“Pledge ourselves as one united people”
Written by Ng E-Jay, for the Online Citizen
06 Aug 2009
Original TOC link
What does it mean to be “one united people”?
Does it mean forging a national identity that can be shared by all Singaporeans regardless of race, language or creed? Does it mean accepting and respecting all our differences, whether in terms of political affiliation or sexual orientation? I can certainly agree with this.
Or does it mean adopting an unquestioning attitude towards Government policies and social issues, and agreeing to make personal sacrifices whilst the PAP reaps the benefits, in the name of “staying together, moving ahead” (PAP’s 2006 GE slogan)?
Finance Articles
Thoughts on the End Game
John Mauldin, 23 Jan 2010
When I was at Rice University, so many decades ago, I played a lot of bridge. I was only mediocre, but enjoyed it. We had a professor, Dr. Culbertson, who was a bridge Life Master at an early age. He was single and lived in our college, playing bridge with us almost every night. He was a master of the “end game.” He had an uncanny ability to seemingly force his opponents into no-win situations, understanding where the cards had to lie and taking advantage.
Traveling to London and on into Europe, I have some time to think away from the tyranny of the computer. Over the last year, and especially the last few months, I have written in depth about the problems we face all across the developed world. We have no good choices left, so making the correct unpleasant choice is now our most hopeful option.
Voices of the People
Level the playing field for locals and foreigners in employment
Source: The Online Citizen
Recommended Reads:
Singapore: A Model of Judgment for the United States? by Harvard Business Publishing.
Leong Sze Hian was invited by BlogTV to pen an article for them. We publish it below.
Before we talk about whether Singaporeans deserve to have more privileges than PRs and foreigners, perhaps we could first ask whether there may be any areas whereby foreigners or PRs have “more privileges” than Singaporeans?
Employers which employ foreigners, do not have to contribute CPF. So, the employer saves up to 14.5 per cent of the salary.
Current Affairs & Politics
Why the Singapore Democratic Party deserves our support
Written by Ng E-Jay
30 July 2009
The first SDP event I attended was the gathering at Hong Lim Park on 01 May 2007 welcoming Dr Chee Soon Juan and Ms Chee Siok Chin after they had completed a 2-day, 120km walk to mark Labour Day and to highlight the plight of Singaporean workers.
Looking at the exhausted but determined faces of Dr Chee and Ms Chee, and hearing the short but edifying address Dr Chee made left me with the impression that perhaps, unlike the terrible vibes that the party constantly receives from the mainstream media, the SDP was a party of substance, that perhaps it was a party with a message worth listening to.
I was not wrong.
Voices of the People
Parental abuse: the family remains the front line
EDITOR’S NOTE: Parental Abuse the most SHAMEFUL domestic crime of all!
Source: Straits Times, 30 June 2009
THERE has been a growing number of cases where children have abused their parents physically. Some have involved perpetrators still in their teens. The assault of parents – the very people who gave life, love and sustenance to their children – ranks among the lowest of the low. All religions condemn it. One only has to recall the biblical proverb – He who mocketh his father, the ravens shall pick out his eye – to get a sense of the heinousness of the crime.
Alas, there remains much ingrained inertia against the reporting of such crimes. A poll done in 2007 notes that many Singaporeans still regard family violence as a private matter. Society in general remains fairly apathetic to family violence. Understandably, parents who report cases of abuse not only shame their own offspring, but also place their own parenting skills – and reputation – at stake.
Asia’s Sorry Human Rights Record
ALSO attached below: The US State Department’s Trafficking in Persons Report for 2009, with regards to Singapore.
Source: Asia Sentinel, 19 June 2009
Asian values apparently don’t protecting individuals from exploitation.
Asian governments variously proclaim commitment to Asian values, Confucian, Islamic or Marxist principles or the rule of statute law. Or all of them. But when it comes to human rights, to enforcing laws intended to protect individuals and families alike from exploitation, greed, slavery and discrimination somehow the values are forgotten in favor of money or convenience.
The latest report by the US State Department on Human Trafficking makes dismal reading, particularly for those countries which have the financial and governmental resources to do something about it which must include Singapore, Malaysia, Hong Kong and Macau.
Finance
Contrarianism is the New Consensus
It rarely pays to be contrarian. For the most part trends go in the same direction for some time – that’s why they’re called “trends”. Whether it’s real estate prices, credit card debt, Treasury issuance, or Croc sales, they can continue along implausibly for far longer than you might think, sane and right-thinking and sober-minded sort that you are.
But contrarianism can work sometimes. When? At inflection points, mostly, when the trend is exhausted and can do nothing but reverse. It can then pay immensely (c.f., John Paulson) to take the other side of a cemented consensus. The trouble is, it’s just about impossible to pick such inflection points – lots of people went short residential real estate well in advance of Paulson, only to lose oodles of money.
Given this, why is contrarianism so appealing? It is appealing – and growing immensely in popularity – because it has so much smart-guy frisson. This naive contrarianism lets you pose outside the system, meanwhile keeping good company like Warren Buffett, John Paulson, the Freakonomics fellows, and oodles of self-declared fellow travelers, most of whom almost certainly aren’t doing what they say they are.
Don’t Just Watch the Parade Go By
By Arne Alsin
RealMoney.com Contributor
11/9/2009 11:30 AM EST
Count on it. For the next several years, the stock market belongs to the bulls. You’re going to see periodic pullbacks, to be sure, but they’ll be minor, transitory affairs, just enough to keep sideline money out of the market for as long as possible.
Barack Obama
‘US is not at war with Islam’
ANKARA: US President Barack Obama, on his first official visit to a Muslim nation, declared yesterday that America ‘is not at war with Islam’ and called for greater partnership with the Islamic world.
