to the public.

Last week, MHA told The Straits Times that the list of designated PSPs and measures applied to them will be made public.

Associate Professor Jamus Lim, an MP for Sengkang GRC, proposed to include, as part of exempt activities covered by the Bill, instances of Singaporeans exercising "their right to discuss politics by expressing their own views on political matters, unless they are agents of a foreign principal".

He also proposed exempting activities by "foreign individuals or foreign publications reporting or commenting on Singapore politics, in an open, transparent and attributable way, even if their comments may be critical of Singapore or the Government".

These directly echo lines in a statement issued by MHA after the Bill was introduced earlier this month.

Ms He Ting Ru, an MP for Sengkang GRC and a lawyer, proposed an amendment to leave out an entire clause titled "limited judicial review", which provides that the Minister for Home Affairs and a reviewing tribunal's decision on appeals is final and not to be challenged in court.

The tribunal will be appointed by the President and chaired by a High Court judge, with two other members with expertise in security analysis and technology issues. The tribunal is not part of the Singapore judicial system.

Ms He suggested replacing the clause with one allowing appeals to the High Court, but not before first appealing to the minister. Other parts of the proposed clause include a provision of in-camera - or private - hearings ordered by the court, if "expedient in the interests of justice or of public safety or security to do so".

ST had previously asked MHA for further reasons behind the need for a tribunal instead of going through existing court processes. The ministry had said that hostile information campaigns involving foreign actors and detection and prevention of them "cut close to issues of defence, national security and foreign relations".

"Sensitive information and intelligence may be involved in making a decision on directions. It is crucial to safeguard such information that the Government relies upon to make its decision to issue a Part 3 direction," the spokesman said then.

Such "Part 3" directions include account restriction, app removal and service restriction directions.

The WP on Wednesday said its MPs would put forth fuller arguments at the parliamentary debate on the Bill.

 

[jw5]

Happy Childrens' Day from Jamus and WP.

The Workers' Party​

10 hrs ·
Children are the future and may we nurture them to lead the world towards light.
Warm wishes for all children in the world. May you forever believe in yourself and follow your dreams.
And to the kid in all of us, let’s never stop being joyful, never stop laughing and having fun.

 

[jw5]

 

[jw5]

Jamus encourages Singapore Olympians and Paralympians.

Jamus Lim​

5 hrs ·

The Workers' Party​

5 hrs ·
"I am certain that all our Olympians and Paralympians all gave their best shot during their time in Tokyo. Even in instances where they may not have won, some achieved personal bests. We need to understand, as a nation, that our support for our sportsmen and women should not be dependent on them having won medals or tournaments." Jamus Lim (5 October 2021)
Video Credits: Mediacorp

 

[jw5]

from theindependent.sg:

Jamus Lim: FICA troublingly vague and inadvertently detrimental to our public interest

Singapore ― Member of Parliament Jamus Lim (Workers’ Party – Sengkang GRC) called on removing ambiguous language from the Foreign Interference Countermeasures Act (FICA) bill, proposing amendments presented by his party.

Speaking during the Parliamentary debate on FICA on Monday (Oct 4), Assoc Prof Lim said that the bill’s scope, as it stood, was “troublingly vague” and would allow action to be taken based on speculation or suspicion.

Under FICA, the government will obtain powers to compel Internet and social media service providers to disclose information on users or remove online content to counter foreign attempts to influence domestic politics.

“We can all accept that there are threats out there, that have to be dealt with. We can all accept that some threats are subtle and, by design, evasive, and hence difficult to identify and prove with absolute certainty,” said Assoc Prof Lim.

He referred to a few clauses in FICA that will charge an individual with an offence if they engage in electronic communications that involve an activity that “is or is likely to be prejudicial to the friendly relations of Singapore with other countries.”

Assoc Prof Lim questioned the meaning of the word “likely” in the clause, noting statistically, any outcome that has the greater probability of being realised could well be anything ranging from 51 to 99 per cent.

“Thus, establishing that a given action will amount to an offence will require an estimation of likelihood. While courts have a long history of attributing just cause based on strong, credible evidence, this is an enormous leap for any single, largely unchecked individual,” he said.

The WP proposed amendments to raise the level of proof required, from mere suspicion or belief to at least some degree of evidence or actionable intelligence.

