Tag: Politics

Commentary – Post 80’ers and Tin Pei Ling

4 comments

It is baffling why Tin Pei Ling is getting more attention than the other new candidates introduced. I dare say she is probably the most talked about person, and has more attention online than all the cabinet mini$ter$ put together.

Frankly, I didn’t really cared about the candidates that the Tali-PAP have introduced. Why do I want to care about more of the same shit? Had her name not flooded my news feed on Facebook, I wouldn’t give a damn about her either. Anyway, my first comment when I saw her picture was this – Singapore is not Japan, the Tali-PAP is not the Liberal Democrat Party (LDP), and PM Baby Lee certainly isn’t Koizumi Junichiro. After all, while Koizumi had sent his party’s pretty candidates as ‘election assassins’ against his opponents and win, Ms Tin probably would have not stood a chance if she ran alone in an Single Member Constituency [SMC]. In fact, it makes one wonder if she would stand a chance even against aunty Lina Chiam. Let’s not forget that this is not 1976 so stop comparing with the respected ex-Speaker Mr Tan Soo Khoon already.

I wonder what goes on in the mind of the those who made the decision to field her. After all, it reflects poorly on those who made the decision to chose Ms Tin as a candidate. No matter good she is, there will be a perception that in part she received the call because of her husband’s connections. If those who chose her thought that she could pass scrutiny, they may have overestimated her ability. Worse of it all – which many netizens felt – they may not have cared if she could pass scrutiny. To quote one of them, “Tin Pei Ling looks suspiciously like the PAP’s way of giving Singaporeans the middle finger.” I am not surprised if it is not too far from the truth, and probably we haven’t seen nothing yet because they might even make her a mini$ter.

On the other hand, there are those who pointed out that the over-reaction is unnecessary. Consider countries like Brazil or Venezuela, where it is not surprising for beauty queens to contest in elections. Or even in Italy or Japan, where a porn star / AV actress managed to win. While these voters may still question whether Ms Tin has the political acumen to be a candidate, they do not really care whether she’s a ‘sweet young thing’ or not. I felt the reaction to her is because that Singaporeans are not only particularly annoyed with the certainty that she will enter Parliament as part of a Tali-PAP GRC team, but over the fact that some good opposition candidates (such as Sylvia Lim) may possibly never made it into Parliament thanks to the thrice damned and accursed GRC system thought out by a dog-mother snake.

I’ll leave it to the other cyber-carrion eaters to pick Ms Tin apart for whatever other reasons they can think of – for e.g. too young, no substance, showing off, or acting cute. Personally I object to some of the things done to drag even the other aspects of her personal life through the mud – such as the attempt which suggests that she broke a previous relationship with another man and be with her husband for political reasons. If the Straits Stooge Times were to accuse anyone of ‘gutter-journalism’, let me remind everyone what it have done to Josie Lau and her team when they attempted to take over AWARE in 2009. Even before the whole affair was over, we knew more about the personal and private life of some of these people – the kids they have, where they worked, their spouse, the church their worshiped in etc. As such, I find it rather hypocritical of Siew Kum Hong to speak in defense of Ms Tin, when he sided with the side that brought the matter to the press in the AWARE affair. Seriously, where the hell was he when the local media drag the privacy of private citizens through the mud? Oh… he was helping Dana Lam and frankly I am not sure how much we know about her.


Mar 6, Hong Kong – Citizens march in protest

But I digress… A friend showed me an old article in 2007 on the Tali-PAP site and I do not really like what I read. On what basis can she justify that the poor have not gotten poorer? I doubt her perspective has changed in the past few years, and I wondered how is she going to position herself in the position of the people and serve them with this kind of perspective? That’s not forgetting a recent video where she said that healthcare costs is ‘low and manageable’. Seriously, was she aware of the hoops of fire we need to jump through to attain Khaw Boon Wan’s ‘$8 bypass-operation healthcare nirvana’?

