Susilo: Mark Of A True Statesman

Hantu Laut

That's it, a mark of a true statesman. Thank you Susilo for your apology.

If it has come earlier, there won't be many angry Malaysians and Singaporeans.

That's the way it should be, as responsible neighbour we apologise if the mistake is ours, not insult our innocent neighbours who have to bear the brunt of our mistake.

You need to teach your Minister for People Welfare Agung Laksono tact and diplomacy. He behaved like a village tyrant.

I could not link the article on Susilo's apology, the full text below

JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) -- Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono apologized Monday to Singapore andMalaysia for record-setting pollution caused by forest fires in his country.

"For what is happening, as the president, I apologize to our brothers in Singapore and Malaysia," Yudhoyono said. He asked for their understanding and said Indonesia is working hard to fight the fires, which are often set by farmers to clear fields.

Jakarta dispatched planes and helicopters last week to battle the blazes in peat swamp forests as well as plantations in Riau province on Sumatra island, where the smoke easily drifts across the sea to the two neighboring countries.

Speaking at a news conference after a Cabinet meeting to discuss the issue, Yudhoyono said he has ordered an investigation of the fires.

"There should be a thorough investigation. In my analysis, there are both natural and human factors," he said, adding that the wind direction has caused the smoke to concentrate in Singapore and Malaysia.

Malaysian declared a state of emergency on Sunday in a district where the haze triggered one of the country's worst pollution levels, while Singapore has urged people to remain indoors due to "hazardous" levels of pollution.

Last week, Indonesian Coordinating Minister for People's Welfare Agung Laksono slammed critical comments by Singaporean officials about the haze, saying they should have been conveyed through diplomatic channels instead of publicly.

"Singapore should not act like children, making all that noise," he said. 

Also Monday, Minister of Transportation Evert Ernest Mangindaan warned all airlines about dangerous flying conditions in Jambi, Riau and Bengkulu because of the haze.

He said any aircraft flying in the areas must first obtain permission from Air Traffic Control. Yahoo.

Online Spying In Singapore

By Kirsten Han

It was an alarming headline taken froman article by Yahoo!SG: “S’pore among 25 govts using spy software: researchers.” The article, revolving around a report published by Citizen Lab, a think-tank at the University of Toronto, about a form of intrusion and surveillance software called FinSpy, made by UK-based Gamma Group International, suggested that the Singaporean government has been using software that allows them to “grab images off computer screens, record Skype chats, turn on cameras and microphones and log keystrokes.” A frightening thought…if it were true.

A closer look at the original Citizen Lab report reveals that the researchers merely found a “command and control” server for FinSpy in Singapore, operated by the company GPLHost. That company provides multi-domain hosting and has a presence in cities like Seattle, Paris, Singapore, Kuala Lumpur and Sydney, with most of their servers managed remotely.Read more.

Global Wealth: Experts Not Worth Their Salt

Hantu Laut

Credit Suisse Global Wealth.........with such big name, nobody cares or dares to fault their reports. 

Rating agencies or whatever you want to call them are, sometimes,  more an abomination of indulgence rather than giving factual result.

I can understand evaluating the wealth of people who control large public listed companies, but how do you go about evaluating private wealth? 

While I do not doubt the Singapore figure of millionaires, I believe Malaysia has more than the 36,000 quoted by the agency. It is still a mystery to me what formula they used to measure the wealth of the 36,000 individuals in Malaysia. 

Many Malaysians are also tax evaders, cash rich and difficult to evaluate their true wealth. 

How do they do it? 

Do they send them questionnaires, check their tax returns, check their bank accounts, check their properties and so on, to arrive at a valuation? Because of bank Secrecy Act, no bank will divulge their customers particulars to anyone.

The report also say house prices have gone down by 40% in Malaysia. Ask any Malaysian if they agree with this ridiculous finding. 