Despite instances where the risks of subsequent malicious activity would justify the execution of preemptive outcomes, there should be at least evidence possessed or actionable intelligence and reasonable assessment before engaging, he added.

“Short of this, we are relying on gut feeling and instincts to play with people’s lives,” said Assoc Prof Lim.​

He touched on other “uneasily vague” clauses in the bill, such as Clause 5(3), which states that activities would be covered so long as “both the person and the foreign principal knew or expected that the person would or might undertake that activity.”

“Surely it is possible that an individual might independently choose to pursue a given course of action, bereft of external influence, yet this choice could still be common knowledge?” he asked.

He also noted that the definition of foreign principals might be excessively broad.

“As a Party, we have always believed in the importance of robust debate over policy alternatives. This will be compromised if our people exercise even more self-restraint or self-censorship as a result of FICA, and our policies and political landscape would be poorer as a result.”

“I SUSPECT AND HAVE REASON TO BELIEVE THAT FICA, AS IT IS WRITTEN, IS LIKELY TO BE INADVERTENTLY DETRIMENTAL TO OUR PUBLIC INTEREST,” SAID ASSOC PROF LIM, CALLING TO MOVE THE PROPOSED AMENDMENTS.

 

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Jamus speaks at Emerging Markets Forum.

 

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Jamus is concerned about FICA.

Jamus Lim​

4 hrs ·
In my view, this government—to the extent that it has any ideological blinders in policymaking—tends to err in favor of efficiency. That is, they try to eke out as much bang for the buck or wipe out every malign outcome, possibly to the detriment of other objectives.
One way to see this is to think about our welfare safety net. The fear of letting one or two “welfare queens” (or kings) leads to a rather onerous set of requirements for qualifying criteria and associated documentation, which undoubtedly sieves out possible abusers. But this can be at the cost of excluding others who truly need help, but for whom jumping through the required hoops is too costly, confusing, or convoluted. Out of ten potentially needy individuals, we would rather rule out the two or three undeserving ones, at the expense of the other seven.
Another way to see this was during our recent foreign interference countermeasures (FICA) debate. Much of the debate was focused on technical, legal concerns of little interest to the average citizen, but one area was more general. The FICA bill (now law) included language that was relatively vague, with terms like “likely to” or “suspected or is believed to” when determining exposure to foreign influence (with “foreign” also broadly defined to include people, organizations, and businesses).
Of course, this broad approach isn’t a problem in an uncertainty-free world, where we know for sure who the bad guys are. But have you ever been summoned because of a glitch in the traffic light or parking meter, or said something in anger that you didn’t really mean? When we allow suspicion or a single person’s evaluation of likelihood be the standard for what is judged to be an offense, we start to wander into a Minority Report world, catching crime that hasn’t yet been committed. We start to police thought.
Such concerns also wouldn’t be a problem if we can guarantee that bad guys aren’t ever in charge. But the latitude we offer to a well-meaning government to do their jobs better now could turn very very sour in the future, Manchurian-candidate style.
A geeky way to look at it from the perspective of mean-variance optimization. This 50-dollar word actually summarizes many forms of decisionmaking, including portfolio allocation in finance. The idea is that we want to eliminate bias in our choices as much as possible. In our examples, these means sieving out undeserving welfare recipients, or making sure we catch each and every potential terrorist and criminal. And of course, in an ideal world, these are laudable objectives to strive for. But in the real world, mistakes happen.
Unfortunately, this strategy also leads to a much wider variance in outcomes. We fail to help many in need, or trample on the rights of innocent (but outspoken) people. Or worse, we trade better results when everything is business-as-usual, but risk something truly horrible otherwise.
The alternative is a robust system: we waste some resources here and there, but help the uncle who just lost his job get back on his feet. We write laws that fail to catch the 1-in-10,000 chance a covert agent is active, but also don’t throw innocent people in jail.
Importantly, we should recognize that one choice or the other represents normative positions: they are “should be” statements, rather than “must be” ones. Nothing, other than our personal philosophies, requires us to subscribe to one approach or another. That’s why I believe that modern, democratic societies ought to have (there’s a normative stance right there) multiple points of view, represented by different parties. Advanced polities seldom reveal a clear right or wrong policy choice. Rather than assuming the best or worse of everyone, it may be best to allow for a range of possible worldviews. And similarly, policies should accommodate this diversity, rather than strive for a single, model answer.
That has been a key principle for the #workersparty in all our policy proposals, and it guided our take on FICA. Our proposed amendments sought to allow the system to self-correct, rather than hinge on “correct” decisionmaking by a few. #makingyourvotecount

 

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Jamus focuses on estate issues.