I believe it was Mini$ter Ng Eng Hen ‘Eng Eng’ who said that the party isn’t looking for ‘Yes Man’ when they select their candidates. So far Ms Tin has failed to show us that she is anything but. In fact, while some Tali-PAP backbenchers would at times speak eloquently and even passionately (such as Lily Neo) against certain issues, when have they voted against or even abstained when their votes are counted? Frankly, all this talk about serving the people are empty promises to me, when Tali-PAP MPs would vote for policies that are forced down our throats.


Post 80’ers lying on road in protest

I also recalled that one of the Tali-PAP ‘old birds’ – can’t remember who, since I can’t find that article – who said that the online flaming of Ms Tin isn’t helpful and it will deter young people from coming into politics and to serve the people. At the age of 27, Tin Pei Ling would classify as one of the “post-80’ers” [八十后]. As far as I am concerned, I personally don’t think she is too young to dabble in politics since it is a trend in this part of Asia – in Hong Kong in particular, and even in China for the young to step forth and fight for greater equality and better future for themselves.

Globalisation and unfettered capitalism rapidly marginalises not only the ageing, but even the young. The entire economic climate has been made worse by ‘Quantitative Easing’, in which the U.S. simply just print money without any backing and export its inflation to the rest of the world. The young are looking at a bleak future in which they would find it almost impossible to obtain a roof over their own heads, and also to bear the ever increasing burden in the form of high costs of living while wages remained stagnant or even depressed just to stay employed. But compared to those in Hong Kong who needs to lay down on the road in their political struggle (in the recently protests on March 6), Ms Tin’s political path is a paved, unobstructed 4 lane expressway. At least she didn’t have to go on the streets and brave water cannons or the truncheons of riot police compared to some of her contemporaries in other parts of the world. Stick and stones may break my bones, Ms Tin. If someone needs to speak up for you over all these nasty comments, then go back to your comfort zone and stop trying to amuse us.

All said, it is my considered opinion that it is not Ms Tin who need to see a trauma specialist. But rather Singaporeans in her ward who needed one because she would get a free ride on Senior Senile Mini$ter Goh’s shoulders into Parliament and earn at least $15,000 a month, while many fresh graduates would have to struggle with getting a starting pay of $2,500. That reminds me of someone who actually scoffed a year back when a fresh graduate talked about how he has been struggling for almost half a year or more looking for job because he can’t obtain even that starting pay on Plurk. Personally, I have no idea why this person would think that requesting for a starting pay of $2,500 would be too much, when a new HDB flat would cost $350K, and it would take up $1000 a month just to service the loans!

Recommended Reads:
InsanePoly: The Modern NS Experience
Senang Diri: Singapore’s defence burden – Something no maid can carry

One step at a time [一步一步来]

6 comments

A discussion on Plurk about this news article took a turn when this comment was made – ‘No use talking about it. You want to fix things then come out with a concrete plan to fix it’

This is the most commonly used comment to stifle criticisms of idiotic policies and I personally loathe this comment. First of all, I am giving my feedback for free when at times it needs to be obtained by spending money to conduct surveys. Next, if we have a bunch of people who calls themselves the top brains of this country and earning $3 million a month, why should anyone even be contributing ideas at all? Will a substantial amount of that pay is given to the person who came up with a better idea? In fact, I recalled Mr. Low Thia Khiang once said something similar to this: ‘You wanna know my concrete plan how to fix it? Just quit and let me show you.’

Then this comment was made: ‘If Tali-PAP ever gets voted out, we will truly really die.’

I tell you the truth. I would buy that if God said so. Otherwise, give me back my choice, and I’ll bear whatever consequences that might come. In fact, let me choose the manner I will die, will ya, and not let the Tali-PAP kill me silently, slowly and steadily. Don’t even think about scaring me with insane extrapolations – like how the economy will shoot itself to hell simply because the opposition takes over because it’s as good as saying I should never leave home as a flower pot will drop on my head and kill me! At the mean time, I am supposed to lock myself in, while there’s a fire outside that cause me to slowly suffocate to death. And that’s not the best part yet… I am even asked to come out with a plan to put out the fire, if I don’t like this insane solution. Come on!!