I can't speak for other parts of Malaysia but Sabah property price has gone through the roof and heading for Cloud 9 for the developers and hell for young people to buy a home. The prices of land have also skyrocketed and profiteering by developers have made matters worse for home purchasers. 

A semi-detached house which used to cost around RM200,000 just ten years ago is now costing between RM800,000 to RM1.0 million. I presumed Peninsular Malaysia is no better than what's happening in Sabah. The prices of property in KL hasn't gone down that much either. So! where the figure came from ?

Comparing Singapore and Hongkong with Malaysia may be fair game but Indonesia is a completely different kettle of fish. Indonesia has a population of over 240 million, the 4th largest in the world, and have only 104,000 millionaires, that is horrendously worse than Malaysia.

The report also says "Malaysia was listed among “frontier” wealth countries along with Egypt, Indonesia, Tunisia and Vietnam."

That's probably the biggest gaffe or, maybe, a political fluff coming out of Credit Suisse. 

If you have visited all these countries and if you had opened your eyes wide enough, you would see, we certainly are not in the same league. Malaysia is way ahead of these countries in standard of living.

Tabled below is GDP per capita and GDP of the countries concerned:

Countries      Per capita GDP (2011)            GDP (2011) Bil

_____________________________________________

Malaysia          $15,800.-                               $453

Tunisia                9,600.-                                 102

Egypt                   6,600.-                                 303         

Indonesia             4,700.-                              1,139

Vietnam               3,400.-                                 304

On a productivity/population ratio,  Malaysia's productivity per unit economic output is still much higher than Indonesia and all the other countries with the exception of Tunisia, which has a smaller population than Malaysia.

Sometimes, the experts are not worth their salt, or is the survey correctly reported.

KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 18 — Malaysia is projected to have 76,000 millionaires in five years time, but will still be ranked behind Singapore’s 249,000 and Indonesia’s 207,000 people who are expected to be on the rich list in 2017, according to a new global wealth report released this week.

The Credit Suisse Global Wealth Report forecast total global household wealth would increase by an average of 8 per cent annually over the next five years, driven by emerging markets likeChina, Brazil, Malaysia, Russia or India.

Mean wealth per adult is projected to rise to US$67,000 (RM 203,645) by 2017 from US$48,500 this year.

The report said China is expected to surpass Japan as the second-wealthiest country in the world by 2017 while the United States should maintain its leading position.

Credit Suisse said that Singapore was in the list of top ten countries in the wealth-per adult league table, along with  Switzerland, Norway, Luxembourg, and Sweden – as well as Australia and G7 members, Japan, France, the USA and the UK.

The report added that notable cases of emerging wealth were found in Chile, Columbia, the Czech Republic, Lebanon, Slovenia and Uruguay.

Malaysia was listed among “frontier” wealth countries along with Egypt, Indonesia, Tunisia and Vietnam.

Credit Suisse said that for 2012, Malaysia has 36,000 millionaires, while Singapore has 156,000 and Indonesia 104,000 in the bracket.

Hong Kong, with 92,000 millionaires this year, will see membership in the rich club grow to 180,000 in 2017. Read more.

Phnom Penh

Somewhere In China ?

Hantu Laut


It's the reality of Malaysian politics.


Polarisation of the races, fault of not only the Malays, but equally responsible, if not more, are the Chinese and Indians, giving too much prominence to their own culture and language and giving national identity and the national language a backseat.


I have nothing against people speaking their own language anywhere, anytime, but it would be more appropriate to use the national language in political gatherings, political debate or political speeches of any kind if one truly believe in the making of a national identity. 


The U.S is one nation that has become analogous, the cohesion of different ethnic origins to proudly call themselves American. They speak one common language while maintaining whatever culture and language peculiar to them.So do the Japanese,Korean,Chinese and so forth.


One can understand if the elderly Chinese or Indians can't muster the Malay language but for  the very young generations who can't speak fluent Malay is an abomination.

