-
IP addresses are NOT logged in this forum so there's no point asking. Please note that this forum is full of homophobes, racists, lunatics, schizophrenics & absolute nut jobs with a smattering of geniuses, Chinese chauvinists, Moderate Muslims and last but not least a couple of "know-it-alls" constantly sprouting their dubious wisdom. If you believe that content generated by unsavory characters might cause you offense PLEASE LEAVE NOW! Sammyboy Admin and Staff are not responsible for your hurt feelings should you choose to read any of the content here. The OTHER forum is HERE so please stop asking.
Chitchat Why Jamus Lim join Workers' Party ?
- Thread starter batman1
- Start date
Jamus wants to expand the scope of support. 
Those of us that have spent some time working on international development like to tell a story about a particular antipoverty intervention program, created in Mexico in 1997, called “Progresa” (literally, progress). Progresa would offer cash to households, in exchange for behaviors such as regular school attendance, health clinic visits, and purchasing nutritious food (in development lingo, these were known as conditional cash transfer, or CCTs).
The premise behind CCTs was that paying families to invest in education and health—their human capital—was worthwhile, since the kids would eventually grow up to be even more productive (and presumably taxpaying) members of society. The program was so undeniably successful that it even survived politics. When a new government took over in 2000, there were fears that Progresa would be abandoned. But it survived, after being renamed “Oportunidades” in 2002. CCTs are now used widely around the world.
Why is this relevant for Singapore? Well, for starters, we have our own antipoverty program, which we call Comcare. Comcare has elements of CCTs, but as in so many things, we have a tendency to take things to an extreme. For instance—even setting aside the fairly low incomes required to qualify—we require a very intrusive process of evaluating the incomes, spending, savings, and needs of recipients. Grant amounts are usually small, and often only short-term. Residents have shared that this process is rather demeaning, not to mention time-consuming. It’s also archaic and inefficient, since many bills—like rental, utilities, or S&CC—are already automated, and can be obtained directly from agencies involved.
We can also expand the scope of support, to better target the needs of our local education landscape. Some of these needs include the costs of participation in co-curricular activities, or funding extra tuition for weak students. Make participation in these activities truly conditional; if the students register their attendance, that should be taken as sufficient (providers can bill the MSF directly), rather than requiring a roundabout process of receipt submission by each individual household. Studies of the efficacy of CCTs in the local context are still limited (that’s a gripe for another day), but they exist. One study of the ST pocket money fund (a type of CCT) suggest that it attained its educational objectives (https://doi.org/10.1080/02185385.2012.681143).
I’m hopeful that we can think of more ways to reduce the documentary and dignity burden on folks receiving help when they are down, and make us a more compassionate society. #makingyourvotecount
Postscript: Oportunidades has since been pared down to mainly an educational CCT, and rebranded (again) to “Prospera” (if you haven’t noticed, politicians like to rebrand).
Jamus Lim
3 d ·Those of us that have spent some time working on international development like to tell a story about a particular antipoverty intervention program, created in Mexico in 1997, called “Progresa” (literally, progress). Progresa would offer cash to households, in exchange for behaviors such as regular school attendance, health clinic visits, and purchasing nutritious food (in development lingo, these were known as conditional cash transfer, or CCTs).
The premise behind CCTs was that paying families to invest in education and health—their human capital—was worthwhile, since the kids would eventually grow up to be even more productive (and presumably taxpaying) members of society. The program was so undeniably successful that it even survived politics. When a new government took over in 2000, there were fears that Progresa would be abandoned. But it survived, after being renamed “Oportunidades” in 2002. CCTs are now used widely around the world.
Why is this relevant for Singapore? Well, for starters, we have our own antipoverty program, which we call Comcare. Comcare has elements of CCTs, but as in so many things, we have a tendency to take things to an extreme. For instance—even setting aside the fairly low incomes required to qualify—we require a very intrusive process of evaluating the incomes, spending, savings, and needs of recipients. Grant amounts are usually small, and often only short-term. Residents have shared that this process is rather demeaning, not to mention time-consuming. It’s also archaic and inefficient, since many bills—like rental, utilities, or S&CC—are already automated, and can be obtained directly from agencies involved.
