What do you think are the achievements of Lee Hsien Loong

[smallkkj]

What do you think are the achievements of Lee Hsien Loong (LHL)?

For LHL so love singapore and so love his father, he gave up his entire life to serve singapore and be a filial son to help his father to share the burden of making singapore great again.

In his outstanding rule, he lead singapore to survive through economic crisis, usa china trade war and corvid. He make singapore great again by building the 2 integrated resorts.

Unfortunately, singaporeans got deceived into voting for workers party causing pap to lose 2 grc.

Neverthless, LHL gave the honourable title of opposition leader to his opponent. This shows how noble his character is.

There exists no greater love than this, that a man shall serve his country and work for his entire life for his beloved country.

LHL will be remembered in history for being a outstanding politician with great achievements, a filial son and a saint with noble character.

[ah_jo]

Ur nick is a direct reflection of your brain.

[newyorker88]

What do you think are the achievements of Lee Hsien Loong (LHL)?

For LHL so love singapore and so love his father, he gave up his entire life to serve singapore and be a filial son to help his father to share the burden of making singapore great again.

In his outstanding rule, he lead singapore to survive through economic crisis, usa china trade war and corvid. He make singapore great again by building the 2 integrated resorts.

Unfortunately, singaporeans got deceived into voting for workers party causing pap to lose 2 grc.

Neverthless, LHL gave the honourable title of opposition leader to his opponent. This shows how noble his character is.

There exists no greater love than this, that a man shall serve his country and work for his entire life for his beloved country.

LHL will be remembered in history for being a outstanding politician with great achievements, a filial son and a saint with noble character.


Introducing GST, mee Siam Mai hum, fixing opposition, and in his younger days, when just got promoted to BG, charge a cook 40 days DB for saluting him while holding a plate, when they cook Dono not suppose to salute. Saying the people wanted him to be PM not Becos his father is LKY in a news broadcast on year 2000 in CNA, while the newsman asked him about the outlook of economy.

Promoted that Singaporeans must welcome FT, and the list goes on. Getting old but remember his nonsense.

[ah_jo]

Introducing GST, mee Siam Mai hum, fixing opposition, and in his younger days, when just got promoted to BG, charge a cook 40 days DB for saluting him while holding a plate, when they cook Dono not suppose to salute. Saying the people wanted him to be PM not Becos his father is LKY in a news broadcast on year 2000 in CNA, while the newsman asked him about the outlook of economy.

Promoted that Singaporeans must welcome FT, and the list goes on. Getting old but remember his nonsense.


GST was not by him, it was by GCT.

Anyway, to sum it up, he is far far away by standards of his father.

[jeci]

Born to eat with golden spoon, meesiam (without hum of course) on golden plate, and got a man-wife with a golden pussy. Fantastic achievement, no horse run :D

[jacky43]

The most powerful man pass his baton to Heng S K who is teochew. Few seat away. One of the powerful man from WP is also teochew. Jamus Lim. He said after winning GE 2020. "We are teochew".

Mine point is teochew man are known to be stingy. I am prepare nothing much on give away. Please do not sit under the trees hoping durians will drop down. I too is born local and teochew.

[georgie1994]

at least his contribution towards development of singapore cannot be denied

[ah_jo]

he DID ABSOLUTELY NOTHING to develop Singapore, he merely sat on the laurels his father left him with.

Singapore was already developed when he was appointed the PM.

name me something he did productive for Singapore.

[hayhay]

Now minister all talking roti prata, own self check own self. Salary so high all so selfish

[jark69]

Now minister all talking roti prata, own self check own self. Salary so high all so selfish

Dare to talk about going all the way to investigate corruption. Why keep quiet on Keppel double-bribery case?

[jacky43]

There is "no future" in Myanmar's military taking over the country again. The message from the most powerful man. I guess we have closed our FA office since Dec 2020.

After thinking over 100 times. We have biz dealing with the military for many yrs. Now they screwed and, looking at war with western powers. We turn our back against them. Although I have weakness in human rights.

I dont feel comfortable with this turned away attitudes. Is only me. The first batch of refugees had arrived.

[DieCorkStand]

Ur nick is a direct reflection of your brain.

LOL I support you ...

But I think u boost his moral by saying he has a brain:D

[tryying]

Shit also more useful than him, that's what I can think of. :rolleyes:

[surakchai]

His only achievement so far: Inventing a new dish of mee siam with hum :D

[VoicesWithin]

Became Sg most dishonourable son

[doghillqueen]

Became Sg most dishonourable son

Most dishonourable greedy son

[pakpak2001]

[QUOTE=jacky43;20495534]The most powerful man pass his baton to Heng S K who is teochew. Few seat away. One of the powerful man from WP is also teochew. Jamus Lim. He said after winning GE 2020. "We are teochew".
============
teochew porridge
or teochew wayang show

[babyckh]

LHL biggest achievement is paying himself the world highest salary. :rolleyes:

[cumranger69]

That’s an easy one.

He was born as LKY son. Try beating that achievement....:D

[thoreldan]

Pls enlighten me how LHL is linked to this particular subforum..

Whenever ts saw him, will think abt sex ? Amazing !!!

[alan0338]

That’s an easy one.

He was born as LKY son. Try beating that achievement....:D

fully agreed, besides that is nothing lol... :D:D:D

[newyorker88]

Pls enlighten me how LHL is linked to this particular subforum..

Whenever ts saw him, will think abt sex ? Amazing !!!

Long time ago, someone mention gay Loong? Pinkie? Is there a reason for that?

[PedoMo]

say what you will but he is definitely a swinger

http://i0.wp.com/i.imgur.com/qOBSFlI.gif

[RagingBison]

Pls enlighten me how LHL is linked to this particular subforum..

Whenever ts saw him, will think abt sex ? Amazing !!!

I can think of one link.

The fact that LHL can fuck HC is an incredible achievement. Most men who go soft after seeing her..

[SBMEDSUP]

I tot LHL posted in Liverpool thread only.

[DKSB]

Was neutral with him, but saw the way they rigged to prevent tancb to become president. I dun like him liao.

[abbottu]

I can think of one link.

The fact that LHL can fuck HC is an incredible achievement. Most men who go soft after seeing her..

I thought she is unfuckable :D

[staminadick]

Able to get hard to naked Ho Ching

99.69% guys would impotent for life

World class standard LhL dun playpray

[staminadick]

Wrong post

[jacky43]

I gave this to him. He shut down RLD for a year. He flatten RLD curve. Next. Flatten crime curve. Please.

[rayshiny]

Able to get hard to naked Ho Ching

99.69% guys would impotent for life

World class standard LhL dun playpray

You mean erect once and that's it?? :D

[blurblur2032]

He cry with tears

[kYdeng]

He cry with tears

During election campaign?

[morrissey1209]

Able to get hard to naked Ho Ching

99.69% guys would impotent for life

World class standard LhL dun playpray

Agree. Any man who can fuck Ho Ching is confirm a HARD man.

[pakpak2001]

[QUOTE=Footman;20527970]He opened up the flood gates and welcomed FT in the mid 2000s. Geylang was over-crowded with PRC FLs who stood in row ==============
city of opportuinehty
Sweetzerlan of the East
World Class Standard
1st World Standard

I proud to stand UP & HARD for Singapore

[xxFTOxx]

Never done anything for our homeland. All we see is salaries being stagnant and costs of housing increasing. I mean how in the world can a public housing be 500k and above. Somehow their multimillion salaries don’t match with the improving expectations of us locals.

Somehow sg is like a company. Top management always get big fat bonus for bringing in profits. But does not give 2 fucks on the working condition of its employees.

[superstiffy]

who's he??? :confused:

[pinkcrane]

The achievements of Lee Hsien Loong is that he can get morons to talk about him in a sex forum.

Are you talking about him too? :p

[kuasimi]

https://sbfsg.org/showthread.php?t=642656


http://forums.$$$$$$$$$$$$.com.sg/current-affairs-lounge-17/stunning-news-3in1-kopitiam-worlds-30-highest-paid-politicians-all-same-country-3096997.html

The TOP 30 highest paid politicians in the World are all from Singapore !!

1. Elected President SR Nathan – S$3.9 million.
2. Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong – S$3.8 million.
3. Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew – S$3.5 million.
4. Senior Minister Goh Chok Thong – S$3.5 million.
5. Senior Minister Prof Jayakumar – S$3.2 million.
6. DPM & Home Affairs Minister Wong Kan Seng – S$2.9 million.
7. DPM & Defence Minister Teo Chee Hean – $2.9 million
8. Foreign Affairs Minister George Yeo – S$2.8 million.
9. National Development Minister Mah Bow Tan – S$2.7 million.
10. PMO Miniser Lim Boon Heng – S$2.7 million.
11. Trade and Industry Minister Lim Hng Kiang – S$2.7 million.
12. PMO Minister Lim Swee Say – S$2.6 million.
13. Environment Minister & Muslim Affairs Minister Dr Yaccob Ibrahim – S$2.6 million.
14. Health Minister Khaw Boon Wan – S$2.6 million.
15. Finance Minister S Tharman – S$2.6 million.
16. Education Minister & 2nd Minister for Defence Dr Ng Eng Hen – S$2.6 million.
17. Community Development Youth and Sports Minister – Dr Vivian Balakrishnan – S$2.5 million.
18. Transport Minister & 2nd Minister for Foreign Affairs Raymond Lim Siang Kiat – S$2.5 million.
19. Law Minister & 2nd Minister for Home Affairs K Shanmugam – S$2.4 million.
20. Manpower Minister Gan Kim Yong – S$2.2 million.
21. PMO Minister Lim Hwee Hwa – S$2.2 million
22. Acting ICA Minister – Lui Tuck Yew – S$2.0 million.
23 to 30 = Senior Ministers of State and Ministers of State – each getting between S$1.8 million to S$1.5 million.

[kuasimi]

https://mrwangsaysso.blogspot.com/2012/01/grace-fu-should-consider-resignation.html

Grace Fu Should Consider Resignation

Singapore has the world's most highly-paid ministers. If I recall correctly, they have held this world record for about the past 20 years. It is a record that has caused a huge amount of public unhappiness. Especially in the past decade, during which the government didn't ever seem to be particularly impressive or outstanding.

Now, finally, ministerial salaries are going to be cut. Mind you, after these cuts (which are quite substantial in percentage terms - about 36%), the ministers will STILL hold their world record. Which must surely suggest to any half-intelligent person how grossly overpaid the ministers have been all along.

But then you get the likes of Grace Fu (who is our Minister of State for something or the other). Writing on her own Facebook wall, Fu says:

“When I made the decision to join politics in 2006, pay was not a key factor. Loss of privacy, public scrutiny on myself and my family and loss of personal time were. The disruption to my career was also an important consideration. I had some ground to believe that my family would not suffer a drastic change in the standard of living even though I experienced a drop in my income. So it is with this recent pay cut. If the balance is tilted further in the future, it will make it harder for any one [sic] considering political office.” Grace Fu.
Now, lots of Singaporeans are angry with Grace Fu. The comments have come thick, fast and furious. As of right now, her Facebook post has drawn about 1,300 comments (that's about 650 times the average number of comments on her other Facebook postings). And of course, there is plenty of negative media attention, online and in the newspapers too.

Putting aside the other issues for now, I'm startled at Grace Fu's lack of political sensitivity. It was really, really stupid and unnecessary of her to write such a thing. Fu wasn't even under pressure. It wasn't as if she was at a press conference, and a belligerent journalist had just thrown an unexpected and difficult question at her, and she couldn't think fast enough about what best to say.

Instead - we can imagine it - there she was, relaxing in her living room, playing with her iPad, sipping a nice cup of tea, logging in to check her messages. And then suddenly, Fu decided to write what she wrote. On Facebook. Not in a private journal, not in a personal memo, but on Facebook.

She must have totally failed to foresee what would happen next.

What poor judgment! What a severe lack of foresight. And she's a minister, for goodness sakes. Who knows what other horrible errors she might have spoken or written, on other past occasions.

Now, of course Fu is backpedalling and she has made a statement that she had been "misunderstood". This is damage control .... for completely self-inflicted damage. LOL, that is funny.

Imagine this - you are a minister, and you say something, the public is shocked and angry. And then you say, "Oh, all of you tens of thousands of people, you've misunderstood me. I am the poor, unfortunate, misunderstood one." Sing me another song, birdie.

"Me talk nonsense. Also can sing song.

How much you pay me?"

If Grace Fu can be so badly misunderstood, then that surely says something about Grace Fu's communication skills. It is extremely difficult to get thousands of people to misunderstand you. I am sure that I could not possibly succeed in pulling off such a feat. (But then I am not a PAP minister, I lack such talent).

However - and this will surprise many of my own readers - I am not actually angry about the content, the actual substance, of Grace Fu's statement.

Why am I not angry?

Look - this woman is merely a product of the system. And what is the system that I speak of? It is the PAP recruitment system that Lee Kuan Yew decided to create, 20 years ago. A system that deliberately entices job applicants with world-record-setting amounts of money.

