Politics

Ex President and former KFC Colonel Sanders model, Tony Tan, was conferred Singapore's highest civilian honour. President Halimah Yacob bestowed on the 78 year old Tony Tan Keng Yam The Order of Temasek (First Class).

She said that this highest accolade was given to him for his lifetime dedication to public service and his stellar service to Singaporeans and to Singapore. She also referred to Tony Tan's 4 decades of being in the public service, which she said, is equaled by few, thus eliminating the thousands who have been giving their lives to serve the civil service since Singapore's independence. President Halimah also did not touch on the fact that Tony Tan had been well renumerated in his years of public service, including his stint as President, where he basically just had to turn up and smile.

When as president of Singapore his highest achievement was said by him to be Joseph Schooling's gold medal in the Olympics, you know he had done nothing as president. Again, he just had to show up and put the gold medal around his neck for a photo op for this to be his highest achievement as president. Once again, the PAP has managed to show to the adoring Singapore public how ownself praising ownself is a very real thing.

Who knew that Singaporeans disliked the PAP so much? In just a day, the public has already donated $477,653 to Pritam Singh, Sylvia Lim and Low Thia Khiang to help with their legal fees.

The trio started a private fund raising effort two days ago after reportedly spending more than $600,000 from their own pockets. The Workers' Party Facebook page explained that the funds will be for the three of them and will not be used for the party. 

In a Facebook post yesterday, Pritam Singh maintained that they acted in good faith for what they believed was best for residents. They may face bankruptcy if they lose the suits.

Look what happened! Singaporeans did not stand idly by while watching our opposition politicians get pushed too far. We came together to give generously and show our support. The fight may get tougher but Singaporeans are a tough bunch who will fight back. 

So who should be worried now?

Johor Chief Minister Osman Sapian announced that the Johor state government has asked the federal government (tun dr mahathir) to revive his pet crooked bridge project. Osman said that he hoped Dr Mahathir will approve their proposal to revive the crooked bridge as it would solve the congestion problem into Singapore and reduce environmental pollution in the Tebrau straits. 

The Johor Chief Minister added that a Malaysian delegation led by Economic Affairs Minister Mohamed Azmin would be headed to Singapore to discuss the revival of the crooked bridge as well as discuss the price review of water sold to Singapore. 

All these comes just after Singapore gave concessions to Malaysia over the multi-billion dollar KL-Singapore HSR project and agreed to delay the project in the name of good neighbourliness. 

With these latest slew of requests, would Malaysia be able to arm twist Singapore into giving it more benefit and concessions. Is the PAP government able to resist the skilled political manoeuvreing of Dr Mahathir and his loyalists like Johor Chief Minister Osman Sapian, or will they fall flat and fail to protect the interests of all Singaporeans? 

The Workers' Party may be the most established opposition party in Singapore but it cannot escape the hands of our men in white. Three elected members from WP are facing 2 law suits brought by Aljunied-Hougang Town Council (AHTC) and Pasir Ris-Punggol Town Council (PRPTC). For those who are not aware, they were accused of making improper payments by Managing Agents to 3rd party contractors from 2011 to 2015. 

At first, the media painted WP Town Councillors in a bad light for changing its MA without tender so that it could benefit its supporters. However, it was recently disclosed that the former MA, CPG, was unwilling to continue its services in the first place. So does this mean that WP had no choice but to get a new MA? Wasn't it a choice borne out of necessity? 

On top of this, the TC's management system, AIM, was pulled out at the last minute. Can the WP be entirely blamed then, for its so called TC "mismanagement"?

In a Facebook post, WP's Daniel Goh defended that there were bound to be mistakes because they were treated like this and left with no choice. He said that any political handover is undoubtedly going to be difficult in the span of a few months. Is it thus too much to find fault with them for trying to settle things quickly?

"When PAP MP Sitoh Yih Pin was elected in Potong Pasir in 2011, he had to appoint a Managing Agent quickly to ensure continuity of services for residents. He persuaded EM Services to step in to provide the service at short notice... but he told me that it was a trying time for him and his team.

So if Mr Sitoh had problems taking over a small SMC that had been self-managed by Mr Chiam See Tong, what more the WP MPs taking over a big GRC whose managing agent was unwilling to continue the work?"

How can they expect a perfect standard when they deprive WP Town Councillors of so many things? How can they leave them and Singapore residents in the lurch? Is this how they serve our interests? Who is the bad guy now?

#InGoodFaith

Singapore is really world-renowned. We will be the topic of discussion among some foreigners and local activists a few weeks from now in Australia.

The forum, "The Dark Side of an Asian Tiger", discusses issues on human rights and labour rights in Singapore. It will highlight the irony of Singapore, being one of the richest countries in the world, does not have basic requirements like minimum wage and labour rights properly set out.

Other questions that will be addressed include: Why are we abusing foreign workers by making them do all the hard labour but not paying them enough? Why are we restricting people from protesting? Why do we "change the constitution to keep human rights activists in jail"? 

To better facilitate the discussion with a Singaporean point of view, civil rights activists Jolovan Wham, Rachel Zeng and founder of Asian think-thank Dr James Gomez will also be attending the forum. 

Is it time for Singapore to put in place minimum wage? Is it time to show more recognition by granting basic rights to foreign workers? Should we stop going against activists who are fighting for the betterment of Singapore? 

Singapore is world-renowned but it has not progressed as much as people thought. What then, can we do about it?

What would you do if you had $1 million? 

DPM Teo Chee Hean recently spoke at Parliament to clarify that ministerial salaries are "totally transparent" with no hidden perks. According to the Parliamentary session, ministers in Singapore enjoy a $1.1 million salary "norm". This amount already includes their bonus components. On the other hand, the PM earns at least $2.2 million excluding his performance bonus. 

Our political officeholders are earning millions but claim that they are not paid enough. How is this amount not enough for them to get by? How can they be earning so much yet telling citizens to save money? How dare they say that $1000 is enough for Singaporeans to get HDB flats?

Most Singaporeans will give anything to earn a similar amount except we are not paper generals. However, that means we have to work harder to earn lesser, only to be told by our beloved Emeritus Senior Minister Goh Chok Tong that we are "mediocre". As if that is not enough, our honorable PM Lee Hsien Loong nags at us to save money! How will it NOT make anyone angry? 

There is no point if they are "totally transparent" but end up being overpaid. The more important questions are if Singaporeans find them overpaid and if we have any issues with the way their wages are calculated. Like how the Workers' Party put it, does the way their salaries are calculated remain reasonable? Did our ministers sacrifice in some ways to go about political service? Do they deserve the amount they are enjoying? 

Our dear ministers should look into what Singaporeans feel about their salary structure. They should stop complaining about what they are receiving, perks or no perks. It is annoying how they whine about things when they get to enjoy so much more and do not even serve Singaporeans properly. 

So what would you do with $1 million? Give it to an ordinary Singaporean and he/she may actually be able to do more for the needy.