We can also expand the scope of support, to better target the needs of our local education landscape. Some of these needs include the costs of participation in co-curricular activities, or funding extra tuition for weak students. Make participation in these activities truly conditional; if the students register their attendance, that should be taken as sufficient (providers can bill the MSF directly), rather than requiring a roundabout process of receipt submission by each individual household. Studies of the efficacy of CCTs in the local context are still limited (that’s a gripe for another day), but they exist. One study of the ST pocket money fund (a type of CCT) suggest that it attained its educational objectives (https://doi.org/10.1080/02185385.2012.681143).
I’m hopeful that we can think of more ways to reduce the documentary and dignity burden on folks receiving help when they are down, and make us a more compassionate society. #makingyourvotecount
Postscript: Oportunidades has since been pared down to mainly an educational CCT, and rebranded (again) to “Prospera” (if you haven’t noticed, politicians like to rebrand).
Jamus thanks generous donors. 
Over the past couple of weeks of Ramadan, #TeamSengkang has participated in a number Iftar gatherings, in various locations. This past Saturday evening, #Anchorvale was able to host our own breaking of the fast, for lower-income families in our division.
We are more than halfway through the holy month, and now that we’re past the hump, Muslims can truly look forward to celebrating Hari Raya Puasa, with a bigger celebration this round than in years past. Being able to do so is certainly a reminder of the importance of we place on our social fabric, not just with family, but also with friends and community. That is also why Iftar is special, since the breaking of bread is likewise a shared experience embodying mutual trust, and a reflection of the common needs we have as humanity.
Thanks to our generous donors, who made both the meal itself and the modest distribution of rice, drinks, and sweet tears possible. And of course, to our ever-reliable corp of #SengkangGRC volunteers, who attended to the behind-the-scenes preparations that was necessary to make the event a success.
Jamus Lim
3 h ·Over the past couple of weeks of Ramadan, #TeamSengkang has participated in a number Iftar gatherings, in various locations. This past Saturday evening, #Anchorvale was able to host our own breaking of the fast, for lower-income families in our division.
We are more than halfway through the holy month, and now that we’re past the hump, Muslims can truly look forward to celebrating Hari Raya Puasa, with a bigger celebration this round than in years past. Being able to do so is certainly a reminder of the importance of we place on our social fabric, not just with family, but also with friends and community. That is also why Iftar is special, since the breaking of bread is likewise a shared experience embodying mutual trust, and a reflection of the common needs we have as humanity.
Thanks to our generous donors, who made both the meal itself and the modest distribution of rice, drinks, and sweet tears possible. And of course, to our ever-reliable corp of #SengkangGRC volunteers, who attended to the behind-the-scenes preparations that was necessary to make the event a success.
Jamus continues house visits.
This week, #TeamSengkang made a strong push and was able to wrap up 338D #Anchorvale (we were probably helped by how it was the eve of a long weekend, and so a number of families weren’t home).
The cluster is among the newest in the estate, and so there many families had young children. Having a particularly strong-willed three year old of our own, I empathize with the struggles of the bedtime routine: the lazy toothbrushing, the requests to read yet another book, the repeated visits to the toilet. It’s funny how when we’re kids, we can’t fathom how anyone would ever want to go to sleep, but as adults, we can’t understand how anyone would ever not want to.
But the truth is, parents have to constantly struggle to get the kids to bed at night and getting them ready for school the next day; to keep them entertained but to also educate them, not just in their letters and numbers and colors but also in saying “please” and “thank you.” It’s hard to do so while juggling their careers, especially when both parents need to work long hours. It’s not hard to see why, amid all this pressure, our families aren’t having many kids. In my view, the way to encourage parents is less about cash incentives (as much as these help), and more about the noncash ones—a flexible work schedule that’s always respected by employers, being able to work from home should the kids fall sick, a more flexible education system that offers multiple pathways to success in the modern world, not just via academic study—to help busy professionals ensure work-life balance. #SengkangGRC
Jamus Lim
2 d ·This week, #TeamSengkang made a strong push and was able to wrap up 338D #Anchorvale (we were probably helped by how it was the eve of a long weekend, and so a number of families weren’t home).