 

 Advertised on a rabid pro-opposition blog.


Insincere politicians that provide lip service and pro-opposition bloggers who plastered their blogs with posters and banners depicting the desire for "Oneness" is nothing but a charade and pulling wool over the eyes. Needless to say, their hypocritical indulgence are doing great disservice to the nation.


Strange as it may sound for a Chinese, one Hannah Yeoh, a DAP state assemblyman, a great pretender of some kind, demanded that her newborn's race be recorded as "Malaysian" in the birth certificate. She Is Chinese and her husband Indian. It makes one wonder since when the word "Malaysian" has become a genealogy of race. 


What makes more sense and more appropriate would be for her to ask for  "Chindian" as her child's race, a more appropriate genealogy for offspring born of wedlock of Indian and Chinese parents, which are already in use, unofficially. If Eurasian can be the epithet of race, why not Chindian and Machin for the offspring of Malay who married Chinese? Maybe, Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka should coin these words for general usage.


I am for doing away with the race column because I suffered the same malady as the Chinese and Indians because of my grandfather's origin.My birth certificate shows I am of sub-continent origin though I have natives blood in me.For all intents and purposes I would or should be a Malay because we have for few generations shed the Afghan/Persian culture and took up the Malay custom and language.


My criticism is not directed toward any race but against politicians in general and in this particular case, Chinese politicians, who, sadly and selfishly, have taken chauvinistic approach toward the national language. These are the very same people who talked incessantly about integration of the races and domination of multiracialism in a pluralistic society yet do everything possible against achieveing that objective.

A nation must have a lingua franca (common language) before it can speak of national identity.In that respect the Indonesian Chinese are more adapt to speaking the Indonesian language among themselves even when they travel overseas.If you are inside Indonesia you would be hard pressed to tell the difference between Indonesian Chinese and Indonesian Malay because they speak the same language.For that matter, Thailand and the Philippines are the same where Chinese had become inconspicuous, thoroughly assimilated and adopted local culture and names.


Two months ago my wife and I was in Hong Kong and had dinner in an Indonesian restaurant, next to our table was a group 10 elderly Chinese all looking as Chinese as can be.We soon realised they are not Hong Kong Chinese because they spoke in Indonesian and occasionally in Chinese.


How is the DAP going to woo the Malays to join the party and field Malay candidates in elections if their political gatherings and debates appeared as if they were held somewhere in China.


They talked about the unfair advantage of the current system favoring Malays and discrimination against other races when they themselves could hardly shed their bastion of Chinese chauvinism.They forget or could not care less that there are other Malaysians who are interested to hear what they have to say about national politics and not confine the gathering to just an all Chinese affairs.


I have many Chinese friends, they may agree or disagree with me, but the truth is out there. I foresee Malaysia's hazardous long and winding road to win national identity.......a failure that rest squarely on the shoulders of the three major races in the country.


Religion may be seen as one of the dividing factors to national unity which is understandable but should not be a major cause of failure of attaining national identity. The U.S is more complicated, a more diverse melting pot but they all consider themselves American first.


The Arabs, the Pakistanis and other Muslims who migrated to the West had turned out to be the misfits of Western society due to their refusal to shed some of their cultural practices that could not sit well in a Western concept.They ended up isolated from the general population and live in their parochial and clannish hemisphere.


The old adage "When in Rome do as the Romans do" always rang true.





Everything including posters and banners exclusively in Chinese.For the less initiated you may think it was somewhere in China. I did, when I watched the first few minutes of the video.



More debate, somewhere in China


In singapore, most leaders are trilingual.


Meet Singapore founding father:


Kuan Yew's National Day speech

Malaysian Chinese leaders should take a leaf out of the books of Singapore top Chinese leaders who had no qualm and not shy away from being fluent in Malay even though Singapore is predominantly Chinese and they can give two hoots about speaking Malay.