Jamus Lim​

56 mins ·
Due to the recent cooling off period through till later this month, the #SengkangGRC MPs returned online for our meet-the-people sessions, and temporarily suspended house visits again. But this did free up more time for us to focus on estate issues, and I’ve been able to expand the amount of time dedicated to my weekly estate walks (which allows for the occasional distraction by estate wildlife!).
Our new cleaning contractor has continued to operate under challenging circumstances, with increased workloads as more people work from home (and hence choose to spend more of their disposable income on home upgrades), exacerbated by manpower shortages due to ongoing restrictions on migrant labor flows. The crew has also gained familiarity with the estate as well as our expectations, which has also help them gradually improve their performance.
We are hopeful that as cross-border movement restrictions ease further and our health protocols gradually relax, our estate work will—like many others islandwide—return to some degree of normalcy, and we will see not just a restoration but an exceeding of the standards that we, and our residents, have come to expect. #TeamSengkang

 

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Jamus is concerned about minimum wages.

Jamus Lim​

13 hrs ·
On Monday night, the Bank of Sweden announced the winners of this year’s economics “Nobel” prize. The award—for work on “natural experiments”—went to three winners, one of whom was Berkeley professor David Card. Many of us in the profession would have also recognized the absence of the late Princeton economist Alan Krueger, a frequent coauthor of Card, who passed away two years ago (the prize is never conferred posthumously).
Unlike the natural sciences, many public policies cannot be evaluated via randomized controlled trials (although these do exist), which are often regarded as the gold standard of scientific evidence. So economists often have to use a different approach. Humans being humans, they will respond to policy changes by altering their behavior. This is rational, of course, and has helped our species adapt over the course of history. But it enormously complicates our ability to evaluate the impact of policy. Natural experiments take advantage of changes to policy that unexpected and whose effects are experienced differently by different groups. By identifying these groups, we are able to establish the sort of “treatment” and “control” needed to approximate real experiments.
The pioneering work of Card and Krueger was applied to the study of minimum wages. To be clear, even before their contribution, there were already tons of such studies in the literature. What made Card and Krueger’s work so unique was the careful attention to research design, which established causality (that is, that policy X caused outcome Y). Up till then, studies typically only demonstrated correlations. And what Card and Krueger showed was that the minimum wage did not have any significant, causal effect on unemployment. Their work was so convincing that almost everyone in the profession now accepts that reality.
This was a remarkable achievement. Till then, economists had been trained to think about the minimum wage theoretically, and theory generally predicted increases in unemployment. Card and Krueger made us reason with the data, and changed our minds in the process. (In all fairness, subsequent work has challenged some of Card and Krueger’s early results. But the overall weight of high-quality evidence favors little or no employment effects due to a minimum wage).
Their work also left a practical legacy. All around the world, policymakers were no longer afraid to introduce minimum wage policies, because credible empirical evidence told us that it wouldn’t lead to higher unemployment.
During this year’s National Day Rally, PM Lee announced that firms that hire foreigners would need to pay a minimum of $1,400 to local employees. While this isn’t quite a universal minimum wage, it will effectively be one for Singaporeans (if labor markets are reasonably efficient). The minimum wage for Singaporeans at a take-home level of $1,300 is a policy that the #workersparty has championed for a long time, and was part of our #GE2020 manifesto. We are happy to see that the government has now come round to embracing Nobel Prize-winning work.

Postscript: The PAP has tapped on other Nobel-winning ideas in its policymaking. COEs are designed as 2nd best sealed-bid auctions, the brainchild of Bill Vickrey. And ERP has roots in the work of Jim Mirrlees, who proposed a system of efficient motoring taxes. In both instances, the policies improve efficiency by extracting more surplus from the consumer, compared to min wages, which trades efficiency for equity. I’ll leave folks to decide if such policies better capture the sort of world we wish to live in. #makingyourvotecount