The inevitable result - the PAP attracts many talented political wannabes whose main interest is in the money. (Meanwhile, talented political wannabes who just hope to serve the nation can join the Workers' Party - like Chen Show Mao did).

And when the money gets cut, well, you can naturally expect the PAP ministers (at least, the more money-minded ones) to get upset. Isn't that logical? If you had come for the money, then you WOULD be upset by a pay cut, surely.

My blog post is entitled "Grace Fu Should Consider Resignation". Sounds sensationalist, doesn't it? But it isn't really. (I'm not that kind of blogger, lah). Let me just explain my thinking.

It goes like this - if any minister is really very unhappy with his or her pay, then he or she can always quit. It's not like they are being forced to be ministers.

Unhappy employees don't perform well - we know that from our own experiences in working life. It is better for the company if they quit. It is better for themselves too, for they can go elsewhere and find another job that is more satisfying for them.

Why would we expect things to be any different for our ministers? If they are not happy with their pay, they won't perform well. They should just quit and get a more lucrative job elsewhere (if they can, of course). After they resign as ministers, Singapore can replace them with new ministers who care less about the money, and care more about serving the nation.

So I say this to all the ministers - if you're not happy with your pay, please quit. Now, rather than five years later. Do yourself a favour, and do the country a favour. Just get out.

[kuasimi]

http://www.sgpolitics.net/?p=4237

https://sbfsg.org/showthread.php?t=642656&page=2

Said Mr Lee: “The PAP makes promises they deliver. The Opposition cannot deliver.”

“If you have a flood, just carefully think who is more likely to get the drainage put right and have the flood alleviated as quickly as possible: A PAP candidate with links to the ministers and Prime Minister, or a non-PAP candidate who has become an MP, like in Potong Pasir or Hougang, and who has to manage on his own?”

“That’s a fact of life.”

Source: Today newspaper, “MM Lee explains his tough stance against Opposition, throws a challenge“, 29 April 2006.

[kuasimi]

https://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/10/world/asia/10singapore.html?ref=leekuanyew

Singapore’s Highly Paid Officials Get Richer



By SETH MYDANS

Published: April 10, 2007


Correction Appended

SINGAPORE, April 9 — How much money does it take to keep a government minister in Singapore happy?

The government says a million dollars is not enough, and on Monday it announced a 60 percent increase in ministers’ salaries, to an average of $1.9 million Singapore dollars, or about $1.3 million, by next year.

Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong’s pay will jump to about $2 million — five times the $400,000 earned by President Bush.

In this nation where the bottom line truly is the bottom line, the argument goes, you have to pay to get them and you have to pay to keep them clean.

“If we don’t do that, in the long term the government system will slowly crumble and collapse,” Defense Minister Teo Chee Hean told reporters last month. “Corruption will set in, and we will become like many other countries, and face the problems that many other countries face,” The Straits Times, Singapore’s largest-circulation newspaper, quoted him as saying.

In announcing the pay increases on Monday, Mr. Teo, who also oversees the civil service, said: “We don’t want pay to be the reason for people to join us. But we also don’t want pay to be the reason for them not to join us, or to leave after joining us.”

Singapore’s pay system was created in 1994 by the nation’s founding prime minister, Lee Kuan Yew. It pegged the salaries of government ministers and top civil servants to the money they might earn at the top of the private sector.

Under that formula, ministers are to be paid two-thirds of the median of the top eight earners in each of six professions: accounting, law, banking, engineering, multinational companies and local manufacturing.

There has been no public sign of discontent among the men and women who run Singapore, but last month the prime minister noted that they were earning just 55 percent of that benchmark. Hence the raise for the three dozen men and women who run Singapore.

Defending the system against an unusual public yelp of pain, Mr. Lee, whose title is minister mentor, painted a horrifying picture of a Singapore governed by ministers who earn no more than ministers elsewhere.

“Your apartment will be worth a fraction of what it is,” he said. “Your jobs will be in peril, your security will be at risk, and our women will become maids in other people’s countries.”

It is true that Singapore has one of the most efficient and corruption-free governments in the world. Transparency International, a private monitoring agency, recently listed it as the fifth most corruption-free nation of 163 surveyed.

It is Asia’s second-richest country after Japan, with a gross domestic product per capita of about $31,000. The first Prime Minister Lee said it could well afford to pay its leaders top dollar.

The average Singaporean earns roughly $3,000 a month, and the government has voiced concern over a widening gap between rich and poor. The ministers’ pay was approved three months before the sales tax is to be increased by 2 percent.

Talk of the pay raise drew criticism here that included letters to newspapers and an online petition that has more than 800 signatures.

“I am sure Enron and Worldcom paid more than top dollar for their top executives, and look where their companies are now — six feet under,” Mohamad Rosle Ahmad wrote to the editor of The Straits Times.

The elder Mr. Lee said naysayers needed a reality check. “I say you have no sense of proportion; you don’t know what life is about,” he said.

“The cure to all this talk is really a good dose of incompetent government,” he added. “You get that alternative, and you’ll never put Singapore together again.”

The Straits Times quoted him as saying his current salary as minister mentor was about $1.8 million.

Some Singaporeans suggested that other motivations should also come into play for government jobs.

“What about other redeeming intangibles such as honor and sense of duty, dedication, passion and commitment, loyalty and service?” asked Hussin Mutalib, a political science professor at the National University of Singapore, in a Straits Times online forum.

Carolyn Lim, a prominent writer, suggested in an essay that Singapore needed a little more heart to go along with its hard head.

“To see a potential prime minister as no different from a potential top lawyer, and likely to be enticed by the same stupendous salary, would be to blur the lines between two very different domains,” she wrote.

The minister mentor brushed aside such concerns. “Those are admirable sentiments,” he said. “But we live in a real world.”

Correction: April 13, 2007



An article on Tuesday about the high salaries of Singapore government officials misstated the given name of a prominent writer who suggested in an essay that comparability with the private sector should not be the only consideration in setting government salaries. She is Catherine Lim, not Carolyn.

[kuasimi]

https://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/09/world/asia/09iht-sing.3.5200498.html?_r=0

Singapore announces 60 percent pay raise for ministers

By Seth Mydans

Published: Monday, April 9, 2007


SINGAPORE — How much money does it take to keep a Singapore government minister happy? The government says a million dollars is not enough, and on Monday it announced a 60 percent boost in ministers' salaries, to an average of 1.9 million Singapore dollars, or $1.26 million, by next year.

Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong will see his pay jump to 3.1 million Singapore dollars, five times the $400,000 earned by President George W. Bush.

In this nation where the bottom line truly is the bottom line, the argument goes, you've got to pay to get them and you've got to pay to keep them.

"If we don't do that, in the long term, the government system will slowly crumble and collapse," Defense Minister Teo Chee Hean told reporters last month.

As the minister who oversees the civil service, Teo announced the pay hikes Monday, saying: "We don't want pay to be the reason for people to join us. But we also don't want pay to be the reason for them not to join us, or to leave after joining us."

It is a pay system created in 1994 by Singapore's founder, Lee Kuan Yew, pegging the salaries of government ministers and top civil servants to the money they might earn at the top of the private sector.

Defending the system last month against an unusual public yelp of pain, Lee Kuan Yew painted a horrifying picture of a Singapore governed by ministers who earn no more than ministers anywhere else.

"Your apartment will be worth a fraction of what it is," he said, "your jobs will be in peril, your security will be at risk and our women will become maids in other people's countries."

Singapore has one of the most efficient and corruption-free governments in the world.

It is Asia's second-richest country after Japan, with a gross domestic product per capita of about $31,000, and Lee said it could well afford to pay its leaders top dollar.

The total of the salaries before the increase amounted to 46 million Singapore dollars a year, he said, or 0.13 percent of government expenditure - 0.022 percent of gross domestic product.

Under the government's formula, ministers are to be paid two-thirds of the median of the top eight earners in each of six professions: accounting, law, banking, engineering, multinational companies and local manufacturing.

There has been no public sign of discontent among the men and women who run Singapore, but last month the prime minister noted that they were earning just 55 percent of this benchmark.

"We don't want pay to be the reason for people to join us," Teo said Monday in announcing the pay hikes. "But we also don't want pay to be the reason for them not to join us, or to leave after joining us."

Talk of the impending pay increase drew an outcry here for weeks that included letters to newspapers and an online petition that has collected more than 800 signatures.

The average Singaporean earns something over $2,000 a month, and the government has voiced concern over a widening gap between rich and poor.

The ministerial raise comes three months ahead of a 2 percent increase in the sales tax.

Mohamad Rosle Ahmad wrote in a letter to the editor: "I am sure Enron and Worldcom paid more than top dollar for their top executives, and look where their companies are now - six feet under."

Lee Kuan Yew, whose title is minister mentor, said naysayers like this need a reality check.

"I say you have no sense of proportion; you don't know what life is about," he said last month.

"The cure to all this talk is really a good dose of incompetent government," Lee said. "You get that alternative, and you'll never put Singapore together again."

He presented himself as an example: "A top lawyer, which I could easily have become, today earns 4 million Singapore dollars. And he doesn't have to carry this responsibility. All he's got to do is advise his client. Win or lose, that's the client's loss or gain."

The Straits Times newspaper quoted him as saying his current salary as minister mentor was 2.7 million Singapore dollars.

Money may buy happiness for a government minister, but some Singaporeans suggested that other motivations should also come into play for government service.

"What about other redeeming intangibles such as honor and sense of duty, dedication, passion and commitment, loyalty and service?" asked Hussin Mutalib in the Straits Times' online forum recently.

Carolyn Lim, a prominent writer, suggested in an essay in The Straits Times that Singapore needed a little more heart to go along with its hard head. "Indeed, a brilliant achiever without the high purpose of service to others would be the worst possible ministerial material," she wrote.

"To see a potential prime minister as no different from a potential top lawyer, and likely to be enticed by the same stupendous salary, would be to blur the lines between two very different domains."

The minister mentor brushed aside concerns like that.

"Those are admirable sentiments," he said. "But we live in a real world."

[kuasimi]

https://sbfsg.org/showthread.php?t=642656&page=2


‘Reasonable pay will help to maintain a bit of dignity’

Member of Parliament Lim Wee Kiak of the Nee Soon group representation constituency (GRC) defended ministerial salaries by saying a reasonable payout helped maintain "dignity" for politicians.

He was quickly slammed by netizens, many of whom pointed out in various posts on the Web that "dignity" should not be justified by salary alone.

The multi-million dollar pay of ministers was a hot-button issue in Singapore's recent General Election, which saw the ruling People's Action Party win 81 out of 87 seats but at a significantly lower share of the total votes.

Following the results, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong announced the formation of a committee to review the "basis and level of political salaries". Any pay changes would take effect from 21 May this year.

"If the annual salary of the Minister of Information, Communication and Arts is only $500,000, it may pose some problems when he discuss policies with media CEOs who earn millions of dollars because they need not listen to the minister's ideas and proposals. Hence, a reasonable payout will help to maintain a bit of dignity," Dr Lim told LianHe ZaoBao in Chinese.

In reaction, Francis Oen postedon Facebook: "Hi Wee Kiat.. Suggest you clarify your statement. Does it mean that only $ talks?! ... And if someone earns less, does it mean he cannot have dignity?"

Winnie Lim tweeted: "So according to Dr Lim Wee Kiak's theory, our ministers will ignore Obama because he earns less than all of them."

On his Facebook page, Dr Lim said that his quote was taken out of context.
"Minister's pay issue is a sensitive one. There must be a balance. After all, capable individuals who are willing to come forward to serve should not so because of pay and perks," he replied to a user's question about his quote.
He added, "On the other hand, they do have families and dependents and need to consider for retirement, etc."

[kuasimi]

https://sbfsg.org/showthread.php?t=642656&page=2

How well is well-paid?

By Tan Hui Leng and Jasmie Yen, TODAY | Posted: 10 April 2007 1028

They expressed support for the need to pay top dollar for top talent in the public sector.

But Members of Parliament (MPs) who took part in yesterday's parliamentary debate on the pay hike also spoke passionately about what many Singaporeans believe to be the heart of the issue: The benchmarking formula used to determine ministerial pay.

Ang Mo Kio MP Inderjit Singh noted that Singaporeans could not expect their leaders to serve based on altruism alone. "Are we willing to leave the future of the country to chance, that we will get good people who will give up their competence without caring about their salary?" he asked.

Some MPs, however, saw problems in benchmarking ministers' pay to the private sector, pointing out to disparities in the risks taken by company chief executives and ministers and top civil servants.

Marine Parade MP Lim Biow Chuan said: "I struggle to understand what a top Admin Officer aged 32 at grade SR9 has to worry about that will justify him receiving $363,000 a year … From many people's perspectives, they take no personal risk and are at best, paid employees."

Opposition MPs Mr Chiam See Tong (Potong Pasir) and Hougang's Low Thia Khiang took issue with the fact that Singapore's ministers are paid more than their counterparts in developed countries.

MPs like Bishan-Toa Payoh's Mrs Josephine Teo, however, pointed out that ministers in other countries may make more money after their term in office ends, such as through public speaking.