Enough of my rants… and let me put aside my vehement hatred of the Tali-PAP and look at this situation realistically.

  1. None of the opposition parties are in any position to take over. In other words, stop asking the baby to come up with a plan to fly like Superman, when the baby isn’t even given the chance to walk. And by that I mean, if you don’t even vote – or trust – the opposition parties in to let them manage your own constituency and town council, why the hell are you even asking them for a plan when they are in no condition to, anyway? Is trust not built bit by bit? Would it not be more realistic that during elections, ask the opposition candidates what plan they have to make your constituency better or to run the town? Come on, even the Tali-PAP has downgraded the national election to a town / constituency level by repeatedly blackmailing the electorate with nothing more but estate and lift upgrading on a constituency level, and you expect the oppposition parties to do better?

    In fact, I do not recall that the Tali-PAP ever revealed any concrete national level plans during elections – like raising GST to help the needy, implementing more ERP to ease traffic conditions etc. So why should the opposition even come up with one?!

  2. Most Singaporeans would prefer more accountability – not a change in government gahmen.

    Accountability in the operations of GIC and Temasek Holdings, our CPF funds, and our reserves. In fact, to start with, can the Tali-PAP account for why their well run town councils have millions in sinking funds whereby some of that is used for gambling investments? When did our town councils become profitable entities which derive profits from money we pay to maintain our towns at yet at times the town councils still raise our conservancy charges? Then, can you explain to us why you need to raise GST by a hefty 40% (from 5% to 7%), claiming that there will be a deficit and then making a windfall?

    And when you are done with that, then tell us what drives and who makes the decisions behind the investments made by GIC and Temasek Holdings. How is it that our CPF is paying that meagre amount of interest, and during last year, not even good enough to cover inflation? How much is our national reserves? And in what form are they held? U.S. Treasury bonds? Assets?

In short, cut that bullshit about the opposition being not credible and them having no plans to take over. Who are you to define for me – if not the people – what the opposition’s role should be?

I am merely asking a watchdog with more bite. After all, the MAS requires that banks be audited by an external auditor regularly, even conduct audits on their own to ensure that the banks don’t fxxk up again like SocGen and Barings and also be accountable to the public… then who is there to conduct these audits of the GIC and Temasek Holdings, which manage the fortune of our nation and make sure that this gahmen is accountable?

Let’s not even start talking about having an opposition that could seize power yet, until we can agree on this! One step at a time alright?

Let me dedicate this Mandarin Xinyao [新谣] – 一步一步来 (One step at a time) – to my fellow Singaporeans. Let us take things one step at a time, and ignore that usual bullshit of demanding the opposition come up with a plan to ‘take over’ when they obviously can’t.

Give up, Hillary!

2 comments

Why does Hillary Hilarious Clinton still hang on? She is not only destroying the best chance for the Democrats to win the White House, but wasting everyone’s time.

It is very obvious that Barack Obama is the Democrat Party’s choice for Presidential Candidate. First of all he has won more states with large margins over Hilarious. Next, has also won all but one of the party caucuses so far – and party caucuses are a party affair which means not any Tom, Cheney and Harry can vote in it. In other words, for all the big states which Hilarious has won, who can tell if it wasn’t a certain number of Republicans turning up in droves to vote for her because they would prefer a Hilarious vs McCain showdown?

Now, did I also mention that the Kennedy family, Jimmy Carter and even previous Presidential Canddate John Kerry, is rooting for Obama? Or is she waiting for Al Gore to come out and say something before she finally gives up?