Singaporeans Reawaken The Past

Singaporeans reawaken the "Marxist Conspiracy

Twenty-five years later, a handful of people seek to redress an old wrong

Last weekend, about 400 Singaporeans gathered in a local park to call attention to a notorious 25-year-old raid called Operation Spectrum, when Singapore’s Special Branch swooped down on 16 activists and community workers and charged them with being involved in a Marxist conspiracy to overthrow the government. Eventually six more were arrested, bringing the total to 22.

To this day, no one is really sure what it was about. The 22 were mostly young Catholics who were forced to “confess” on television such sins as sending books to China, which might have made a good deal more sense if instead they had been receiving books from China, which was then still a putatively Marxist dictatorship. The detainees didn’t fit any stereotypes as agitators, such as those who rattled the island republic during the decades of the 1950s and 1960s. They were actors, social workers, lawyers and students.

The fact that 400 Singaporeans could assemble in a public park to discuss the 25-year-old events and demand that the government do away with its harsh Internal Security Act without seeing their leaders carted off to jail may be an indication that despite the country’s reputation for draconian punishment for anyone contradicting the government, some things may have indeed changed.

The June 2 event was organized by the human rights NGO Maruah, which calls itself the focal point for the Working Group for an ASEAN Human Rights Mechanism, a regional group with its secretariat based in Manila. Maruah appealed for 350,000 signatures to call for a commission of inquiry on whether there had been a Marxist conspiracy at all. Another group, Function 8, released a statement saying that “Nothing substantial or credible was ever produced to corroborate the government’s allegations. Later documents showed even greater ambiguity in the reasons behind the detentions in 1987. An injustice was perpetuated and continues to linger to this day.”

Many of the detainees have later alleged wrongful detention, ill treatment and torture.

There is considerable conjecture that then-Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew was concerned about the Catholic liberation theologists who had become active across South America and, in Asia, the Philippines in particular – priests demanding social justice and an end to poverty, and that he didn’t intend to see anything like that happen in Singapore. In court testimony in a libel suit – one of many that Lee would file against the press and particularly several against the now defunct Far Eastern Economic Review, the then-prime minister said his concern was to prevent a collision between the church and the government. He said he wanted to defuse the situation, which he felt was being aggravated by the actions of some priests in whipping up emotion through press statements and special masses for the detainees.Read more.

Singapore's Lee Family and Nepotism

A blogger feels the wrath of the ruling family

Singapore’s ruling Lee family, apparently angered by a comment made on a Singapore-based blog Temasek Review Emeritus, has come down hard, with Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, his wife, Ho Ching, his brother Lee Hsien Yang, all demanding apologies for intimating that they have filled top government positions with family members.

Lee Kuan Yew became prime minister of Singapore in 1959 and ran the place until 1990, when he stepped down to become a senior minister and then was appointed minister mentor by his son, with many of his critics alleging he has continued to run the island republic from behind the scenes. After an interregnum from 1990 to 2004 when Goh Chok Tong held the premiership, Lee Hsien Loong took over as prime minister and has led the People’s Action Party government since.

Among other Lee family members who have held high positions in government are the elder Lee’s daughter, Lee Wee Ling, who is director of the National Neurological Institute. His other son, Lee Hsien Yang, was chief executive officer of Singapore Telecommunications from May 1995 until April 2007. He was appointed the chairman of the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore in 2009.

Ho Ching, Hsien Loong’s wife, has run Temasek Holdings, the sovereign wealth fund controlled by the Singapore Ministry of Finance, since 2002 after serving as president and chief executive officer of the government-owned Singapore Technologies. Although she has been criticized for some disastrous investments, including one in former Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra’s Shin Corp that Fortune Magazine called a "spectacular misjudgment" as well as several others in flagging western investment banks, she has never been asked to step down.