Some MPs voiced concerns about the timing of announcing the pay revisions, especially with the Goods and Services Tax (GST) due to rise to 7 per cent in July.

Mr Singh said: "How do we answer the man-in-the-street when we're told that about one-quarter to one-third of the expected revenue increase this year from the GST is going to be for the proposed ministerial and civil service salary increases, about $240 million, I was told?"

Mr Low also referred to the recent debate on increasing the amounts for public assistance. "It's also ironic that we are consuming taxpayers' money and … discussing how much more of a fraction of a million to pay civil servants and ministers while we haggle over additional tens of dollars to hand out to our needy and disadvantaged citizens," he said.


Some MPs who supported the pay hike also suggested that the salary benchmarking could be finetuned, such as pegging ministers' salaries to more realistic markers such as top men in private equity firms and top companies based on market capitalisation.

[kuasimi]

https://sbfsg.org/showthread.php?t=642656&page=25


https://sbfsg.org/showthread.php?p=20072890#post20072890


https://sbfsg.org/showthread.php?p=20149196#post20149196


https://sbfsg.org/showthread.php?p=17590716#post17590716

[kuasimi]

https://singaporealternatives.blogspot.com/2007/02/paps-internet-offensive.html

PAP's Internet Offensive


Saturday February 3, 1:09 PM
S'pore's PAP rebuts online critics anonymously--daily


SINGAPORE, Feb 3 (Reuters) - Members of Singapore's long-ruling People's Action Party (PAP) are posting anonymous messages in Internet forums and blogs to rebut online criticism of the party, a leading daily reported on Saturday.
The postings were an initiative driven by two sub-committees under the PAP's "new media" committee chaired by Manpower Minister Ng Eng Hen, the pro-government Straits Times said, citing unnamed sources.

A government spokeswoman contacted on Saturday declined to comment.

The two sub-committees, made up of politicians and some technology-savvy party activists, were formed after the May 2006 general election, the Straits Times said. The PAP's share of the vote slid to 66.6 percent last year, from 75.3 percent at the previous election in 2001.

The panels had been set up to express the PAP's views online where there were few pro-establishment voices, the newspaper said, quoting a member of parliament who heads one sub-committee.

"The identity is not important. It is the message that is important," Baey Yam Keng was quoted as saying.

The Straits Times quoted Baey as saying that the messages were only effective if they were not "too obvious" lest they resemble "propaganda".

A PAP activist involved in posting the anonymous messages was quoted as saying that he tracked popular blogs and forums to "see if there is anything we can clarify" on controversial issues such as the impending hike in the goods and services tax.

The PAP, which has ruled Singapore since independence in 1965, has been criticised by human rights groups such as Amnesty International in the past for its curbs on freedom of expression.

Party leaders say tight regulation of public debate and the media in the city-state is necessary to maintain law and order.


The above Reuters article is derived from Straits Time article below:

Feb 3, 2007
PAP moves to counter criticism of party, Govt in cyberspace

By Li Xueying

THE People's Action Party (PAP) is mounting a quiet counter-insurgency against its online critics.

It has members going into Internet forums and blogs to rebut anti-establishment views and putting up postings anonymously.

Sources told The Straits Times the initiative is driven by two sub-committees of the PAP's 'new media' committee chaired by Manpower Minister Ng Eng Hen.

One sub-committee, co-headed by Minister of State (Education) Lui Tuck Yew and Hong Kah GRC MP Zaqy Mohamad, strategises the campaign.

The other is led by Tanjong Pagar GRC MP Baey Yam Keng and Bishan-Toa Payoh GRC MP Josephine Teo. Called the 'new media capabilities group', it executes the strategies.

Both were set up after last year's General Election. Aside from politicians, some 20 IT-savvy party activists are also involved.

When contacted, Mr Baey declined to give details of the group's activities, but he outlined the broad principles of the initiative.

It was necessary for the PAP to have a voice in cyberspace as there were few in the online community who were pro-establishment, he said.

As such, the committees aim to 'observe how new media is developing and see how we can use the new media as part of the overall media landscape', he added.

'How do we facilitate views that are pro-party and propagate them through the Internet?'

The approach reflects comments by Rear-Admiral (NS) Lui at the PAP's party conference in December. He called on younger activists to put up views 'to moderate the vitriol and balance the skewed comments' on the Internet.

But this can only work if activists are not 'too obvious' about it, Mr Baey said yesterday. Otherwise it comes across as 'propaganda'.

'The identity is not important. It is the message that is important,' he added.

One activist who is involved said that when posting comments on online forums and the feedback boxes of blogs, he does not identify himself as a PAP member.

He tracks popular blogs and forums to 'see if there is anything we can clarify' on hot-button topics such as the impending hike in the Goods and Services Tax.

But he added: 'We don't rebut everything. Sometimes, what is said is fair enough, and we send the feedback on to the committee.'

This latest initiative comes on top of a blog site with posts by 12 MPs born after Singapore's Independence in 1965.

It recognises that more younger Singaporeans are relying on the new media as a main source of information.

An Institute of Policy Studies (IPS) study conducted last year found that younger and better-educated Singaporeans relied on information from the Internet when shaping their voting choices at the last GE.

Among the opposition parties, members and supporters of the Workers' Party, in particular, post regularly on forums online.

But IPS senior research fellow Tan Tarn How wonders about the effectiveness of the PAP's campaign.

He said Internet users who post on forums such as Sammyboy tend not to be interested in 'intellectual debate' and so will not be persuaded by PAP activists anyway.

As for more serious-minded bloggers, he said the views that the activists may put out are already available in the mainstream media.

[email protected]



You may want to read Mr. Wang Says So and Xeno Boy articles on this topic. There is also a good analysis on why PAP "leaks" the "secret" operations here.

I share similar sentiments with Mr. Wang on this particular report. I am very surprised that the ST article was allowed to published.

First of all, to reveal such "secret strategy" is disastrous to PAP's internet image! Hey, c'mon, as the largest and powerful ruling party that has dominated Singapore's political scene, its members do not dare to identify themselves as PAP members when communicating with other Singaporeans on the internet platform? Are they ashame or too afraid to be identified with PAP or what?

But on second thought, I think PAP has found out that their "secret covert operations" may be too slow and ineffective in covering the whole internet sphere, thus, to "leak" this information in a hopeful bid to create fear in bloggers and internet writers.

Personally, I am proud of my past association with WP even when it was just a political party on the development path. What are the PAP members afraid of by openly declaring their association with PAP? What's the matter with them? Aren't they proud of their own party which has contributed much to Singapore's progress for the last 5 decades?

As all of you could observe from the many "anonymous" comments recorded here on my blog for the past few months, one would now really put serious doubts on whether they are really "PAP's internet fighters"! How many of these comments come from them, I really wonder!

I have hoped that one day, this PAP's secret internet offensive will be revealed to the public and thus, insisted to keep the comment column open to anonymous posters. Interesting enough, after I declare my intention of capturing all those possible agents' vicious attacks on me so that the whole world will know about it, there is a dramatic decrease in such anonymous comments!

If you read those comments in my blog, you will know why PAP wanted their internet fighters to stay anonymous. Many of the remarks are even defamatory in nature!

As a matter of fact, I have long suspected that PAP has started to carry out its "internet management" plan as far back as July 2006 when I had a meeting with a few WP members and associates. The successful application of internet by WP back in GE 2006 as well as the active engagement of WP members 2 years prior to GE 2006 has made PAP rethink about the possible impact of the new media. Prior to GE 2006, PAP has taken the view that the new media, internet, will have little impact on the political front even though that it has been dominated by anti-PAP sentiments for a almost a decade. But apparently GE 2006 has changed their mind.

The sudden increase of aggressive comments posted on my blog as well as forums right after GE 2006 is an interesting indicator of how PAP's internet fighters work. They may be very clumsy but they may be effective in a sense that I might have possibly become one of their trophy!

Well, life still goes on in the internet sphere with or without PAP internet fighters. But I guess now most people will be more skeptical when they see "Pro-PAP" or "Anti-Opposition" postings on the net... the question will always be on our mind "Hey, is this from the PAP internet fighters?"

Goh Meng Seng

[kuasimi]

https://www.facebook.com/workersparty/posts/4403398136343402


We are concerned that the government's policies will raise the cost of living and increase financial pressures on the sandwiched class. Here's a breakdown of the impact of a petrol price hike and the impending increase in GST.


https://scontent.fsin1-1.fna.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/160617080_4403404099676139_92583186592328577_o.png ?_nc_cat=109&ccb=1-3&_nc_sid=730e14&_nc_ohc=l_16Hc_bSl8AX8sHF3Y&_nc_ht=scontent.fsin1-1.fna&oh=1dfc6cddc1a4f090a68d73f90e7bfbbb&oe=607BFD43


https://scontent.fsin1-1.fna.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/160269274_4403385723011310_5999431365100208177_o.p ng?_nc_cat=109&ccb=1-3&_nc_sid=730e14&_nc_ohc=gNL0kUYfmrMAX_8Th_S&_nc_ht=scontent.fsin1-1.fna&oh=d2f8a89f51ced3ac76cc79ab940e5e81&oe=607AFF62


https://scontent.fsin1-1.fna.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/162061292_4403385713011311_1238895210140138845_o.p ng?_nc_cat=104&ccb=1-3&_nc_sid=730e14&_nc_ohc=FRkIrRoHeOoAX_KP9YO&_nc_ht=scontent.fsin1-1.fna&oh=82e2f3c8f69d0ad776ff6ffe37961a5b&oe=6078FF62


https://scontent.fsin1-1.fna.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/160306073_4403385863011296_1882492054271737732_o.p ng?_nc_cat=108&ccb=1-3&_nc_sid=730e14&_nc_ohc=W5N1WU6MwVEAX-AzdNw&_nc_ht=scontent.fsin1-1.fna&oh=8935066f5bcdaf5487014d42305f1e52&oe=607C3F51


https://scontent.fsin1-1.fna.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/161342513_4403385803011302_9074734393310540365_o.p ng?_nc_cat=100&ccb=1-3&_nc_sid=730e14&_nc_ohc=IwHgEFTuf1EAX-7s3pX&_nc_ht=scontent.fsin1-1.fna&oh=ce72740d7e77c1095a0681450607f6a6&oe=607B22C2


https://scontent.fsin1-1.fna.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/161573007_4403386549677894_9123672333283751669_o.p ng?_nc_cat=107&ccb=1-3&_nc_sid=730e14&_nc_ohc=kUUWQq3f5FAAX-8KTeQ&_nc_ht=scontent.fsin1-1.fna&oh=ca8fc1c0df93ef9a6f1050b85cb2495a&oe=607CAC01


https://scontent.fsin1-1.fna.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/160916064_4403386516344564_1816095824139266150_o.p ng?_nc_cat=111&ccb=1-3&_nc_sid=730e14&_nc_ohc=xr35bZ38WY8AX-7eKsp&_nc_ht=scontent.fsin1-1.fna&oh=b2ba236adc141960f842ce81eb006594&oe=607C5BC0


https://scontent.fsin1-1.fna.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/160304958_4403386643011218_8560634099772435256_o.p ng?_nc_cat=100&ccb=1-3&_nc_sid=730e14&_nc_ohc=V0uibzyCf2gAX-WqBS4&_nc_ht=scontent.fsin1-1.fna&oh=b66a29fa26e7488d8f12f2f344e2cbe8&oe=607BE955

[kuasimi]

https://www.theonlinecitizen.com/2019/07/13/transport-ministry-on-profit-making-of-train-operators-they-cant-sustain-losses/


Transport Ministry on profit making of train operators: They can't sustain losses

by Correspondent 13/07/2019

https://www.theonlinecitizen.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/SMRT-C151_Wikipedia-1000x479.jpg

Yesterday, a member of the public, Mr Adam Reutens-Tan, wrote to ST Forum pointing out that train operators like SMRT and SBS Transit should not be focusing on profits as public service providers (‘Train operators, as public service providers, should not be focusing on profits‘, 12 Jul).

“SMRT and SBS Transit are supposed to be providing public transportation, one of several basic public services which should always remain affordable for the masses to ensure an acceptable quality of life,” Adam wrote. “Such service providers should be seen almost as public servants because they are providing a public service.”

Adam reminded that as public service providers, the train operators should not be focusing on generating increasingly higher overall profits for themselves.

In response, Ms Geraldine Low, the Director of Land Transport Division at the Ministry of Transport, wrote in to refute Adam saying that the train operators cannot keep on sustaining losses (‘Rail operators cannot sustain large losses for long‘, 13 Jul).

She pointed out that for the financial year ending on March 31, 2018, SMRT Trains reported a loss of $86 million while SBS Transit’s Downtown Line has similarly registered losses of $125 million over the past three years. “Its (SBS Trainsit’s) train division as a whole also lost tens of millions of dollars,” she added.

“No rail operator can sustain such large losses for long, without performance degradation.”

She then brought in arguments concerning the workers’ livelihoods, “As responsible employers, they also need to ensure that their workers’ livelihoods are not affected.”

