Opinions

What does loyalty and a sense of belonging to Singapore mean to you?

For some, Singapore is everything to them. It's the only place they know. It's where their memories are, where their hopes and dreams were fulfilled.

But not everyone feel the same way.

We are increasingly disgruntled because of what Singapore has become - it is neither home nor a hotel. It is merely a business playground, where the rich can play and the less well off toil away without any end point in sight.

Our country treats us like a commodity, rather than a citizen. On top of that, Singapore is freaking expensive and nothing is free. 

Even our mandated NRIC renewals have to be paid for, not given free.

According to the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA), a co-payment of $10 will help to foster a "stronger sense of pride and ownership of the card".

The issue is not the card. The issue is what the card represents. 

Pride in my country, my NRIC, and my passport stem from what the country has achieved. It comes from knowing what the country is capable of achieving. It is knowing that I have a place and role to play in that succcess.

But the government seems to think that my loyalty can be bought with the $10 that we have to pay for our NRICs. Well guess what, you are seriously wrong.

Loyalty, in Singapore, has become transactional. Why? 

It doesn't help when you hear stories of students whose result slips are withheld because their parent(s) have not been able to pay for their school fees. 

How have we come to this?

We love our country but the elites running the country are more interested in the GDP than they are about helping to make Singapore a place for all Singaporeans.

Education is central to the growth of an individual. Unfortunately, in Singapore, getting a good education if often confused with being book or exam-smart.

Yet, there is more to education than just excelling in exams. It is also about equipping yourselves with the right values, attitudes, skills, and ethics.

Is the Ministry imbibed with the right values and are Singapore students inculcated with values such as being empathetic to those less fortunate? 

Sharing on his personal Facebook profile, local activist and former opposition politician, Gilbert Goh, revealed how a pair of twins were informed by MOE that their 'O' level results may be withheld if they do not pay their outstanding school fees.

The twins come from a single-parent family. Due to some administrative requirements which they were not able to complete because of their missing father, their requests for financial assistance could not be processed.

Nevertheless, their worries can now be put at ease. Their outstanding fees have been paid for in full by two anonymous donors.

While acknowledging that MOE tries to assist needy students, Goh pointed out that those who fall through the cracks should be handled with more tact and empathy.

A rally for PMD ridedrs was held over the weekend at Hong Lim Park with speakers like Goh Meng Seng and Tan Kin Lian. Goh Meng Seng claimed that the turn out was disappointing. But they still went through with the event, albeit without the PMD light up as there were close to no PMDs there.

Some riders were also given a chance to talk about the PMD issue after the speeches, with one of them getting so agitated that he started spewing vulgarities into the mic. 

So what now for the PMD riders? Is everything over? In the beginning, many of these riders would gather at meet the people sessions to talk about the issue. But that has not seemed to work out for them as well. With Lam Pim Min continuously reiterating about the $1000 grant. And if the rally was any indication, there seems to be no more fight in them. Are they giving in to their fate of the PMD ban?

As we walk about our neighbourhoods, there might still be a couple who still ride around on their PMDs (such badasses). Just like most issues, it seems like the government has gotten their way again despite the huge blowback. Seems like there is no way to get what us citizens deserve or want. The people in their ivory towers move us around like pawns. 

There is only one way we can come up as winners though. That is the elections of course. With the event looming closer, we might finally have a chance to kick them out and get in a better government who fights for the rights and happiness of citizens.

Some of these PMD riders might also be holding on to a small hope that a new govrernment might reverse the ban for them. Well, we shall wait and see then.

Opposition politician, Brad Bowyer, has complied with a Correction Order issued by the POFMA Office, under the instruction of the Minister for Finance (MOF).

The order was issued in relation to a Facebook post made by Bowyer on 13 Nov 2019. This is the first such instance that POFMA (the Protection from Online Falsehood and Manipulation Act) has been invoked since it was passed in parliament in May earlier this year.

In its statement, MOF asserted that Bowyer's post "clearly false statement of fact" in relation to the role and influence of the Government over GIC and Temasek. 