TR Emeritus, as the blog is known, hastily took down the article, which is no longer available. Apparently written by a contributor or in response to another article, it has been described as pointing out that the elder Lee’s appointing Hsien Loong prime minister and Hsien Loong appointing his wife to head Temasek Holdings “was nothing short of ‘cronyism’ and nepotism.”

The blog has posted a full apology, saying, among other things, that “we recognize that the article meant or was understood to mean that Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong had secured, or was instrumental in securing, the appointment of his wife, Mdm Ho Ching, as the Chief Executive Officer of Temasek Holdings (Private) Limited for nepotistic motives. We admit and acknowledge that this allegation is false and completely without foundation. We unreservedly apologize to Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong for the distress and embarrassment caused to him by this allegation.”

Richard Wan, representing TR Emeritus, was unreachable. He posted a statement on the website saying he would no longer respond to questions from the press. He also asked TRE readers to “refrain from making such comments about Mdm Ho Ching with regard to her appointment in Temasek Holdings (Private) Limited. Any such allegations put up by anyone on TRE will be deleted.”

That may not have been enough. On Feb. 17, the government-controlled New Paper reported the parliament had pushed through an amendment to the Evidence Act that gives the courts the discretion to admit deleted online posts as evidence. The amendment, according to the paper, gives the courts “the discretion to consider relevant evidence by widening the admissibility of several categories. Among them are changes to the computer output evidence - which means computer printouts and sound and video recordings can be treated just like other evidence in Singapore courts.Read more.

Living A Life With No Regrets

Hantu Laut

The man that I have always admired.No world leaders of this century can match this man's love for his country and sheer determination to build up a tiny island nation into one of the most modern and prosperous nations in the world.

The article below is a tribute from his daughter.

Living a life with no regrets - Lee Wei Ling

When all is said and done, my father has led a meaningful and purposeful life

About 20 years ago, when I was still of marriageable age, my father Lee Kuan Yew had a serious conversation with me one day. He told me that he and my mother would benefit if I remained single and took care of them in their old age. But I would be lonely if I remained unmarried.

I replied: 'Better lonely than be trapped in a loveless marriage.'

I have never regretted my decision.

Twenty years later, I am still single. I still live with my father in my family home. But my priorities in life have changed somewhat.

Instead of frequent trips overseas by myself, to attend medical conferences or to go on hikes, I only travel with my father nowadays.

Like my mother did when she was alive, I accompany him so that I can keep an eye on him and also keep him company. After my mother became too ill to travel, he missed having a family member with whom he could speak frankly after a long tiring day of meetings.

At the age of 88, and recently widowed, he is less vigorous now than he was before May 2008 when my mother suffered a stroke. Since then I have watched him getting more frail as he watched my mother suffer. After my mother passed away, his health deteriorated further before recovering about three months ago.

He is aware that he can no longer function at the pace he could just four years ago. But he still insists on travelling to all corners of the Earth if he thinks his trips might benefit Singapore.

We are at present on a 16-day trip around the world. The first stop was Istanbul for the JPMorgan International Advisory Council meeting. We then spent two days in the countryside near Paris to relax. Then it was on to Washington DC, where, in addition to meetings at the White House, he received the Ford's Theatre Lincoln Medal.

As I am writing this on Thursday, we are in New York City where he has a dinner and a dialogue session with the Capital Group tonight, and Government of Singapore Investment Corporation meetings tomorrow. After that, we will spend the weekend at former US secretary of state Henry Kissinger's country home in Connecticut. Influential Americans will be driving or flying in to meet my father over dinner on Saturday and lunch on Sunday.

Even for a healthy and fit man of 88, the above would be a formidable programme. For a recently widowed man who is still adjusting to the loss of his wife, and whose level of energy has been lowered, it is even more challenging.

But my father believes that we must carry on with life despite whatever personal setbacks we might suffer. If he can do something that might benefit Singapore, he will do so no matter what his age or the state of his health. For my part, I keep him company when he is not preoccupied with work, and I make sure he has enough rest.