The cluster is among the newest in the estate, and so there many families had young children. Having a particularly strong-willed three year old of our own, I empathize with the struggles of the bedtime routine: the lazy toothbrushing, the requests to read yet another book, the repeated visits to the toilet. It’s funny how when we’re kids, we can’t fathom how anyone would ever want to go to sleep, but as adults, we can’t understand how anyone would ever not want to.
But the truth is, parents have to constantly struggle to get the kids to bed at night and getting them ready for school the next day; to keep them entertained but to also educate them, not just in their letters and numbers and colors but also in saying “please” and “thank you.” It’s hard to do so while juggling their careers, especially when both parents need to work long hours. It’s not hard to see why, amid all this pressure, our families aren’t having many kids. In my view, the way to encourage parents is less about cash incentives (as much as these help), and more about the noncash ones—a flexible work schedule that’s always respected by employers, being able to work from home should the kids fall sick, a more flexible education system that offers multiple pathways to success in the modern world, not just via academic study—to help busy professionals ensure work-life balance. #SengkangGRC
Jamus and his friends dress up. 
On Monday night, President Halimah delivered her address in Parliament, which launches the second session (you can think of it as the next half of a football match). Although we ended up with a relatively short break (Parley-speak is that we were “prorogued”), it nevertheless means that we now look ahead to wrapping up the term by ensuring that the issues we went to the polls with in 2020 get some treatment on the agenda. As is usual in these sittings, we all dress up a little, and all branches of government—the executive, judiciary, and legislature—are present in the chamber. A little pomp to kick things off, but then it’s onward with us #makingyourvotecount.
Postscript: as one might quickly gather, all current #workersparty MPs are in the photo, which means that we had the assistance of someone in taking it. As it turns out, Minister Edwin Tong had magnanimously agreed to so, so the photo credit goes to him (we did jokingly tell him that we couldn’t really afford his rate…).
Jamus Lim
13 h ·On Monday night, President Halimah delivered her address in Parliament, which launches the second session (you can think of it as the next half of a football match). Although we ended up with a relatively short break (Parley-speak is that we were “prorogued”), it nevertheless means that we now look ahead to wrapping up the term by ensuring that the issues we went to the polls with in 2020 get some treatment on the agenda. As is usual in these sittings, we all dress up a little, and all branches of government—the executive, judiciary, and legislature—are present in the chamber. A little pomp to kick things off, but then it’s onward with us #makingyourvotecount.
Postscript: as one might quickly gather, all current #workersparty MPs are in the photo, which means that we had the assistance of someone in taking it. As it turns out, Minister Edwin Tong had magnanimously agreed to so, so the photo credit goes to him (we did jokingly tell him that we couldn’t really afford his rate…).
Jamus participated in an Easter fiesta.
Over the weekend, #TeamSengkang participated in an Easter fiesta at one of our local #SengkangGRC churches, St Anne’s. Our little contribution to celebrating the risen Christ was cotton candy for the kids (and any adults who were brave enough). They were exceedingly patient as they watched three hapless MPs 手忙脚乱 their way through the machine (cue jokes on how many legislators does it take to do something). Thanks to the kind invitation of the organizing committee, and to the parish for their generous hospitality!
Postscript: our family was also able to spend some time together that afternoon, and our little one even got to paint a wee Easter egg (the one on the left is by la mamá, and the right showcases our Tiny Queen’s imitation effort. To be fair, she’s just a little past three, and daddy was never much good at art).
Jamus Lim
3 d ·Over the weekend, #TeamSengkang participated in an Easter fiesta at one of our local #SengkangGRC churches, St Anne’s. Our little contribution to celebrating the risen Christ was cotton candy for the kids (and any adults who were brave enough). They were exceedingly patient as they watched three hapless MPs 手忙脚乱 their way through the machine (cue jokes on how many legislators does it take to do something). Thanks to the kind invitation of the organizing committee, and to the parish for their generous hospitality!