“Our common objective is to deliver a reliable and affordable MRT service for all Singaporeans,” she concluded.
What happened to the profits made in earlier years?

However, what Ms Low did not disclose was that in earlier years, SMRT was making obscene profits with the bulk passed on to Temasek Holdings as dividends especially during the years when Saw Phaik Hwa was in-charge.



https://www.theonlinecitizen.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/saw.jpg


For example, in every financial year from 2000 to 2015, SMRT earned an operating profit in the range of $84.2 million to $197.2 million. There was never a year in which SMRT made a loss. And from FY2001 to FY2015, SMRT paid out a total dividend sum of $1.6 billion with the bulk went to Temasek.

A report from DBS in 2012 also noted that SMRT had a dividend payout policy of at least 60% of net profit, and in some years, had paid out even more than 70% of their net profit as dividends.

In fact, Saw was so busy trying to make money for SMRT and paying out dividends to Temasek that she did not want to re-invest too much money back into rail maintenance. This was disclosed at a Committee of Inquiry (COI) convened in 2012 over lapses in SMRT while under her watch.

At the COI, the Attorney-General’s Chambers, represented by Second Solicitor-General Lionel Yee, presented data showing how SMRT’s repair maintenance budget did not change much from the financial years 2002 to 2011, amid ageing assets, increased ridership and increased train frequencies. She also let go of staff to save cost, resulting in the reduction of company’s manpower cost while boosting the bottom line.

At one point in the inquiry, a member of the COI, Prof Lim of NTU, got so frustrated with the defensiveness of Saw with regard to the ‘third rail’ sagging issue that he retorted, “You knew the risks, and you didn’t do enough. You implemented cable ties.”

In any case, Saw’s livelihood was never compromised when she was working for SMRT. In an interview after she quit SMRT, she told the media then that she owns a Can-Am Spyder motorbike, a Ferrari and a Mercedes-Benz S500. In fact, her landed property was so big that the porch of her house could house all 3 vehicles.

She justified the high salary of close to $2 million that she earned every year saying that this was decided by shareholders, which of course Temasek was the major shareholder. “Every year, the shareholders get to vote. They see my package. It’s in black and white in every annual report and they approve it. So what can I say?” she argued.

So, while it’s true that train operators can’t sustain losses for long as pointed out by the Transport Ministry, it certainly wasn’t complaining when the operators were making obscene profits from Singaporeans.

[kuasimi]

What new WP MPs at Sengkang GRC will encounter:


Ng Chee Meng PPA(E) (Chinese: 黄志明; pinyin: Huáng Zhìmíng; born 8 August 1968) is a former Singaporean politician who was the Minister in Prime Minister's Office from 1 May 2018 to 10 July 2020. His previous postings included Minister for Education in charge of Schools portfolio from 1 October 2015 to 31 October 2016 in acting capacity and from 1 November 2016 to 30 April 2018 in official capacity as well as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Pasir Ris–Punggol GRC from 11 September 2015 to 23 June 2020 and has also been the Secretary-General of the National Trades Union Congress (NTUC) since 1 May 2018. He served as the 8th Chief of Defence Force of the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) from 2013 to 2015, and held the rank of Lieutenant-General. He was also the Chief of the Republic of Singapore Air Force (RSAF) from 2009 to 2013. Upon retirement from military career, Ng announced his intention to enter politics, and is the highest ranking officer to join the ruling party.[1] In the 2015 Singapore general election, he was fielded to the Pasir Ris–Punggol GRC[2] and won its Punggol North seat, paving way to be a MP successfully. Ng also served as the Senior Minister of State at the Ministry for Transport from 1 October 2015 to his promotion to the Second Minister in 1 November 2016 and served till 30 April 2018.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QT1Mulxd3ms

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=24iC4uMyEyM


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VLEpquI4hZw

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dzh6U4A6Bkw


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xNG3QqUfc-U


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L706p_H8awQ



http://geraldgiam.sg/2009/10/how-pap-uses-taxpayer-funded-grassroots-for-political-gain/comment-page-1/


How PAP uses taxpayer-funded grassroots for political gain

Not many Singaporeans are aware of how much the taxpayer-funded grassroots have been used by the PAP for political gain.

Last week, Mr Eric Low and Mr Sitoh Yih Pin, the PAP MP-aspirants who lost to Workers’ Party’s Low Thia Khiang and SDA’s Chiam See Tong respectively in the last election, grabbed the limelight for themselves by announcing HDB’s decision to upgrade lifts in Potong Pasir and Hougang.

I had written an article questioning why HDB had informed the losing candidates in opposition wards of the upgrading plans.

A Straits Times forum letter writer, Mr Muhammad Yusuf Osman, said it best when he called for the mandate that the residents gave to the elected MPs to be respected. He asked: “Under what authority did both Mr (Eric) Low and Mr Sitoh (Yih Pin) act as advisers to the grassroots organisations, given that the People’s Association is a government statutory board and should work with the elected MPs of the constituencies?”

In response, HDB and People’s Association replied that “it is the Government’s practice to implement its national programmes for residents through advisers to grassroots organisations who are appointed by the Government to gather feedback from residents.”

They forgot to mention that these “advisers” are always PAP men, whether or not they won the election.

Not many Singaporeans are aware of how much the taxpayer-funded grassroots have been used by the PAP for political gain.

Here’s a quick run down:

The People’s Association (PA), a statutory board under the Ministry of Community Development, Youth and Sports, was set up in 1960 to counter the influence of Chinese clan associations and unions on working class Singaporeans.

Like all other stat boards, it receives a yearly grant from the government to run its programmes and cover operational costs. In FY2008, PA received $280 million from taxpayers, and another $23 million in “operating income”. It spent a total of $320 million last year.

However unlike most stat boards, whose chairmen are usually the permanent secretary of the parent ministry or some other senior civil servant, PA’s chairman is none other than the Prime Minister. The deputy chairman and two other board members are PAP ministers, together with a PAP minister of state, two other PAP office holders and a PAP backbencher. Eight out of the 14 board members are PAP MPs. No other public sector board in Singapore has so many “Men in White” on it.

The PA oversees all the official “grassroots organisations”, namely the Citizens’ Consultative Committees (CCC), Community Club Management Committees (CCMC), Residents’ Committees (RC), Neighbourhood Committees (NC) and the Community Development Councils (CDC). PA also runs the National Youth Council (NYC) and the People’s Association Youth Movement (PAYM), which reach out to young people.

The de facto leader of all the CCCs, CCMCs, RCs and NCs in each constituency is known as the “adviser to the grassroots organisations (GROs)”. This adviser is appointed by PA, presumably with the nod of its chairman, the Prime Minister. In PAP constituencies, PA always appoints the elected MP as the adviser. But in opposition wards, PA appoints the PAP candidate who lost in the last election, not the opposition MP.

The same anomaly is repeated in the CDCs. CDCs have a whole panel of advisers, who are by default the GRO advisers. In South West CDC, where all the component constituencies are under the PAP, it is not surprising that all the advisers are PAP MPs. But in South East CDC, there is one grinning adviser who is not an MP — Sitoh Yih Pin, the man who lost to Mr Chiam See Tong (SDA) in Potong Pasir. North East CDC also has a non-MP — Eric Low — sitting as adviser. He lost to Mr Low Thia Khiang (WP) in the last two elections, garnering just 37% of the popular vote in 2006.

Mr Low Thia Khiang and Mr Chiam See Tong are completely excluded from the CDCs.

CDCs, Community Clubs and other GROs often organise events which involve a large number of residents. Most of the time, the guest-of-honour at such events is — you guessed it — the PAP grassroots adviser.

All this effectively denies the opposition MPs access to the whole array of grassroots resources that PAP MPs have easy access to. The opposition MP has to build up his own grassroot network from scratch, while PAP MPs simply inherit the control of the RCs, CCCs and CCMCs.

Most HDB dwellers will be familiar with the notice boards next to the lifts. These are managed by the RCs, which ensure that residents always aware of who their PAP MPs are by featuring their names and photos prominently on the notice boards. But in Hougang and Potong Pasir, instead of the elected MP, residents will see the losing PAP candidate’s face on the notice board every day when they go home.

Around the neighbourhood, they will also see huge banners sponsored by PA or the CCC, featuring the losing PAP candidate wishing residents during festive occasions. The Opposition is given no such banner space in PAP wards.


https://i104.photobucket.com/albums/m173/multiplex77/Blog/HougangAdviser.jpg


To round it off, the GROs are often the recruiting ground for the PAP during elections. Many grassroots volunteers are also loyal PAP men and women, who shed their supposed neutrality to don PAP all-whites during the election campaign, serving as supporters, election agents and counting agents for the PAP candidates.

The best thing of all for the PAP is that all these grassroots resources come at zero cost to the party, since it is all paid for by taxpayers — yes including those who voted for the Opposition. Unlike in other countries where political parties — just like the Opposition here — have to fund their own grassroots activities, the PAP can save its funds to be used during the election campaign.

With all these factors stacked against the Opposition, it is indeed commendable that Mr Chiam See Tong and Mr Low Thia Khiang have managed to hold on to their seats for the past 20 years. The residents of Potong Pasir and Hougang have proven that sincerity and pure hard work on the ground will be rewarded.


http://geraldgiam.sg/2009/10/hdb-should-be-neutral-and-stop-playing-politics/


HDB should be neutral and stop playing politics
The HDB should stop letting itself become a political tool of the ruling PAP.


I am glad to learn that the opposition held wards of Hougang and Potong Pasir will finally be getting lift upgrading for their HDB blocks. This is a long overdue measure for the residents of the two constituencies, which have been strongholds of the opposition since 1991 and 1984 respectively.

Singaporeans will recall that on the eve of the polling day in 1997, then-Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong warned voters that opposition estates risked becoming “slums” if they continued voting out the PAP. Thus started a pattern of Third World pork barrel politics of the ruling PAP, which culminated in the 2006 election when PAP candidates Eric Low and Sitoh Yih Pin boasted that caretaker National Development Minister Mah Bow Tan had promised the two wards a total of $180 million for upgrading if residents voted for the PAP.

Fortunately, voters were too sophisticated and principled to fall for the PAP’s dirty tactics of using taxpayer money to advance their partisan political ends. Hougang and Potong Pasir voters proved that they could not be so easily swayed by money and election goodies by re-electing Mr Low Thia Khiang (Workers’ Party) and Mr Chiam See Tong (Singapore Democratic Alliance), the former with a record high winning margin.

Three-and-a-half years after those embarrassing defeats, the PAP has realised that such underhanded tactics don’t work. So now they’ve taken a different tack by promising lift upgrading to these wards just as the next election looms.

TODAY newspaper reported that the PAP’s losing candidate Sitoh had received an email from HDB informing him of this news. He lost no time in breaking the good news to residents through a news release. Mr Eric Low plans to announce the news today at a grassroots event. In addition, Mr Sitoh said he will be sending out a circular to residents in the selected blocks soon, presumably with his own letterhead proclaiming himself as the “adviser to the Potong Pasir grassroots organisations”.

I see no reason why the HDB should break the news to the losing PAP candidates. Does the HDB inform losing opposition candidates of impending upgrading in the wards they contested in, for example in East Coast or Tampines? Definitely not!

So why the double standard? Is it to give a chance to the PAP’s losing candidates to be like Santa Claus bearing good gifts for residents as if it came from them?

The PAP’s Eric Low claimed that the upgrading “is a result of our efforts over the years”. What utter rubbish! It was the Workers’ Party’s Low Thia Khiang who had asked in Parliament after the 2006 elections for the promised $100 million to be released to Hougang for upgrading. But the National Development Minister stoutly refused, saying that the funds were conditional on voters choosing the PAP.

Knowing full well that the PAP’s intention was to put opposition wards at the end of the upgrading queue, Hougang Town Council had previously gone ahead to upgrade the lifts at the blocks on Hougang Avenue 3 and 7 at the cost of some $400,000 to $500,000 of the Town Council’s own funds. A mere seven years later, HDB simply demolished those upgraded blocks, and refused to reimburse Hougang Town Council the costs for the unexpired cyclical period.

In fact, HDB’s informing of the PAP’s losing candidates of the upcoming upgrading is just the tip of the iceberg of the agency’s history of partisan political manoeuvring.

After winning the 1991 elections and assuming the chairmanship of Hougang Town Council, the WP’s Low was immediately served by the HDB with a notice to quit the premises at Blk 810 Hougang Central, which was then occupied by the PAP’s Hougang Town Council. HDB also served him with a notice of termination of its services as the managing agent for Hougang Town Council. Despite this, the new Town Council managed to overcome the obstacles put in its way, built a new premise within 6 weeks, and took over the management of Hougang estate from the HDB on 1st January 1992.

Without an office to operate from and to manage the estate, Low then took on the task of building and completing, within six weeks, the Hougang Town Council’s office. It is now located at Block 701 Hougang Avenue 2. He also successfully put together a team of councillors and staff to manage and maintain Hougang estate. Together, they took over the management of Hougang estate from the HDB on 1st January 1992.
The HDB should stop letting itself become a political tool of the ruling PAP. This is not the way a taxpayer funded statutory board should operate. Residents of non-PAP wards pay their income taxes and GST, and do their national service just like the rest of us. They should not be discriminated against.