Though I encourage him to exercise, I also dissuade him from over exerting himself. I remind him how he felt in May last year when, after returning from Tokyo, he delivered the eulogy at Dr Goh Keng Swee's funeral the next day.

He had exercised too much in the two days preceding the funeral, against my advice. So naturally, he felt tired, and certainly looked tired on stage, as he delivered his tribute to an old and treasured comrade-in-arms. A few of my friends were worried by how he looked and messaged me to ask if my father was OK. Now when I advise him not to push himself too hard, he listens.

The irony is I did not take my own advice at one time and it was he who stopped me from over-exercising. Once, in 2001, while I was recovering from a fracture of my femur, he limited my swimming. He went as far as to ask a security officer to time how long I swam. If I exceeded the time my physician had prescribed, even if it was just by a minute, he would give me a ticking off that evening.

Now the situation is reversed. But rather than finding it humorous, I feel sad about it.

Whether or not I am in the pink of health is of no consequence. I have no dependants, and Singapore will not suffer if I am gone. Perhaps my patients may miss me, but my fellow doctors at the National Neuroscience Institute can take over their care. But no one can fill my father's role for Singapore.

We have an extremely competent Cabinet headed by an exceptionally intelligent and able prime minister who also happens to be my brother. But the life experience that my father has accumulated enables him to analyse and offer solutions to Singapore's problems that no one else can.

But I am getting maudlin. Both my father and I have had our fair share of luck, and fate has not been unfair to us. My father found a lifelong partner who was his best friend and his wife. Together with a small group of like-minded comrades, he created a Singapore that by any standards would be considered a miracle. He has led a rich, meaningful and purposeful life.

Growing old and dying occurs to all mortals, even those who once seemed like titanium. When all is said and done, my father - and I too, despite my bouts of ill health - have lived lives that we can look back on with no regrets. As he faces whatever remains of his life, my father's attitude can be summed up by these lines in Robert Frost's poem Stopping By Woods On A Snowy Evening:

The woods are lovely, dark, and deep,

But I have promises to keep,

And miles to go before I sleep,

And miles to go before I sleep.

This article appeared in the Sunday Times on 23 Oct 2011.

'Disease has not affected my mind, my will, my resolve'

SINGAPORE - Singapore's founding father Lee Kuan Yew has said that a neurological disease has not affected him mentally, a local report said Monday.

"I have no doubt at all that this has not affected my mind, my will nor my resolve," the former prime minister, who turned 88, was quoted as saying in The Straits Times.

"People in wheelchairs can make a contribution. I've still got two legs, I make a contribution," he said.

Lee said the disease surfaced two years ago when he was 86.

"At 86, many of my contemporaries are either in wheelchairs or not around. So I'm grateful to be still around at 86, although less steady than before," he said at the sidelines of a community event.

"But as you see, one learns to adjust, and I take steps which are wider apart to maintain some balance."

Lee's battle against the neurological disease was first revealed on Sunday by his daughter Lee Wei Ling, director of the National Neuroscience Institute of Singapore, in her weekly column in the Sunday Times newspaper.

She said Lee was suffering from sensory peripheral neuropathy which has caused the sensation from his legs to the spinal cord to be impaired and made his walking unsteady.

She said her father was determined to fight the disease and practised walking on a treadmill at home three times a day without fail.Read more.

Year of ASEAN Opposition?

By Mong Palatino

Since last year, opposition parties across Southeast Asia have achieved varying degrees of electoral and political success.

The opposition Liberal Party dominated the 2010 Philippine elections and defeated the ruling party, which had been in power since 2001. The opposition victory reflected the unpopularity of former President Gloria Arroyo, who was accused of electoral fraud, human rights violations, corruption and plundering state coffers.