Bowyer has responded to some of the points featured in the MOF statement.

In this latest post, Bowyer explained his position that there is some level of oversight by the Singapore Government over GIC and Temasek. He explained that if this was not the case, then it would be fair to question why there is no such overight considering that they "invest in public funds and have government members on their boards with the PM being the Chairman of GIC and his wife, as Head of Temasek".

I would like to highlight however that I don’t feel I am using false and misleading statements to smear Temasek or GIC just using publicly available data to question their decision making and more importantly the governments oversight of that. If they feel slighted or aggrieved, I apologise but feel it is fair to comment when such sums and negative results are in question without any clarification or response to the contrary.

On the point of Keppel I feel that the $0.5 Billion fine is in fact a loss. The company itself may not have made an overall loss but the unnecessary expense is money it did not have to lose if it had acted in a manner that didn’t incur such a fine but I guess this can be argued as a business expense, maybe?

I am glad Singtel is claimed to be doing well as evidenced by its current share price but is it not fair to ask could it be better if there was not the Bharti Airtel investment?

On the point on the $4 billion dollar investment in Andhra Pradesh I am sure many of us would welcome if some of it was not doing poorly and we look forward to hearing the details of the bits that will make up for those not doing so well although we are yet to see or hear of any.

On a final general note, I feel we should all do our best to comment factually and responsibly however when questions arise just asserting something is false or giving irrelevant information does not answer valid questions. With more transparency, clarification and accountability we can rest easier that our interests are in safe hands.

In a democracy like Singapore, no matter how limited it is, opposition politcians like Bowyer play an important role in ensuring government acccountability.

These opposition politicians also force the government to clarify their positions with regard to policies and actions.

POFMA may have been used against Bowyer.

But it has not been able to silence what he stands for. Singaporeans can only benefit from this.

According to the Singapore Police Force (SPF), founder of the Wah Kee restaurant chain, Alex Yeung, a Hong Kong resident, was warned, and subsequently repatriated after he was found to have committed an offence under the Public Order Act (POA). He is only able to return to Singapore with the specific permission of the Controller of Immigration.

Yeung organised a public assembly without obtaining the proper permits.  

He had invited people of Chinese ethnicity residing in Singapore to attend a gathering on 11 October where they can air their views on the Hong Kong isssue.

The SPF did not accede to calls for Yeung to be released and take no further action against him.

On the contrary, the SPF was firm with its stance that foreigners here should not partake or advocate in any political causes or activities through public assemblies or any other prohibited means.

Taken at face value, the stance by the SPF is admirable. As a small, seemingly vulnerable country, we cannot afford foreign political causes to destabilise us. 

By the same token, our ministers should not try to comment on developments in other countries because as foreigners,they have no right to do so. Such unwelcomed comments will only serve to sour our relationships with those countries/territories.

Apart from Senior Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam, the rest of them should do Singaporeans a favour and shut up and stop commenting on political developments in other countries.

AMKTC General Manager Victor Wong Chee Meng was sentenced to a 27 months jail term for accepting bribes. Chia Sin Lan, whose two companies provided construction services to town councils was also sentenced to a 21 months jail term.

This is a sad day for them. There was no news about them for the longest time and all of a sudden, jail time. This comes after the AHTC brouhaha with WP fighting back. People have been making comparisons between WP and the AHTC issue. Netizens all around have been questioning about the results of the AHTC and why hasn't the government been going down on them.

The government probably has eyes and have seen these complains. To cover their own backside, they probably decided to sacrifice some pawns in other to take down WP. What a cheap move. Let this be a lesson to all those who support them. They have no qualms about sacrificing their own pawns to win the game. While you guys are working against the opposition, your own party may be working in the shadows trying to get rid of you so that they can get every single advantage.

I hope that you guys are able to see a clearer image now. Think carefully about who you support.

Credits: Facebook

Do you agree that this is just an act to show that they actually believe in what's right and wrong? Do you believe that there is no corruption in their ranks? Let us know what you think.