I call on HDB chairman Koh Cher Siang, HDB CEO Tay Kim Poh, Ministry of National Development permanent secretary Tan Tee How and all the good officers working under them to exercise their rightful independence and neutrality as civil servants and resist attempts by the PAP ministers (or any future government ministers) to pressure them into executing decisions that benefit the party and not the people.

[kuasimi]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GGfPd5EMXQk

[kuasimi]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a1WhJKsYb50

[wet365]

https://mrwangsaysso.blogspot.com/2012/01/grace-fu-should-consider-resignation.html

Grace Fu Should Consider Resignation

Singapore has the world's most highly-paid ministers. If I recall correctly, they have held this world record for about the past 20 years. It is a record that has caused a huge amount of public unhappiness. Especially in the past decade, during which the government didn't ever seem to be particularly impressive or outstanding.

Now, finally, ministerial salaries are going to be cut. Mind you, after these cuts (which are quite substantial in percentage terms - about 36%), the ministers will STILL hold their world record. Which must surely suggest to any half-intelligent person how grossly overpaid the ministers have been all along.

But then you get the likes of Grace Fu (who is our Minister of State for something or the other). Writing on her own Facebook wall, Fu says:

“When I made the decision to join politics in 2006, pay was not a key factor. Loss of privacy, public scrutiny on myself and my family and loss of personal time were. The disruption to my career was also an important consideration. I had some ground to believe that my family would not suffer a drastic change in the standard of living even though I experienced a drop in my income. So it is with this recent pay cut. If the balance is tilted further in the future, it will make it harder for any one [sic] considering political office.” Grace Fu.
Now, lots of Singaporeans are angry with Grace Fu. The comments have come thick, fast and furious. As of right now, her Facebook post has drawn about 1,300 comments (that's about 650 times the average number of comments on her other Facebook postings). And of course, there is plenty of negative media attention, online and in the newspapers too.

Putting aside the other issues for now, I'm startled at Grace Fu's lack of political sensitivity. It was really, really stupid and unnecessary of her to write such a thing. Fu wasn't even under pressure. It wasn't as if she was at a press conference, and a belligerent journalist had just thrown an unexpected and difficult question at her, and she couldn't think fast enough about what best to say.

Instead - we can imagine it - there she was, relaxing in her living room, playing with her iPad, sipping a nice cup of tea, logging in to check her messages. And then suddenly, Fu decided to write what she wrote. On Facebook. Not in a private journal, not in a personal memo, but on Facebook.

She must have totally failed to foresee what would happen next.

What poor judgment! What a severe lack of foresight. And she's a minister, for goodness sakes. Who knows what other horrible errors she might have spoken or written, on other past occasions.

Now, of course Fu is backpedalling and she has made a statement that she had been "misunderstood". This is damage control .... for completely self-inflicted damage. LOL, that is funny.

Imagine this - you are a minister, and you say something, the public is shocked and angry. And then you say, "Oh, all of you tens of thousands of people, you've misunderstood me. I am the poor, unfortunate, misunderstood one." Sing me another song, birdie.

"Me talk nonsense. Also can sing song.

How much you pay me?"

If Grace Fu can be so badly misunderstood, then that surely says something about Grace Fu's communication skills. It is extremely difficult to get thousands of people to misunderstand you. I am sure that I could not possibly succeed in pulling off such a feat. (But then I am not a PAP minister, I lack such talent).

However - and this will surprise many of my own readers - I am not actually angry about the content, the actual substance, of Grace Fu's statement.

Why am I not angry?

Look - this woman is merely a product of the system. And what is the system that I speak of? It is the PAP recruitment system that Lee Kuan Yew decided to create, 20 years ago. A system that deliberately entices job applicants with world-record-setting amounts of money.

The inevitable result - the PAP attracts many talented political wannabes whose main interest is in the money. (Meanwhile, talented political wannabes who just hope to serve the nation can join the Workers' Party - like Chen Show Mao did).

And when the money gets cut, well, you can naturally expect the PAP ministers (at least, the more money-minded ones) to get upset. Isn't that logical? If you had come for the money, then you WOULD be upset by a pay cut, surely.

My blog post is entitled "Grace Fu Should Consider Resignation". Sounds sensationalist, doesn't it? But it isn't really. (I'm not that kind of blogger, lah). Let me just explain my thinking.

It goes like this - if any minister is really very unhappy with his or her pay, then he or she can always quit. It's not like they are being forced to be ministers.

Unhappy employees don't perform well - we know that from our own experiences in working life. It is better for the company if they quit. It is better for themselves too, for they can go elsewhere and find another job that is more satisfying for them.

Why would we expect things to be any different for our ministers? If they are not happy with their pay, they won't perform well. They should just quit and get a more lucrative job elsewhere (if they can, of course). After they resign as ministers, Singapore can replace them with new ministers who care less about the money, and care more about serving the nation.

So I say this to all the ministers - if you're not happy with your pay, please quit. Now, rather than five years later. Do yourself a favour, and do the country a favour. Just get out.

DisGraceFu cunt!!

[pakpak2001]

[QUOTE=kuasimi;20534117]http://www.sgpolitics.net/?p=4237
============
Grace Fu father is James Fu, porlickticker secretery to Lee Kuan Yew something like that
anyway Grace Fou is there by merrytocracy, not backdoor or grc
think last erection she was PaP orgernehser, (anyone can confirm?)
hope she not the one who transfer NTUC Bro Ng Chee Meng to Sengkan?
of course BG Ng fell down longkang lose his minister post too. sad as e damn nice guy

[billycock]

http://www.sgpolitics.net/?p=4237
============
Grace Fu father is James Fu, porlickticker secretery to Lee Kuan Yew something like that
anyway Grace Fou is there by merrytocracy, not backdoor or grc
think last erection she was PaP orgernehser, (anyone can confirm?)
hope she not the one who transfer NTUC Bro Ng Chee Meng to Sengkan?
of course BG Ng fell down longkang lose his minister post too. sad as e damn nice guy

Nice guy won't join pappy, only greedy bastards do :D

[jacky43]

I asked a colleague at Ipoh Malaysia. R there warning of Malaysian Chinese not to stay out late? She said nothing. What was my full Q.

Malaysia paid S$103m for cancellation of HSR project. The malays there will go crazy because a big country got bully by a small country. Their opp parties will march all the way to Agong palace.

[AudreyJule]

Another achievements. :D

Learn from his old man :D

[jacky43]

One yr ago the most powerful man activated CB. The first batch of SIA and Scoot girls worked in NTUC and hospitals. 4 mths if i am not mistaken. The second batch stared in March 2021.

I coded from MP in the house. This technical recession. We are not out of the wood yet.

[tradechat]

One yr ago the most powerful man activated CB. The first batch of SIA and Scoot girls worked in NTUC and hospitals. 4 mths if i am not mistaken. The second batch stared in March 2021.

I coded from MP in the house. This technical recession. We are not out of the wood yet.

Recession or not, they say they happy. If recession why increase petrol price? :D
All those white assholes please go to hell ASAP!!

[KhawBoonCunt]

Recession or not, they say they happy. If recession why increase petrol price? :D
All those white assholes please go to hell ASAP!!

The senior asshole already gone to hell, the rest must follow?

[kuasimi]

https://sg.yahoo.com/news/comment-heng-swee-keat-chosen-as-singapore-pm-chose-to-quit-035901193.html

COMMENT: Heng Swee Keat - Chosen as Singapore PM, chose to quit

Nicholas Yong
Nicholas Yong·Assistant News Editor
Fri, 9 April 2021, 11:59 am

https://s.yimg.com/ny/api/res/1.2/TbTRtg.xiBu6_GAlq6d2cA--/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTk2MDtoPTY0MC4wOA--/https://s.yimg.com/os/creatr-uploaded-images/2021-04/1dc838c0-9887-11eb-9af7-962384cedcc2


SINGAPORE — The would-be king is dead. Long live the king - whoever he or she might be.

Heng Swee Keat, once proclaimed by the late Lee Kuan Yew as his most capable aide ever, has now joined the ranks of political could-have-beens like Anwar Ibrahim and Hillary Clinton, leaving Singaporeans to wonder what sort of Prime Minister he might have made. All in, he lasted around two and a half years as the heir apparent to PM Lee Hsien Loong.

In a televised Istana press conference on Thursday (8 April) that was open only to Singapore Press Holdings (SPH) and Mediacorp outlets, as well as the social news site Mothership, the Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister abdicated as the chosen one almost nine months after the General Election, amid a plethora of well-rehearsed talking points.

But while PM Lee and Heng's fourth-generation colleagues were all singing from the same hymn sheet, the end result was still puzzlingly, and maddeningly, discordant.

The 59-year-old first cited his age - he had belatedly realised that by the time the next General Election comes around, Heng will be in his mid-60s, and the runway for leadership succession will be too short. "We need someone who is younger with a longer runway, to not think in just one or two election terms, but think about the long term future of Singapore," he said, exhibiting the body language of a man ill at ease in the glare of the media spotlight.

Then there was the startling admission that he had not seen himself as up to the job from day one. Asked when he had started thinking about stepping aside, Heng, who will retain his post as Coordinating Minister for Economic Policies, replied, “I started thinking about it when I was appointed. I do not want to take on any job which I cannot deliver...And therefore, I've been thinking about it as to whether am I the right person?”

To further complicate matters, despite singing his praises amid a show of unity, Heng's 4G colleagues have yet to choose a new successor and said in a joint statement that his decision was an "unexpected turn of events". Even more confusingly, Senior Minister and Coordinating Minister for National Security Teo Chee Hean will be acting PM whenever PM Lee is on leave, despite Heng remaining as DPM for now.

The average Singaporean could be forgiven for thinking: what is going on? For there is no other way to call it but for what it is: a leadership crisis.

Something does not add up

https://s.yimg.com/ny/api/res/1.2/Whp9RXXdpCbsfcAYQlVAgw--/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTk2MA--/https://s.yimg.com/os/creatr-uploaded-images/2021-04/2976b690-987a-11eb-b7fc-f09df6c0e5b1


Yahoo News Singapore contributor PN Balji, a former editor of The New Paper and Today, covered two prime ministerial successions in his career: from the late Lee to Goh Chok Tong to the current incumbent. Now, he said, Singapore’s well-choreographed leadership succession has gone "topsy turvy", even though Lee, 69, had already pledged to stay on till the end of the pandemic.

"The Singapore system is such that everything is well planned. Now Mr Heng steps aside and we don’t know who is going to take over. He is not going to be Finance Minister, but he’s still going to be DPM for a while. It’s all very intriguing and unsettling for Singapore," Balji said.

Balji was also unconvinced by the 4G leaders citing the pandemic as a reason for the disruption in leadership succession. "COVID-19 has been here for a year. Is it worse than what it was a year ago? And PM Lee has already said he will not hand over until COVID-19 is over. So what is the pressure on Heng Swee Keat?"

All this does not bode well for the People's Action Party, in the wake of last year's election that saw the opposition making historic gains and the PAP's vote share falling by almost nine percentage points. Since then, the ruling party has stumbled from one setback to another, whether it be the TraceTogether debacle or its apparent U-turn on the contentious tudung issue.

Come the next election, what would the PAP say if the Workers' Party, which ran Heng to the wire in his East Coast ward, or any other opposition party were to contest the GRC and tell residents there: you were duped into voting for a man who was supposed to be PM, are you going to be duped yet again?

First among equals?

With the benefit of 20/20 vision - no pun intended - Heng's unease in his role had been apparent for some time. One of the clearest signs that he might not be primus inter pares was his fumbling performance in a November 2019 parliamentary session.

Having proposed a motion that called on WP Members of Parliament Low Thia Khiang and Sylvia Lim to recuse themselves from financial matters relating to the Aljunied-Hougang Town Council (AHTC), he was meant to carry the ball. This reporter wrote at the time, "Instead, just minutes into the debate on the motion, Heng had to call for a time-out. He hummed and hawed, flipping through his folder like a student stumbling through his class presentation."

Tellingly, clips of PM Lee looking exasperated and instructing Heng on what to say in the session had been circulating online. The latter's reputation has always been that of a genial technocrat, and not a political street fighter.

Then came the 2020 election, when Heng made his infamous "East Coast Plan" gaffe and led his East Coast team to a less than convincing victory with just 53.41 per cent of the vote share. And despite delivering five pandemic Budgets, he was not at the front and centre of the government's efforts to combat the coronavirus, raising questions about whether he inspired confidence among his own colleagues.

Who will be next?

https://s.yimg.com/ny/api/res/1.2/MI6cw_UJ4tEAfc7G0SLCvw--/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTk2MA--/https://media.zenfs.com/creatr-images/GLB/2018-01-15/ac8c0a80-f9c2-11e7-9213-7790770bab63_YahooReuters_HengOngChan.jpg


National broadsheet The Straits Times, without citing any polls or individuals in the know, has already anointed four men as potential successors to Heng.