Addressing the Turkish Parliament, he called the country an important United States ally and urged a greater bond between the US and the Muslim world.
He said the relationship between the US and Turkey, which has a secular government but a Muslim-majority population, had made the world ‘more secure’.
Obama offers Iran new beginning
Teheran welcomes overture, urges action
WASHINGTON: US President Barack Obama issued an unprecedented videotaped appeal to Iran yesterday offering a ‘new beginning’ of diplomatic engagement to turn the page on decades of US policy towards America’s longtime foe.
‘In this season of new beginnings, I would like to speak clearly to Iran’s leaders,’ Mr Obama said in the message released to coincide with an Iranian holiday celebration.
Media Articles
The PAP story, blemishes and all
Source: ST, 09 Sept 2009
What is Men In White all about? How different is it from previous books on Singapore’s ruling political party?
Let me clarify what the book is not.
It is not a re-telling of Singapore’s transformation from Third World ghetto to First World city, a story which Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew so vividly documented in his memoirs. It is also not about the PAP Government and the art of policy-making.
Friends and foes under one roof
Source: ST, 09 Sept 2009
IT WAS a historic moment with friends and foes gathered together under the same roof where they last met more than four decades ago – at the Old Parliament House.
The occasion was the launch of a new book on the People’s Action Party (PAP), which brought together Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew and his former political rivals.
Another bit of history
Source: ST, 09 Sept 2009
MORE than one for the album, this was a picture for the history books.
If not for the numerous photographs capturing the moment, many would have scarcely believed what took place yesterday in the Old Parliament House – in the same chamber where the People’s Action Party (PAP) fought its fiercest battles with its breakaway faction, the Barisan Sosialis, in the early 1960s.
Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew, a PAP founder, exchanged smiles and warm handshakes with those who had been his rivals from the country’s early years.
Whither Temasek’s industry nurturing role?
Source: Straits Times, 08 Sept 2009
A COLLEAGUE remarked to me the other day that something had struck him as he read Temasek Holdings’ updated charter released last month: Nowhere in the 200-word document is there a mention of Singapore.
There is talk of delivering long-term value for its stakeholders and being an active investor. There is talk of Temasek’s corporate social responsibility (CSR) agenda. The five areas where it wants to work with its portfolio companies – including values, human capital and strategic options – are listed. But there is nothing to identify Temasek as Singaporean. Indeed, it might have been the charter or mission statement of any private sector investment firm, my friend said.
Inflation hits poorest 20% twice as hard
Source: Straits Times, 25 Aug 2009
This group was affected most by food and housing prices in first six months
By Joyce Teo
SINGAPORE’s poorest 20 per cent were hit twice as hard by inflation than better off households during the first half of the year, new Government figures show.
Largely because of rising food and housing prices, the low-income group experienced inflation at 1.6 per cent in the six months to June, compared to 0.7 per cent for the middle 60 per cent and 0.9 per cent for the top 20 per cent of households.
How HDB keeps it affordable
ST Letter by Ignatius Lourdesamy, 31 Aug 2009
WE REFER to the letters, ‘High HDB prices: Squeezed even harder’ and ‘Two shortcomings: Public housing too correlated to private market, and HDB has not regulated supply’ (both Aug 22); and ‘Flat hunting: Why was cash over valuation ever introduced?’ (Aug 20).
# Cash over valuation: Resale flat prices are the result of negotiations between willing buyers and sellers. Cash over valuation (COV) arises when buyers are willing to pay more than the market value of the flat, as determined by professional valuers.
How HDB keeps it affordable
ST Letter by Chew Kim Cheer, 22 Aug 2009
THE HDB resale price index has surged relentlessly since 2007. Since the first quarter of 2007, the index has increased 35.3 per cent and is now at a record high, even though the economy is still recovering from downturn.
This is an anomaly the Government should examine.
Recognition for the way IMH handles its patients
Source: Straits Times, 26 Aug 2009
SEVERELY mentally disturbed patients at the Institute of Mental Health (IMH) now spend far less time strapped to their beds or in straitjackets.
They also spend less time – 21 days, down from the previous 27 – in the hospital’s eight-month-old high-dependency psychiatric care unit before being moved to the general wards.
The IMH’s approach in handling acutely disturbed patients bagged it the Most Outstanding Project prize in the Customer Service Project category of the recent Asian Hospital Management Awards held in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.
Temasek May Hire Internal Candidate for Goodyear Replacement
Source: Bloomberg, 28 July 2009
July 28 (Bloomberg) — Temasek Holdings Pte said it will consider promoting an internal manager after abandoning plans to make Charles “Chip” Goodyear the first foreign chief executive officer of Singapore’s state-owned investment fund.
“Temasek has in place a CEO succession planning process,” Temasek said in an e-mailed response to questions. “Our board reviews external and internal candidates over various time horizons.”
Women’s group proposes new authority to make ex-spouses pay up
Source: Channel News Asia, 27 July 2009
SINGAPORE: The Singapore Council of Women’s Organisations (SCWO) is proposing that a new body be set up to enforce the payment of monthly maintenance sums from an ex-spouse to his or her family.
Statistics show that even with a court-issued maintenance order, 1,700 people – mainly women – had to apply for the orders to be enforced last year.
Nearly half of the 1,700 had to apply at least twice – a process that could take months if ex-spouses keep on defaulting on payments.
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PM Lee's "fixing the Opposition" lunchtime election rally on 03 May 2006Global Stock Indices
This is me!
(Speaking at a forum organized by SG Human Rights held on 18 Nov 2007 in conjunction with the ASEAN Summit)
Proposals for Internet Freedom in Singapore