Not convinced that Obama is the Presidential Candidate for the Democrat Party? See below:


[Source]

Caucuses Results
State Obama
Delegates (% votes)		 Hilarious
Delegates (% votes)		 Others
Delegates (% votes)
Iowa 24 (38%) 14 (29%) 7 (33%)
Nevada 13 (45%) 12 (51%) 0 (4%)
Alaska 9 (75%) 4 (25%) — (0%)
Colorado 36 (67%) 19 (32%) — (1%)
Idaho 15 (79%) 3 (17%) — (4%)
Kansas 23 (74%) 9 (26%) — (0%)
Minnesota 48 (66%) 24 (32%) — (2%)
N. Dakota 8 (61%) 5 (37%) — (2%)
Nebraska 16 (68%) 8 (32%) — (0%)
Washington 54 (68%) 25 (31%) — (1%)
Maine 15 (59%) 9 (40%) — (1%)
Hawaii 14 (76%) 6 (24%) — (0%)
Texas 38 (56%) 20 (44%) — (0%)
Wyoming 7 (61%) 5 (38%) — (1%)
[Source: CNN]

Definition: The primary elections are run by state and local governments, while caucuses are private events run by the political parties. [Source]

To laugh or to cry? (II) 之 不识字

Leave a comment

The following is the transcript of a conversation on an instant messenger between my friend and I some time last week. He recounted the events which transpired when his uncle tried to get some assistance from his MP during the weekly ‘Meet the People’ session.

And as usual you never get to really meet out ‘elite talents’ from the Tali-PAP in any of those sessions. Who his uncle met was just one of those people giving their time to ‘serve the people party’ .

Friend said: tell u update of my uncle’s meet mp story. after going to ask for aid on Monday, they post out a letter dated 22 Apr, ask him come for appt with long list of document on 24 Apr. 2 day! of coz miss then i call back yesterday, ask for postpone i told them he 不识字*, so wait till i visit him then see the letter she reply “but i got attached chinese version wat” now then i know … know chinese is also call 不识字

Me says (18:06): I just read the 2nd part of your uncle meet MP story this morning. KNN now I then know “know chinese” is NOT 不识字 lol

Friend says (18:06): ya lor.

Friend says (18:07): or the other way

Me says (18:07): Oh.. sorry.. I mean 不识字 = cannot read English only. LOL

Friend says (18:07): only know chinese is also 不识字

Me says (18:07): what was the whole story about your uncle again? I cannot remember leow.

Friend says (18:08): he out of job… so my mum bring him to go to his MP wish to get aid… so when he was there… the officer (where got really see MP?) ask: so? wat u wan me to do?

Friend says (18:09): my mother say “help us write to 福利部… then he ask “write wat” hahha

Me says (18:09): -.-“

Friend says (18:09): anyway they were then on 21st evening…

[— This Part Has Been Harmonized 此部分已被和谐 —]

Friend says (18:09): so they VERY efficient… they write to him on 22nd … tell him got appointment for interview on the 24th

[— This Part Has Been Harmonized 此部分已被和谐 —]

Friend says (18:10): then in the letter dated 22nd, the appointment is 24th 3pm… so efficient

Friend says (18:11): then the letter also indicate can call us in need at xxxxxxx, if u dun turn up means u dun nid the assistance liao. but i only got to read the letter on 26 mah. so i call up on 27 ask for change appt…

Friend says (18:12): i say he 不识字… then she reply “but got chinese version attachment mah
Me says (18:12): DIEW… fxxking idiots.

Friend says (18:13): then i say “also 不识 chinese 字 ” hahah

Me says (18:13): I will blog abt this u know? I just won’t mention which MP or which constituency and will NOT give the info to anyone else who asked.

Friend says (18:13): then she say “huh? got such thing hahaha

Me says (18:13): -.-“

Friend says (18:16): then anyway i request to change to this friday lor…

Me says (18:16): She doesn’t understand what is TOTALLY illiterate… sigh

Friend says (18:16): then she still “oh… so u still need? ok lor hahha damn buay tahan. y ai also never say dun understand english

* 不识字 – literal meaning: ‘do not understanding writing’. But generally means that one is illiterate. This is not exactly the same as 没读书, which literal meaning is ‘never read books’. Generally used to convey the meaning that one is not educated (没受过教育).


Yet another example which left me perplexed. I don’t know to laugh or cry when my friend recounted this on IM.

It is of no wonder to me why the Chinese standards in Singapore is generally dismal. I have always considered calling a Northern Chinese dialect (Mandarin) our mother tongue one of the main reasons why we find no attachment to the language. After all, I define mother tongue as this: the tongue in my mother’s mouth, and the language she teaches me to speak – in my case, Cantonese.