They are: Transport Minister Ong Ye Kung and Trade and Industry Minister Chan Chun Sing, both of whom have often been spoken of as potential PMs; Education Minister Lawrence Wong, who has impressed with his handling of the pandemic; and National Development Minister Desmond Lee, the youngest of the quartet at 44.

With a Cabinet reshuffle due in two weeks, matters will hopefully become clearer.

But the damage has been done with Singapore's leadership succession in disarray. The PAP must move quickly and decisively if it is to reassure stakeholders on the domestic and international fronts.

It is uncertain if Heng will even be around to contest at the next GE.

Once upon time, the late Lee declared "I will now play goalkeeper" as he handed over to Goh Chok Tong. In Heng's case, he has called for his own substitution long before the 90 minutes are up. Who will emerge to see Singapore through the game?

Stay in the know on-the-go: Join Yahoo Singapore's Telegram channel at http://t.me/YahooSingapore

Related stories:

Heng Swee Keat: My age is key reason in decision to step aside as leader of 4G team

Hope for ‘clear outcome’ of new 4G team leader before next GE: PM Lee Hsien Loong

GE2020: I'm determined to see through COVID-19 crisis, hand over Singapore in good order – PM Lee

Most Singaporeans would choose Tharman as the next Prime Minister: survey

[kuasimi]

https://sg.news.yahoo.com/heng-swee-keat-age-key-reason-step-aside-leader-4g-team-122950408.html


Heng Swee Keat: My age is key reason in decision to step aside as leader of 4G team
Vernon Lee
Vernon Lee·Senior Editor
Thu, 8 April 2021, 8:29 pm·4-min read



https://s.yimg.com/ny/api/res/1.2/HPSU_rcU1JigF7_7iFExXg--/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTk2MDtoPTc0Ni40MzE3MTgwNj E2NzQ7Y2Y9d2VicA--/https://s.yimg.com/os/creatr-uploaded-images/2021-04/8ccffdf0-9857-11eb-af75-8fed0d97638e


SINGAPORE — Deputy Prime Minister Heng Swee Keat said on Thursday (8 April) his age is a key reason why he was stepping aside as the leader of Singapore's fourth-generation team.

Heng, 59, will remain as DPM and Coordinating Minister for Economic Policies, and step down as Finance Minister.

Speaking at a media conference to announce his decision, Heng said by the time he takes over as leader of Singapore, he will be in his mid-60s and the runway in leadership succession will be “too short”. The COVID-19 pandemic has also shaped his decision, he added.

“And we need someone who is younger with a longer runway, to not think in just one or two election terms, but think about the long term future of Singapore, and of Singaporeans and the structural challenges, which will creep up day by day,” Heng said.

Such a leader will be able to take Singapore through to the next phase of nation-building, with the support of the people, he added.

Heng, who is also Member of Parliament for East Coast GRC, said he is glad that Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong is staying on to see Singapore through the COVID-19 crisis.

When asked if his health was a factor behind his decision, Heng said his health is good now and he is very thankful to his medical team for taking great care of him.

In November 2018, following his appointment as the ruling People’s Action Party’s (PAP) first assistant secretary-general, Heng said that he had made “a very good recovery” from the stroke he suffered in 2016.

Speaking at a press conference then, Heng stressed, “I would not have taken up this appointment if I do not have the confidence that my health allows me to do it.”


https://twitter.com/YahooSG?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed% 7Ctwterm%5E1380188537983692800%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5 Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fsg.news.yahoo.com%2Fheng-swee-keat-age-key-reason-step-aside-leader-4g-team-122950408.html


https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EydqJ0xU4AAJEIH?format=jpg&name=small


In response to a question at the conference on whether the outcome of last year’s general election had an impact on Heng’s decision, the DPM said the results of the GE and in particular the East Coast GRC were not a factor.

At the GE, the PAP suffered its worst electoral performance since independence in terms of the number of seats lost to the opposition. The Workers’ Party won Sengkang GRC and retained Aljunied GRC and Hougang SMC for a total of 10 seats.

The PAP won 61.24 per cent of the votes cast and 83 seats out of 93 at the GE held amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Its vote share was a sharp drop from 69.9 per cent in GE2015.

In the closely watched contest for East Coast GRC, Heng led the PAP team to triumph over the WP team led by Nicole Seah, winning 53.41 per cent of the vote.

Heng revealed that when he was first appointed as leader of the 4G team, he was already thinking about the heavy responsibilities and tasks ahead, saying that the pandemic last year was a turning point for him.

“I started thinking about it when I was appointed. I do not want to take on any job which I cannot deliver. Those of you who have worked with me know I am a workaholic. And I put my heart and soul into what I do. And therefore, I've been thinking about it as to whether am I the right person?”

In a joint statement before the conference, the 4G leaders excluding Heng said they "respect and accept" the DPM's decision.

"We appreciate what a difficult decision it must have been. But no one could have foreseen the disruption of COVID-19, the great uncertainty it has created, and its long-lasting impact. We know that he has made the decision with Singapore’s long-term interests at heart."

Stay in the know on-the-go: Join Yahoo Singapore's Telegram channel at http://t.me/YahooSingapore

Related story:

DPM Heng Swee Keat steps aside as leader of 4G team, 'setback for succession planning'

[kuasimi]

funboi funboi is offline
Samster


Another achievements.

Quote:
https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/singapore/pm-lee-leong-sze-hian-blogger-133000-defamation-sharing-article-14478210

Blogger Leong Sze Hian ordered to pay PM Lee S$133,000 in damages for defamation

SINGAPORE: A court on Wednesday (Mar 24) ordered blogger Leong Sze Hian to pay Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong S$133,000 for defaming him in a Facebook post.

Mr Leong had shared an article by Malaysian website The Coverage in a public Facebook post in November 2018. The article, which was posted with no accompanying caption, alleged that Mr Lee had helped former Malaysian prime minister Najib Razak launder money in relation to scandal-hit Malaysian state fund 1Malaysia Development Berhad.

https://www.theonlinecitizen.com/2021/04/07/leong-sze-hians-crowdfunding-success-demonstrates-how-common-people-can-weaken-libel-tactics-by-spore-leaders/

Leong Sze Hian’s crowdfunding success demonstrates how common people can weaken libel tactics by S’pore leaders
by The Online Citizen 07/04/2021in Court Cases, MediaReading Time: 3 mins read 88




https://www.theonlinecitizen.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/167325555_1822870741223225_4226254499526192614_n-1.jpg


Veteran blogger Leong Sze Hian’s crowdfunding success on Easter Sunday has highlighted how libel tactics by the Singapore leaders can be easily weakened by the common people through donations in a crowdfunding campaign.

Mr Leong, a financial advisor and blogger, initiated his crowdfunding effort on 25 Mar after the High Court ordered a sum of S$133,000 to be paid to Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong for the defamation suit brought against him by PM Lee.

The defamation suit concerns an article shared by Mr Leong on his personal Facebook Timeline titled “Breaking News: Singapore Lee Hsien Loong Becomes 1MDB’s Key Investigation Target – Najib Signed Several Unfair Agreements with Hsien Loong In Exchange For Money Laundering”.

The article, published by “Malaysian-based social news network” The Coverage, alleged that PM Lee had entered “several unfair agreements” with Najib Razak, who was the Malaysian Prime Minister at the time the deals purportedly took place, “including the agreement to build the Singapore-Malaysia High-Speed Rail”, according to court documents.

After just 11 days of crowdfunding, Mr Leong said that a “Miracle on Easter Sunday” had been achieved, noting that 2,065 people had contributed to the crowdfunding efforts.

A total of S$133,082 was raised as of Sunday, with the highest donation being S$5,000 and the smallest being S$2.91.

Speaking to Asia Sentinel on Wednesday (7 Apr), he branded PM Lee winning the libel suit as a “pyrrhic victory”.

“Thousands have written to me. It seems that the fear of the people may be turning into anger. I hope that this will be the last time that any politician will sue ordinary citizens for defamation (in Singapore), as they must realize now that it does not pay to continue to do so,” said Mr Leong.

While Mr Leong has managed to raise the damages for the defamation suit, he is still required to pay various costs comprising legal costs and court fees, which could amount to S$50,000 or more.

A Singaporean lawyer based in Hong Kong – who was not identified in the Asia Sentinel report – said that defamation lawsuits by the ruling party are intended to “punish critics” and “cripple them financially”.

“If one disregards the time and effort that the defendant has to spend on his defense, then donations by the public to support the public mean that neither of these objectives is achieved.

“Critics are likely to keep their silence for fear of the financial cost associated with losing these defamation claims. If the financial cost is covered by donations, however, this removes a significant disincentive for offering criticism, and could encourage more people to speak up,” said the lawyer.

PM Lee is also suing Terry Xu, the chief editor of The Online Citizen, pertaining to an article published on 15 August 2019 titled “PM Lee’s wife, Ho Ching weirdly shares article on cutting ties with family members”.

The article contained alleged defamatory statements made by PM Lee’s siblings Mr Lee Hsien Yang and Dr Lee Wei Ling in relation to the 38 Oxley Road dispute.

Lawyer Lim Tean, who is defending both cases, told Asia Sentinel that he hopes the two libel cases of Mr Leong and Mr Xu will be the “last of the political libel trials our nation will witness”.

“Henceforth, the PAP should know that any attempt to curb free speech using antiquated libel laws will be met with the full resistance of the people, who are not prepared to be steamrolled any longer,” said Mr Lim.

He continued, “They may win the courts but these will be pyrrhic victories. The real winners will be the common man of Singapore who are willing to pay any price to support their champions such as Leong Sze Hian and Terry Xu, as this extraordinary crowdfunding campaign has demonstrated.”

Mr LHY, PM Lee’s younger brother, was among the 2,065 people who had donated to Mr Leong’s crowdfunding campaign.

“I was happy to be one of the many donors who came forward to help Leong to pay off the damages awarded by the court. It is very significant so many Singaporeans came forward to express their support,” said Mr LHY.

Correction: Edit about the phrase used by Mr Leong on pyrrhic victory

[mokiedoodle]

穿白的没有一只是好东西

[justin69]

LKY first choice was not GCT but still let him be PM before LHL took over. HSK was not LHL's first choice and he managed to pull him off the horse.

Great achievement 🤣

[sonycybershot]

his greatest achievement is born as lky son.

he become pm because of lky.

[laser434]

Give the man a medal for being able to tahan seeing HC's face, first thing when he opens his eyes in the morning.

[tabao11]

Father of Singapore Casino and Singapore pawn shop industry

[Spain1982]

Give the man a medal for being able to tahan seeing HC's face, first thing when he opens his eyes in the morning.

Errr ... maybe they sleep in separate room

[kuasimi]

https://sg.news.yahoo.com/singaporeans-cdc-mayor-salaries-outrageous-pritam-singh-062435406.html


Many Singaporeans feel CDC mayor salaries are 'outrageous': Pritam Singh
Nicholas Yong
Nicholas Yong·Assistant News Editor
24 February 2021·3-min read


https://s.yimg.com/ny/api/res/1.2/ze8P38d1HQeZMy07ma0G.w--/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTk2MDtoPTY0MDtjZj13ZWJw/https://s.yimg.com/os/creatr-uploaded-images/2020-08/06a6df30-eb4d-11ea-bf5d-38224532593b


SINGAPORE — Many Singaporeans are of the view that the salaries of Community Development Council (CDC) mayors are "outrageous", mainly because they are not perceived to commensurate with the mayor's roles and functions today, said Leader of the Opposition Pritam Singh on Wednesday (24 February).

"Other Singaporeans are of the view that the CDCs' functions can be carried out by other existing entities, or by ministries and statutory boards, including other organisations under the People's Association, particularly since the social footprint of each CDC is uneven, and can differ greatly compared to another," claimed Singh.

"Yet others simply don't know what the CDCs do."

There are currently five district mayors - Low Yen Ling (South West), Denise Phua (Central), Fahmi Aliman (South East), Alex Yam (North West) and Desmond Choo (North East).

According to the 2012 White Paper on government salaries, mayors are paid an annual salary of $660,000. This is in addition to their annual MP allowance of $192,500.

Speaking during the parliamentary debate on Budget 2021, the Workers' Party chief noted that $20 million was allocated to the CDCs in the Unity Budget last year, and this increased to $75 million a month later in the Resilience Budget. "This injection is equal to all the reserves of the CDCs put together, according to the CDCs' FY 2018 annual report."

The Aljunied Member of Parliament called for a "serious review" of the necessity of having full-time CDC mayors, suggesting that bodies such as the Citizens Consultative Committees (CCC) are more closely connected to the ground. He noted, for example, that representatives of market and merchants association are commonly represented on the CCCs, and there is one CCC for each ward or constituency.

It would follow, said Singh, that the CDCs' role in the CDC voucher scheme is potentially "superfluous". The 43-year-old added, "So it would appear to me as if the government is trying to find some way to make the CDCs relevant, in view of their relative absence in the public mindshare."