Postscript: our family was also able to spend some time together that afternoon, and our little one even got to paint a wee Easter egg (the one on the left is by la mamá, and the right showcases our Tiny Queen’s imitation effort. To be fair, she’s just a little past three, and daddy was never much good at art).
Jamus is concerned about poverty. 
In his speech, MP Jamus Lim spoke about poverty in Singapore. He stressed that, despite our nation’s wealth, the poor still face a difficult time in our society. He emphasized the need for an official poverty line to track their progress, and offered suggestions for how we may improve ComCare and the WIS.
Jamus Lim
1 d ·The Workers' Party
2 d ·In his speech, MP Jamus Lim spoke about poverty in Singapore. He stressed that, despite our nation’s wealth, the poor still face a difficult time in our society. He emphasized the need for an official poverty line to track their progress, and offered suggestions for how we may improve ComCare and the WIS.
Jamus continues house visits. 
This past week, #TeamSengkang managed to cover half of 321B #Anchorvale. The feedback included a number of suggestions to upgrade the estate; including ideas like a sheltered dropoff point, barriers to manage dangerous cycling, and enhanced road safety features around schools (plus the usual concerns about pigeons). As promised, we’ll follow up with the relevant authorities on these matters.
I also had a long conversation with one resident about housing. He was concerned about how expensive things have gotten, and felt that the overemphasis on pricing land in a manner that wouldn’t take away from the reserves—hence protecting the inheritance of the young—nevertheless imposed a burden on them, as they had to confront high prices.
In the recent motion on housing affordability, the #workersparty offered a number of suggestions on more rational pricing of land. We are not denying that land has value, nor that it shouldn’t be priced altogether. But deferring entirely to market pricing to infer the price of land introduces difficulties of its own. After all, there isn’t just one price of land; it depends on its use—for infrastructure, private commerce, or public facilities like community centers—and even by the government’s own reckoning, these are already priced differently. We are just suggesting that public housing deserves a discount of its own, because it is, well, public (and citizens have a right to housing in their own country).
Furthermore, using current resale transactions to back out the price of land risks embedding a bubble into its price, and allowing it to take on a life of its own (this is what happened with the house price bubble in Japan in the early 1990s, and in the pricing of mortgage-backed securities in the 2007 subprime crisis). We may be willing to accept this risk for private housing, but we shouldn’t for public projects. Instead, we can have public land valued in a manner that does not take the cue from markets, but still remains informed by fundamentals. There are many ways to infer value—even one based on the discounted value of a stream of expected rents—that are less susceptible to bubble dynamics. The Chief Valuer can adopt these approaches, but it requires some guidance from the government. #SengkangGRC
https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbi..._1x2sixyzq1QPbfm_DW8fyoJCnxIDYN0&__tn__=*bH-R
Jamus Lim
3 d ·This past week, #TeamSengkang managed to cover half of 321B #Anchorvale. The feedback included a number of suggestions to upgrade the estate; including ideas like a sheltered dropoff point, barriers to manage dangerous cycling, and enhanced road safety features around schools (plus the usual concerns about pigeons). As promised, we’ll follow up with the relevant authorities on these matters.
I also had a long conversation with one resident about housing. He was concerned about how expensive things have gotten, and felt that the overemphasis on pricing land in a manner that wouldn’t take away from the reserves—hence protecting the inheritance of the young—nevertheless imposed a burden on them, as they had to confront high prices.
In the recent motion on housing affordability, the #workersparty offered a number of suggestions on more rational pricing of land. We are not denying that land has value, nor that it shouldn’t be priced altogether. But deferring entirely to market pricing to infer the price of land introduces difficulties of its own. After all, there isn’t just one price of land; it depends on its use—for infrastructure, private commerce, or public facilities like community centers—and even by the government’s own reckoning, these are already priced differently. We are just suggesting that public housing deserves a discount of its own, because it is, well, public (and citizens have a right to housing in their own country).