Now I know the other reason: the lowly opinion some people have of the Chinese language being a language spoken and read by the illiterate. (Though I was under the impression that been illiterate would mean a complete lack of education.)

Anyway, I have censored harmonized the portion where I asked which MP and which GRC this is. It is not the MPs fault, since the fellow also doesn’t know. But after all being said, all these MPs should look into the attitude and the standard of the people they use to stand in their place. After all, they are serving in the MPs capacity and the people elected MPs to serve them. But these people are apparently doing the exact opposite!

To laugh or to cry? (I)

4 comments

I was just scrolling through Workers’ Party @ Parliament blog when I read the following exchange between opposition MP Low Thia Khiang and one of the so called ‘elite talents’ (精英人才) of the Tali-PAP on 28 Feb 2008:

Mr Low Thia Khiang (Hougang SMC): First clarification, the member in his speech said why should we quarrel with the discrepancy in the estimates because we are in a happy situation where we have a huge surplus instead of a deficit.

Does he agree that he misses the point? The point is not so much whether we end up with a huge deficit or huge surplus, the question is: why is the Budget estimate so far off the mark?

Second clarification: He says that if our estimate is off the mark, Hong Kong is even worse than us because they are off the mark much more than Singapore’s estimates.

I’m afraid that if this is the attitude of the People’s Action Party, we are going down a slippery slope. We are not so good in estimates, he says, but never mind, there are people who are worse than us.

So in Mandarin, this is exactly what we call ‘Ah Q jing shen’ (mentality)*.

Dr Lim Wee Kiak (Sembawang GRC): In fact when I did my block visit last night, a resident asked me the same question: why does the Government have such a huge surplus? Did something go wrong in the estimate?

Looking at the papers this morning, when Hong Kong reported a huge surplus – four times above the estimate – the main reason given was it was an unprecedented year, property prices went up, they had huge transactions in the stock market. A similar phenomenon was seen in Singapore as well.

I told the resident: At the end of the day, I think the key question for this House is how do we look forward?

When the family breadwinner came back and said: ‘I’ve struck lottery”, you shouldn’t be asking, ‘Why did you strike lottery?’

You should be asking: how are we going to use the lottery money? So I think we should not miss the point. The real issue now is: What can we do now to make sure that there will be less and less need for all these social welfare programmes in the future. Look forward and not backward.

* Ah Q is a famous character in Chinese literature, known for his foolishness and optimism.

I was rolling the floor laughing my ass off when I read Lim’s reply. The fact that this guy actually holds a doctorate, makes it even more hilarious. This is the kind of replies I would have imagined Ah Beng and Ah Seng would have come up with.

Try and imagine this… Citizen Lim Dong Chiang told his wife that getting himself sterilised would have been a good idea because they can just continue to enjoy unprotected sex, save the money use for contraception, and not worry about having a baby.

One year later, Dong Chiang’s wife came home and told him she is pregnant. And when Dong Chiang goes looking for Dr Lim, I can almost imagine him giving this advice: ‘You don’t ask where the baby come from, Chiang. I think we should not miss the point. The real issue now is: What you can do now to make sure you have the money to raise the baby in the future. Look forward not backward.’

You know, if it was an opposition MP who said this he would have definitely have been ridiculed in Parliament, and by Singapore’s lapdog media until he has no place to hide. Remember what happened to Lim How Doong when he said, ” Don’t Talk Cock! ” in Parliament?

This is enough to make one weep but at the meantime, you don’t know whether you should be laughing or not!

Well done, Sembawang GRC. This is one of the clowns you gave 76.7% of the votes to. I suppose the Singapore Zoo probably could teach Ah Meng’s offsprings to be MPs better than they act… and they probably takes normal peanuts – not the TT Durai kind – for pay too.

Sembawang GRC, will you find the courage to fix this problem, the next time round? Or will you continue to keep them and spoilt them?

1 2