CDC voucher scheme

Last Tuesday, the government announced a $900 million Household Support package for families in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic. Under the package, about 1.3 million households will be given $100 CDC vouchers, with an additional $150 million grant to the CDC for this. Recipients can use the vouchers at heartland shops and hawker centres.

Singh asked the government to clarify if the CDC vouchers can also be used at supermarket chains such as Giant, Sheng Siong and NTUC FairPrice. He suggested that the current scheme be focused solely on heartland shops and hawkers, such as local provision shops, Chinese sinsehs and fruit sellers

"There's a risk that if this is not done, the bulk of the vouchers would be spent at supermarkets like NTUC, Fairprice and bypass the heartland shops. If the major supermarket chains are involved, the scheme could effectively mirror a cash top up."

He also asked how much of the $150 million has been allocated for the CDC voucher scheme per se, and how much constitutes the amount allocated for the administration of the program.



Stay in the know on-the-go: Join Yahoo Singapore's Telegram channel at http://t.me/YahooSingapore

Related stories:

80% of Singaporeans think Budget 2021 will boost economy: survey

Budget 2021: Singapore expects overall budget deficit of $11 billion for FY2021

Singapore Budget 2021: More winners than losers

https://youtu.be/uzGwiQOXiA0

[kuasimi]

https://sg.yahoo.com/news/comment-heng-swee-keat-chosen-as-singapore-pm-chose-to-quit-035901193.html

COMMENT: Heng Swee Keat - Chosen as Singapore PM, chose to quit

Nicholas Yong
Nicholas Yong·Assistant News Editor
Fri, 9 April 2021, 11:59 am

https://s.yimg.com/ny/api/res/1.2/TbTRtg.xiBu6_GAlq6d2cA--/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTk2MDtoPTY0MC4wOA--/https://s.yimg.com/os/creatr-uploaded-images/2021-04/1dc838c0-9887-11eb-9af7-962384cedcc2


SINGAPORE — The would-be king is dead. Long live the king - whoever he or she might be.

Heng Swee Keat, once proclaimed by the late Lee Kuan Yew as his most capable aide ever, has now joined the ranks of political could-have-beens like Anwar Ibrahim and Hillary Clinton, leaving Singaporeans to wonder what sort of Prime Minister he might have made. All in, he lasted around two and a half years as the heir apparent to PM Lee Hsien Loong.

In a televised Istana press conference on Thursday (8 April) that was open only to Singapore Press Holdings (SPH) and Mediacorp outlets, as well as the social news site Mothership, the Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister abdicated as the chosen one almost nine months after the General Election, amid a plethora of well-rehearsed talking points.

But while PM Lee and Heng's fourth-generation colleagues were all singing from the same hymn sheet, the end result was still puzzlingly, and maddeningly, discordant.

The 59-year-old first cited his age - he had belatedly realised that by the time the next General Election comes around, Heng will be in his mid-60s, and the runway for leadership succession will be too short. "We need someone who is younger with a longer runway, to not think in just one or two election terms, but think about the long term future of Singapore," he said, exhibiting the body language of a man ill at ease in the glare of the media spotlight.

Then there was the startling admission that he had not seen himself as up to the job from day one. Asked when he had started thinking about stepping aside, Heng, who will retain his post as Coordinating Minister for Economic Policies, replied, “I started thinking about it when I was appointed. I do not want to take on any job which I cannot deliver...And therefore, I've been thinking about it as to whether am I the right person?”

To further complicate matters, despite singing his praises amid a show of unity, Heng's 4G colleagues have yet to choose a new successor and said in a joint statement that his decision was an "unexpected turn of events". Even more confusingly, Senior Minister and Coordinating Minister for National Security Teo Chee Hean will be acting PM whenever PM Lee is on leave, despite Heng remaining as DPM for now.

The average Singaporean could be forgiven for thinking: what is going on? For there is no other way to call it but for what it is: a leadership crisis.

Something does not add up

https://s.yimg.com/ny/api/res/1.2/Whp9RXXdpCbsfcAYQlVAgw--/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTk2MA--/https://s.yimg.com/os/creatr-uploaded-images/2021-04/2976b690-987a-11eb-b7fc-f09df6c0e5b1


Yahoo News Singapore contributor PN Balji, a former editor of The New Paper and Today, covered two prime ministerial successions in his career: from the late Lee to Goh Chok Tong to the current incumbent. Now, he said, Singapore’s well-choreographed leadership succession has gone "topsy turvy", even though Lee, 69, had already pledged to stay on till the end of the pandemic.

"The Singapore system is such that everything is well planned. Now Mr Heng steps aside and we don’t know who is going to take over. He is not going to be Finance Minister, but he’s still going to be DPM for a while. It’s all very intriguing and unsettling for Singapore," Balji said.

Balji was also unconvinced by the 4G leaders citing the pandemic as a reason for the disruption in leadership succession. "COVID-19 has been here for a year. Is it worse than what it was a year ago? And PM Lee has already said he will not hand over until COVID-19 is over. So what is the pressure on Heng Swee Keat?"

All this does not bode well for the People's Action Party, in the wake of last year's election that saw the opposition making historic gains and the PAP's vote share falling by almost nine percentage points. Since then, the ruling party has stumbled from one setback to another, whether it be the TraceTogether debacle or its apparent U-turn on the contentious tudung issue.

Come the next election, what would the PAP say if the Workers' Party, which ran Heng to the wire in his East Coast ward, or any other opposition party were to contest the GRC and tell residents there: you were duped into voting for a man who was supposed to be PM, are you going to be duped yet again?

First among equals?

With the benefit of 20/20 vision - no pun intended - Heng's unease in his role had been apparent for some time. One of the clearest signs that he might not be primus inter pares was his fumbling performance in a November 2019 parliamentary session.

Having proposed a motion that called on WP Members of Parliament Low Thia Khiang and Sylvia Lim to recuse themselves from financial matters relating to the Aljunied-Hougang Town Council (AHTC), he was meant to carry the ball. This reporter wrote at the time, "Instead, just minutes into the debate on the motion, Heng had to call for a time-out. He hummed and hawed, flipping through his folder like a student stumbling through his class presentation."

Tellingly, clips of PM Lee looking exasperated and instructing Heng on what to say in the session had been circulating online. The latter's reputation has always been that of a genial technocrat, and not a political street fighter.

Then came the 2020 election, when Heng made his infamous "East Coast Plan" gaffe and led his East Coast team to a less than convincing victory with just 53.41 per cent of the vote share. And despite delivering five pandemic Budgets, he was not at the front and centre of the government's efforts to combat the coronavirus, raising questions about whether he inspired confidence among his own colleagues.

Who will be next?

https://s.yimg.com/ny/api/res/1.2/MI6cw_UJ4tEAfc7G0SLCvw--/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTk2MA--/https://media.zenfs.com/creatr-images/GLB/2018-01-15/ac8c0a80-f9c2-11e7-9213-7790770bab63_YahooReuters_HengOngChan.jpg


National broadsheet The Straits Times, without citing any polls or individuals in the know, has already anointed four men as potential successors to Heng.

They are: Transport Minister Ong Ye Kung and Trade and Industry Minister Chan Chun Sing, both of whom have often been spoken of as potential PMs; Education Minister Lawrence Wong, who has impressed with his handling of the pandemic; and National Development Minister Desmond Lee, the youngest of the quartet at 44.

With a Cabinet reshuffle due in two weeks, matters will hopefully become clearer.

But the damage has been done with Singapore's leadership succession in disarray. The PAP must move quickly and decisively if it is to reassure stakeholders on the domestic and international fronts.

It is uncertain if Heng will even be around to contest at the next GE.

Once upon time, the late Lee declared "I will now play goalkeeper" as he handed over to Goh Chok Tong. In Heng's case, he has called for his own substitution long before the 90 minutes are up. Who will emerge to see Singapore through the game?

Stay in the know on-the-go: Join Yahoo Singapore's Telegram channel at http://t.me/YahooSingapore

Related stories:

Heng Swee Keat: My age is key reason in decision to step aside as leader of 4G team

Hope for ‘clear outcome’ of new 4G team leader before next GE: PM Lee Hsien Loong

GE2020: I'm determined to see through COVID-19 crisis, hand over Singapore in good order – PM Lee

Most Singaporeans would choose Tharman as the next Prime Minister: survey

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M43KVVjzPlU

[kuasimi]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GGfPd5EMXQk

https://psp.org.sg/ncmp-leong-mun-wai-questions-pa-budget2021/

NCMP Leong Mun Wai questions the PA’s huge budget of S$796 million for 2021

https://psp.org.sg/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/Mun-Wai-talking-1024x593.jpg

During the recent debate in Parliament about Singapore’s Budget for 2021, PSP NCMP Leong Mun Wai noted that the People’s Association (PA) budget was surprisingly high yet again, while many Singaporeans are still unsure about the PA’s exact role in society.

NCMP Leong expressed his concerns surrounding the PA’s staggering budget of S$796 million, an amount that is higher then other Government Agencies with more obvious functions, like IRAS or Govtech.

In 2020, PA spent $199m on events, but more than $441m on administrative costs. NCMP Leong sought clarity on how PA money is spent, in line with PSP’s belief that transparency in Government is an important tenet of a modern society that honours the democratic process.

Finally, NCMP Leong also sought answers about the political affiliations of PA management and volunteers. As a body that receives public funds, it is imperative that the PA remains politically neutral – both in its internal structures and its external activities in the different communities of Singapore.

As PSP continues to strive towards transparency of Government, our NCMPs will continue to seek clarity on issues such as the true role of organizations like the People’s Association (PA) that receive and use taxpayer money.

The Video for Mr Leong’s speech can be viewed here:

https://www.facebook.com/theonlinecitizen/videos/260391658990871/

[alexlucky]

What’s his achievements? I guess it’s his will power to impregnate his ugly wife. Give me for free I still need to consider. If not nothing proud to mention.

[SongJoongkee]

What’s his achievements? I guess it’s his will power to impregnate his ugly wife. Give me for free I still need to consider. If not nothing proud to mention.

Nobody knows if he really impregnate her. He could have offered her to Indians for free :D

[kuasimi]

political always effect economic of country and living cost of people that is us

please consider on your people life. What will happen if expenses always increase without increase of salary?

https://youtu.be/d07rbcP34j4

[kuasimi]

https://youtu.be/Tyz2UYSkCik

https://youtu.be/EDSDdKFpRQc


https://youtu.be/SDGsuKvgB5c

https://youtu.be/CTMMRrxx-Ug

[alover]

suing people lor

[HoJinx]

His achievement is marrying a wife who earns much more than him

[soonbeng]

His handling of the pandemic in Singapore. Have to give him his due. Still these are the overall national healthcare efforts of government doctors and nurses. And the hard won lessons learnt from SARS.

[cherrybunny]

suing people lor

Out of 9000+ persons who shared a post, he chose to sue only one. Bo chee lah :D

[superstiffy]

His handling of the pandemic in Singapore. Have to give him his due. Still these are the overall national healthcare efforts of government doctors and nurses. And the hard won lessons learnt from SARS.

Bro u ok bo? community cases come liao... dormitory cases also come liao... because of all the imported ah nehs... better go and grab toilet paper liao... :rolleyes:

[Chicklets]

Bro u ok bo? community cases come liao... dormitory cases also come liao... because of all the imported ah nehs... better go and grab toilet paper liao... :rolleyes:

Grab toilet paper, later a sissy minister say you sia suay :D

[jacky43]

Asian summit on Myanmar. News broadcast good progress. Seem like the general is afraid of the VIPs. Include the king of Brunei, the richest man in the world. I been thinking. This is the first and last time the general will meet and explain his country issues. No more.

We have been doing it past 10 yrs. Giving long term staying passes and, PR and new citizens to its people. There be no other ways to help Burma people.

[kuasimi]

“You know, the cure for all this talk is really a good dose of incompetent government. You get that alternative and you'll never put Singapore together again: Humpty Dumpty cannot be put together again... my asset values will disappear, my apartments will be worth a fraction of what they were, my ministers' jobs will be in peril, their security will be at risk and their women will become maids in other people's countries, foreign workers. I cannot have that!" - Justifying million-dollar pay hike for Singapore ministers”
― Lee Kuan Yew

Somehow after Ministers leave Government and Politics, no MNC hired them for senior and top positions. Wong Kan Seng, Mah Bow Tan, Yeo Cheow Tong, Michael Palmer etc. were not seek after. So the truth is these Ministers are not really that top a talent that demanded top dollars.

Most after leaving Politics join companies run by friends, Government or Grassroot Leaders. Lui Tuck Yew became a Ambassador to China as nobody give him top jobs in top companies. George Yeo became Chairman at his tycoon friend's company.
MPs who lost elections found jobs at GLC e.g. Ong Ye Kung (Capitaland), Ng Chee Meng (NTUC). The Aljunied, Hougang and Sengkang PAP losers.

So do PAP Politicians deserve to be highest paid in the world?



https://yoursdp.org/publ/political_hors_d_39_uvre-mm_lee_throws_the_opposition_a_challenge-4-1-0-518/

“The PAP makes promises they deliver. The Opposition cannot deliver.”

