Opinions

Of late, there has been an increased number of homeless roaming the streets of Singapore. What is our Government doing to help these people? They refuse to provide financial support to them, but can we at least have homeless shelters? A netizen weighs in on the idea.

"Of late, there has been videos and pictures of many homeless people, especially elderly ones, in Singapore. Some sleep on the benches of hawker centres at night. Some have to eat out of garbage bins, go dumpster diving. Our government has not helped them. There are 105 Community Centres located all around Singapore. Wouldn't it be great if we can repurpose our 105 Community Centre's MPH for our homeless citizens between 11pm and 7am? 

We are all currently paying conservancy fees for our flats. Is it possible to take a portion of it to provide a small dinner meal for the homeless? We can also have a monthly donation for them. I am very sure we can all do much more to help the homeless. With the rising costs in our nation, it will be even harder for them to get proper meals and accommodation. We are all humans here, we have to help each other."

Credits to Mei Ling for her thoughts on the matter.

Looks like our Emeritus Senior Minister Goh Chok Tong was not the only one who triggered Singaporeans at the recent South East CDC event. 

Lim Biow Chuan, who was also there, did not look like he was trying to speak up for his fellow resident. 

First things first, it is unclear what capacity Lim Biow Chuan was there as. He currently wears two hats; he is both the adviser to Mountbatten Grassroots Organisations under the People's Association, and a MP for Mountbatten SMC. As an adviser under PA, he may want to promote and defend our Government's policies. However, as a MP, he should speak up for his residents when they tell him about their concerns.

In this kind of event, what role should take precedence? It was no surprise that he chose to act less like a MP and more of a defender of PAP's policies.

When a resident asked if the Government can start a pension scheme to support elderly who are forced to do menial jobs, Lim Biow Chuan said things like: "the Government does take quite good care of you", "there are actually many, many schemes to help look after those who are poor", etc. He even said: "I personally think it is a good thing [for old people to work], because if not, then what do you expect [them] to do at home?"

A round of applause please, because he chose to defend the Government instead of speaking up for his resident. Btw, that's not all. He went on to say:

“My sense is always that we shouldn’t always look to the government to solve the issues of the elderly. It is every child’s responsibility to look after their parents, because your parents looked after you when you are young. To all those who are getting elderly, I hope that you don’t think that your children should not look after you. These are their responsibilities. And this is what filial piety is all about."

Loose translation: Eh, the Government is taking care of you already, don't complain. Don't ask for financial support. Want money? Ask your children give.

If we can't trust our own MP to help us, how do we trust the Government? How do we believe that they are trying their best to help those who are falling through the cracks?

In the words of an opposition politician, Jeannette Chong-Aruldoss: "Having been co-opted into the PA, PAP MPs cannot fully perform their role as your voice in Parliament. They cannot challenge Government policies, ask difficult questions or hold the Government to account for how they deploy public funds, without having regard to their obligations to the PA – which is on top of their obligations to the Party Whip...

We are short-changed. Instead being the People’s Voice, our PAP MPs defect from serving our cause to become the PA’s Voice. Bearing in mind that the PA are servants of the PAP Government, the PAP MPs end up as the PAP’s Voice".

Good luck to us Singaporeans.

Farrer Park's iconic football pitches, swimming complex and boxing gym have given birth to many a Singaporean sporting icons, from Fandi Ahmad and Majid Ariff in football, to Ang Peng Siong David Lim in swimming, Farrer Park had been the hotbed of Singapore's sports stars of yesteryear. For decades, Farrer Park is a Signapore icon where dreams of boys and girls are turned to tons of sweat and perserverence to make the grade as Singapore's sporting heroes.

But by 2020, the Farrer Park fields will be returned to the Government for residential development. The Minister for National Development has justified the demolition of the Farrer Park area saying “the facilities in the area were less frequently used as competitive sports venues.” Responding to a parliamentary question on if Farrer Park Field and the adjoining facilities will be preserved “as the area has a rich sports heritage and memorable sports milestones instead of re-purposing it into a residential development”, Minister Lawrence Wong explained in a written reply why it was not feasible.

Basically, the points he made was that Singapore have newer sports facilities like the Jalan Besar Stadium, Sports Hub and the many other stadiums around the island, that Farrer Park facilities are now less likely utilised. But the most important point is that The Farrer Park area is close to the city and the Little India MRT interchange, making it suitable for housing.

In short, Farrer Park is too huge a space to waste on sports when they can generate more income for the Singapore government. Once again, dollars and cents will triumph over history and heritage.

Most Singaproeans still use their NRIC numbers as their SingPass User IDs. This should not come as a surprise. How many people actually know that SingPass User ID can be changed?

The availability of the option for SingPass users to use non-NRIC details as their SingPass IDs was probably lost on the public because it was implemented with other enhanced security measures such as SingPass two-factor authentication (2FA). It is also possible that most Singaporeans think that it is a must that NRIC numbers be used as their user ID. The authorities main concern was to get everybody to sign up for the 2FA token, but no emphasis was made on changing User ID.

The SingPass log-in page also does not help. There is nothing on the page to indicate that you can change the SingPass ID. A message could have been inserted to tell users that they can change their SingPass ID, along with a link to the page to do so. yet, we see none of this.

Changing the SingPass ID requires one to log in to www.singpass.gov.sg. Nobody does that. Each time we go to a site which requires SingPass authentication, we see only the SingPass log-in page and not the other pages on the SingPass site. Even when you log in to the site, the link to change the SingPass ID is buried and is not so obvious.

If the authorities want people to change their SingPass ID, then they should make this change easier and more obvious. If not, all this talk about having secure passwords and User IDs are just cheap talk.

Do you feel that ministers earning millions is a problem? What's more, civil servants earning more than ministers? Do we need to review their salaries? They argue that they need to pay more to attract people to join them. But do we need money-faced greedy people joining our government? Is that the type of character we want in our ministers? 

A netizen weighs in on the issue:

"If civil servants are earning more than ministers, then the system is wrong and you are giving us a loadshit that your party is unable to secure good candidates for PAP, that is #not_populist, that's #PAP_problem, that's 
#selfishness, that's #self_aggrandizement. ??
That's #partisan 
Why must taxpayers pay for something that is a political party's problem?
If your party can't attract good candidates cos there are people who have integrity and money can't trade your morals.
Then Mr Goh, there is something seriously wrong with your party.
Your party has lost collective moral and indeed PAP needs to look seriously at their obsence demand for such absurdities that this country is a little dot and a minister is paid more than US President and China President....and civil servants are paid more than ministers?
Then there is a need to review the civil servants' salary too.
Something is very wrong about this money faced government which is not happening in our neighbouring countries nor is it happening in other parts of the world.
I'm sorry I don't agree and I don't accept such irrational elucidation.....Please explain your job profile, your scope of work and the responsibility it entails.
Do you deserve your salary too ?
I don't mince my words."

Credits to Frances

This National Day, we reinforce our identity as a Singaporean but at the same time, are cruelly reminded of our day to day struggles. 

From an opposition politician's view, we should not thank the Government but rather, thank our forefathers for going through so much to put Singapore on the world stage. Why be grateful to them only to have them label their citizens as mediocre?

Do you agree? 

"We The Citizens Of Singapore

The five most overlooked words in our pledge are "We the citizens of Singapore..." it is how our pledge begins and it reminds us of why we have a Nation and why there is this community known as Singapore.