Furthermore, using current resale transactions to back out the price of land risks embedding a bubble into its price, and allowing it to take on a life of its own (this is what happened with the house price bubble in Japan in the early 1990s, and in the pricing of mortgage-backed securities in the 2007 subprime crisis). We may be willing to accept this risk for private housing, but we shouldn’t for public projects. Instead, we can have public land valued in a manner that does not take the cue from markets, but still remains informed by fundamentals. There are many ways to infer value—even one based on the discounted value of a stream of expected rents—that are less susceptible to bubble dynamics. The Chief Valuer can adopt these approaches, but it requires some guidance from the government. #SengkangGRC
https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbi..._1x2sixyzq1QPbfm_DW8fyoJCnxIDYN0&__tn__=*bH-R
WP is loyal to Singapore and Singaporeans.
Speaking on the President's Address, LO Pritam Singh shared on the role of the Workers' Party as a responsible opposition loyal to Singapore and Singaporeans.
"Describing the Workers’ Party (WP) as an opposition that seeks to chip away at the people’s trust in Government is “a most unfair charge … which in reality chips away at the integrity of Singapore’s Parliamentary democracy as an important platform for the exposition and contestation of ideas”.
"If all WP was doing was putting forward populist, unrealistic policies, the Government would not be actively considering some variation of the WP manifesto - ideas on anti-discrimination legislation, minimum wage and redundancy insurance."
Against the claims that the party has not put forward serious alternatives, Pritam recounted some of WP’s past proposals which saw subsequent adoption in some forms by the government.
These included verifying the educational qualifications of Employment Pass holders, broadcasting Parliamentary sittings live, having a national hydrogen strategy, BTO priority and forfeiture for non-selection of flats, and imposing a charge for the use of plastic bags.
Pritam reiterated that The Workers' Party will continue to advance alternative ideas, in spite of “political realities” including asymmetry in resources and information.
Jamus Lim
1 h ·The Workers' Party
5 h ·Speaking on the President's Address, LO Pritam Singh shared on the role of the Workers' Party as a responsible opposition loyal to Singapore and Singaporeans.
"Describing the Workers’ Party (WP) as an opposition that seeks to chip away at the people’s trust in Government is “a most unfair charge … which in reality chips away at the integrity of Singapore’s Parliamentary democracy as an important platform for the exposition and contestation of ideas”.
"If all WP was doing was putting forward populist, unrealistic policies, the Government would not be actively considering some variation of the WP manifesto - ideas on anti-discrimination legislation, minimum wage and redundancy insurance."
Against the claims that the party has not put forward serious alternatives, Pritam recounted some of WP’s past proposals which saw subsequent adoption in some forms by the government.
These included verifying the educational qualifications of Employment Pass holders, broadcasting Parliamentary sittings live, having a national hydrogen strategy, BTO priority and forfeiture for non-selection of flats, and imposing a charge for the use of plastic bags.
Pritam reiterated that The Workers' Party will continue to advance alternative ideas, in spite of “political realities” including asymmetry in resources and information.
Jamus wishes all who celebrate Selamat Hari Raya Aidilfitri. 
Today, #TeamSengkang greeted our Muslim friends as they made their way to the mosque to celebrate Hari Raya Puasa. Over the course of the past weeks, we’ve also had the honor of participating in a number of Iftar events, including our own #SengkangGRC Beraya, held last weekend.
Denying ourselves of what we crave is never easy, and so I deeply respect the dedication and discipline of those who have fasted through the past month of Ramadan. I hope that it has been a meaningful period of prayer and introspection for our Muslim brothers and sisters, and wish all who celebrate: Selamat Hari Raya Aidilfitri!
Jamus Lim
8 h ·Today, #TeamSengkang greeted our Muslim friends as they made their way to the mosque to celebrate Hari Raya Puasa. Over the course of the past weeks, we’ve also had the honor of participating in a number of Iftar events, including our own #SengkangGRC Beraya, held last weekend.
Denying ourselves of what we crave is never easy, and so I deeply respect the dedication and discipline of those who have fasted through the past month of Ramadan. I hope that it has been a meaningful period of prayer and introspection for our Muslim brothers and sisters, and wish all who celebrate: Selamat Hari Raya Aidilfitri!