“If you have a flood, just carefully think who is more likely to get the drainage put right and have the flood alleviated as quickly as possible: A PAP candidate with links to the ministers and Prime Minister, or a non-PAP candidate who has become an MP, like in Potong Pasir or Hougang, and who has to manage on his own?”

“That’s a fact of life.” (Today, 29 April 2006)

– Lee Kuan Yew,
Minister Mentor

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0nho3FWPaNk


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YoME6SueX9w


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hPkqGcRfXaU

[OlePundeh]

“The PAP makes promises they deliver. The Opposition cannot deliver.”

“If you have a flood, just carefully think who is more likely to get the drainage put right and have the flood alleviated as quickly as possible: A PAP candidate with links to the ministers and Prime Minister, or a non-PAP candidate who has become an MP, like in Potong Pasir or Hougang, and who has to manage on his own?”

“That’s a fact of life.” (Today, 29 April 2006)

– Lee Kuan Yew,
Minister Mentor


You cannot fuck a dead person for his rubbish talk, that's a fact of life. Sianz :( :p

[kuasimi]

https://sudhirtv.com/2021/05/06/the-elites-have-run-the-straits-times-into-the-ground-whats-next/


The elites have run The Straits Times into the ground. What’s next?


Today we heard the news that Singapore Press Holdings (SPH) is spinning off its media unit, including The Straits Times and many other publications, into a non-profit entity. This follows years of consistently poor performance amid digital disruption and other changes to the media industry.

Wiser minds will engage in more thorough post-mortems—has anybody seen Ho Ching’s feed today?—but I wanted to spark a small conversation on the culture of elite governance in Singapore.

“If not for the Jobs Support Scheme (JSS), the loss would have been a deeper S$39.5 million,” Lee Boon Yang, SPH’s chairman, said in reference to the media business’s first-ever lost of S$11.4m, for the financial year which ended Aug 31 2020.

(Which includes management salaries. In case you missed it, since the JSS began in February 2020, the Singaporean taxpayer has helped pay even more for the upkeep of numerous millionaire elites.)

All this got me thinking. Why exactly is Lee Boon Yang the chairman of SPH?

Lee is a trained vet who entered politics in 1984 aged 37, and then entered the cabinet in 1991.

After leaving the cabinet in 2009, in the very same year he became chairman of the board of Keppel Corporation, where he is paid S$750,000 annually. Financially, I guess it was a nice cushion after having to give up his million-dollar ministership.

After leaving politics altogether in 2011, in the very same year he became chairman of the board of SPH, where he is paid S$216,000 annually. Financially, I guess it was a nice cushion after having to give up his (similar) politician’s pay.

It is not clear what qualifications Lee had to lead the board of a global conglomerate with offshore, marine and other interests, or the board of Singapore’s biggest media company. (Subservience?)

What we do know is that during his tenure both companies have performed poorly. Their stocks have tanked. Keppel has been ensnared in a massive corruption scandal while SPH is now on its knees seeking charity to salvage, among other things, one of Singapore’s fabled brands, The Straits Times, which was established in 1845. (Or one hundred and twenty years before Singapore became a fishing village.)

Yet it may seem harsh to focus only on a non-executive chairman, whose remit is limited. Far more damning is the composition of the entire SPH Board, which in turn is responsible for the choice of SPH’s CEO: Ng Yat Chung, a former chief of defence with zero prior experience in the media industry, was hired in 2017. (He’s the person caricatured by Sonny Liew above). The Board advises and helps the CEO on strategy and operations.

Let’s compare these Singaporean elites to the people who run a far more successful media brand. In 1843, just two years before The Straits Times was founded, the Brits who stayed at home established The Economist.

I decided to do a quick-and-dirty comparison of board and senior executive pay between SPH/The Straits Times and The Economist Group (TEG). I’ve chosen 2019 to reflect pre-pandemic levels.

Disclosure: I am a (tiny) minority shareholder in TEG, which is privately held. After joining the firm in 2006, I first bought shares in 2007 under the Employee Share Ownership Plan, which I still hold (despite leaving the firm in 2013).

Chairman of the Board

SPH: Lee Boon Yang, S$216,000

TEG: Paul Deighton, S$206,500 (£118,000 x 1.75, a rough average for the year)

Total independent directors’ salaries

SPH: S$1.11m

TEG: S$588,000 (£336,000)

CEO

SPH: Ng Yat Chung, S$1.79m

TEG: Chris Stibbs, S$1.49m (£852,000)

Editor-in-chief

The Straits Times: Warren Fernandez, S$1m (estimate)*

The Economist: Zanny Minton Beddoes, S$796,000 (£455,000)

Think about the glaring skills gap.

Lee Boon Yang has little international experience, while Paul Deighton is a former Goldman Sachs executive who was later CEO of the London Olympics.

SPH’s independent directors list is like a scholars’ old boys club—and girls, including Janet Ang, SISTIC chairperson and new Nominated MP. TEG’s include the likes of John Elkann, CEO of Axor.

SPH’s CEO, Ng Yat Chung, has no prior experience in media and, by his own admission, is not even a gentleman. TEG’s CEO is Chris Stibbs, who was head of Group Finance when I joined in 2006, and worked his way up to the role, becoming CEO in 2013. (Lara Boro took over in Sep 2019.)

Finally, The Straits Times’s chief editor is somebody whose name is not known outside of Toa Payoh, while The Economist’s chief editor is the incredible Zanny Minton Beddoes, the first woman to hold the position.

Think about the skills gap, and then think again about the salaries.

Do appointments and salaries at SPH reflect merit and talent—or political allegiance?

Which other sectors are the elites slowly running into the ground?

Remember, Ho Ching and other elites love to lecture ordinary Singaporeans about improving ourselves to face global talent competition.

Well, let me ask the same question: is Lee Boon Yang the most talented person available to serve as chairman of Keppel and SPH? Does Ng Yat Chung have to face competition from the world’s best media moguls?

This whole SPH mess is symptomatic of one great problem with Singaporean business and politics today: overpaid elites with God complexes and too much to lose lording over underpaid, under appreciated underlings.

SPH’s chairman; the entire independent board; the CEO; and the editor-in-chief all earn markedly more than their peers at The Economist Group.

Let that sink in, dear reader.

Because soon they’ll be coming to you hat in hand.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vtya00WDWus

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ME61dLrgkg0

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d48UyS969gg

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6hrQeqSY68g

[jacky43]

We set population white paper of 6.9 millions people till 2030. I notice PR is re name as "long term residents". In the vaccination ads at vaccination ctrs. What I know PR has no time frames in this country. The "long terms" could have time frame of 10 yrs. Same with local passports. 5 yrs and in Oct, can extent another 5 yrs.

A good thing. Local Chinese men married Thai woman. This pending for citizenships can put his wife under control. I have ex army friends who cannot handle their Thai wives. She refuse to inter great into Singaporean culture. Across all locals with foreign spouse. Still. Is early to tell whether this work.

[jacky43]

A 39-year-old man who refused to wear a mask while travelling aboard an MRT train was arrested on Sunday (9 May).

According to local media reports, the man was arrested for causing a public nuisance and flouting safe-distancing measures.

A widely circulated video over the weekend showed the man, who appears to be Caucasian, debating with other commuters on an East-West Line train about his reasons for not wearing a mask.

"I will never wear a mask," he says at one point to another commuter who is off-screen.

As the seated man calmly delivers his explanation – which includes something to do with researching "Bill Gates" and hating to see "uncles, granddads in their masks" – another commuter steps up to offer the man a face mask.
--------------
DPM Heng policy on control population. This is a case study of no long term resident, and new citizen for this ang mo. He cannot live among all of us, too bad he is going to be fined at least $5000. If he is out of jobs. And stuck here. Prepare to be jailed. 6 mths? I know nothing of laws.

[alover]

https://www.change.org/p/the-board-of-singapore-press-holdings-singaporeans-take-umbrage-at-sph-ceo-s-behaviour

[kuasimi]

https://www.change.org/p/the-board-of-singapore-press-holdings-singaporeans-take-umbrage-at-sph-ceo-s-behaviour

I think no use. For 55 years ,it was every taxpayer duty to support and feed the expensive lifestyle of Singapore public leaders and scholars for their entire life through NTUC, Civil Service, GLCs etc. e.g. Lui Tuck Yew failed as Minister but became Ambassador to China. Dhanabalan and Lim Boon Heng became Temasek Chairman after stepping down as Minister. Ng Chee Meng became NTUC Secretary General after losing elections as Minister. Mah Bow Tan joined Yellow Pages after stepping down as Minister. Lee Boon Yang joined Keppel and SPH after stepping down as Minister. Halimah Yaacob became President. No MNCs want them or they cannot find job on their own. The same goes to Ng Yat Chung. They are all taxpayers responsibility for life. This is why GST and taxes need to increase too.

[morrissey1209]

LHL's greatest achievement is being LKY's son.

[kuasimi]

https://www.change.org/p/the-board-of-singapore-press-holdings-singaporeans-take-umbrage-at-sph-ceo-s-behaviour

https://sg.news.yahoo.com/ex-minister-khaw-boon-wan-chairman-sph-media-business-iswaran-064424531.html


Ex-minister Khaw Boon Wan to be Chairman of SPH’s not-for-profit media business: S Iswaran
Vernon Lee
Vernon Lee·Senior Editor
Mon, 10 May 2021, 2:44 pm·2-min read


https://s.yimg.com/ny/api/res/1.2/XYlxafCCplxZGOshLg5l5w--/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTk2MDtoPTU0MDtjZj13ZWJw/https://s.yimg.com/hd/cp-video-transcode/prod/2020-02/06/5e3c08c22273412e1fe87e64/5e3c08ce67a90b0001e3e896_1920x1080_FES_v1.jpg
Then Transport Minister Khaw Boon Wan speaking to media on 6 February 2020 during a visit to Changi Airport. (VIDEO SCREENSHOT: Dhany Osman/Yahoo News Singapore)


SINGAPORE — Former Minister Khaw Boon Wan will be the chairman of Singapore Press Holdings’ not-for-profit media business, said Communications and Information Minister S Iswaran said in Parliament on Monday (10 May).

Delivering his Ministerial Statement, Iswaran said he has discussed the proposed restructuring of SPH’s media business into a not-for-profit entity and a company limited by guarantee (CLG) with management shareholders.

“They have all agreed that, given the national importance of this undertaking and the scale of the challenge, the chairman should be Mr Khaw Boon Wan. With his high standing and more than 25 years of public service experience in various senior appointments, Mr Khaw will be able to provide strong strategic leadership for the CLG,” said Iswaran.

Khaw has agreed to be the CLG chairman and he will be sharing his thoughts on its way forward in due course, Iswaran added.

At a press conference last Thursday, SPH announced plans to restructure its media business as a CLG. Such a model will allow the media business to receive funding from private and public sources, including financial support from the government.

The move to restructure SPH's media business comes as its core segment's revenue and profit continued to plunge amid falling advertisement revenue.

Following the Ministerial Statement, Workers' Party chairman Sylvia Lim asked Iswaran whether the government had suggested Khaw to take up the role before the management shareholders agreed to the suggestion. Lim clarified that she was not questioning Khaw's personal integrity but noted that he was the former chairman of the ruling People's Action Party, and former Coordinating Minister for Infrastructure.

In reply, Iswaran said Lim's question appeared to be referring to the issue of editorial independence at the CLG. Citing the examples of current SPH chairman and former minister Lee Boon Yang and former public servants heading Mediacorp, Iswaran said these media leaders and their companies have earned the trust of Singaporeans.

"We should therefore be very clear that what matters is not a perceived political hue in appointments, but rather in the substance of the character and capability of the people who are involved...Mr Khaw Boon Wan is held in high standing in Singapore by many and beyond Singapore," Iswaran said.

Khaw later issued a statement on the "heavy responsibility" of his new role and his anxiety given that he has "no digital media experience".

Having been "blissfully content" in the past year, Khaw said, "This assignment will disrupt my retirement!...But I cannot allow a Singapore institution to go into decline. I will see how I can help unleash the talent and the passion in our newsrooms."

Scroll back up to restore default view.

[fwchong]

Lee introduced CECA and bring in the indian FT and today we have Chengai Business Park in Changi


But he also bring in Filipinos whom we have great fuck with their girls because they are much better sexuality than others...

[fenton]

But he also bring in Filipinos whom we have great fuck with their girls because they are much better sexuality than others...

Maybe he needs some for himself because his wife CMI :D

[alexlucky]

The only achievement he has is to be the fastest sperm and he came out of the correct golden pussy; as the emperor’s son.. and the rest is just him being a baby his whole life.. maybe can count him staying alive and living a king’s life as the next biggest achievement in his life.. if he lives longer than his dad, that’s another 30 years to come and I think by then I’m already rotting in nursing home waiting to meet my maker..

[iskandarsleep]

.. if he lives longer than his dad, that’s another 30 years to come and I think by then I’m already rotting in nursing home waiting to meet my maker..

Think it is possible, good guys usually die young :D