Recently, the opposition Pheu Thai Party defeated the ruling Democrat Party in Thailand, which led to the election of Yingluck Shinawatra – the country’s first female prime minister. Yingluck is the younger sister of former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, who was forced into exile after he was overthrown in a military coup in 2006. During the campaign, the opposition highlighted the culpability of the Democrat Party in the violent crackdown of anti-government protests last year, the worsening insurgency in the southern part of the country, the hostile relationship with Cambodia over a border dispute and the rising economic difficulties experienced by ordinary Thais.

Meanwhile, the People's Action Party (PAP) is still Singapore’s dominant political coalition after it won the most seats in the general election last May. Also, the candidate the party endorsed won last week’s presidential election. But the opposition scored some significant victories this year after it managed to win a few but strategic parliamentary seats. The PAP, which has dominated Singaporean politics since the late 1950s, also suffered its worst electoral performance this year, which according to analysts has permanently altered Singapore’s political landscape.

As in Singapore, the ruling coalition in Malaysia still has more than enough numbers in parliament, but the opposition is gaining ground. The disenchantment of the public with the country’s political leadership is also rising as seen in the massive participation of ordinary Malaysians in the Bersih democracy march in July. Organized in support of electoral reforms, the Bersih has since then evolved into an opposition political movement following the overreaction of the government, which violently dispersed the peaceful march. Bersih is expected to bring more votes to the opposition.

Moving on to Burma, many analysts were surprised to learn that opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi has agreed to meet President Thein Sein of the military-controlled government. They are now asking if the global democracy icon has decided to work with the people who imprisoned her for more than two decades. But it could simply be an opposition tactic for outmanoeuvring the generals. Just a few weeks ago, Suu Kyi was allowed to travel to the north of the country for the first time since she regained her freedom, and she was warmly greeted by the people in the streets. The opposition hasn’t yet ditched the prospect of revolution, but it seems to be quietly maximizing the limited democratic space afforded to it by the Junta. Read more.

Singapore divides over elite rule

By MurdochUni

A close presidential election confirms the growing rift between the ruling party and the public, writes Asia Research Centre’s Garry Rodan

Singapore’s presidential election last Saturday selected a new occupant for a largely ceremonial position. Yet the election’s conduct and outcome have wider political implications. Both highlighted tensions within the ruling People’s Action Party (PAP) over the dominance of an elitist structure and ideology which is increasingly seen by many party members as an electoral liability.

The winner, Tony Tan, secured only 32.72% of the vote, prevailing by a mere 0.34%, or 7,269 of the 2.1 million votes cast by Singaporean citizens. This was despite his being the “establishment” candidate endorsed by Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong and a host of PAP-affiliated organizations in a notionally non-party political contest.

Singapore's new President, Tony Tan. Pic: AP.

It’s a surprising result given how utterly unsurprising presidential elections in the city-state are supposed to be. Past polls have been determined with little or no controversy. Outgoing President S.R. Nathan went uncontested in 1999 and 2005 and his predecessor, former PAP minister Ong Teng Cheong, won with a decisive margin of 16 percentage points in 1993. Highly restrictive eligibility criteria favor establishment figures.

Indeed the office in its current form, created in 1991, was supposed to offer the PAP a bulwark against the possibility that a freak result in a general election would usher in a large number of opposition members of parliament. The presidency was vested with veto power over any spending of accumulated government reserves (currently estimated at $250 billion) and the ability to make key public service appointments.

Yet in this weekend’s vote, the prime minister’s endorsement and the nod from PAP-linked trade unions— not to mention favorable treatment from government-controlled media—may have cost Mr. Tan as many votes as it gained. Mr. Tan’s establishment credentials as a former deputy prime minister and executive director of the Government of Singapore Investment Corporation, a sovereign wealth fund, actually increased the challenges of persuading voters that he would be best placed to scrutinize the PAP executive through custodial powers.

The lackluster support he garnered was not so much a statement about his personal standing (he remains well-respected) as a reaction against the PAP’s perceived arrogance and political paternalism. The image of a monolithic party-state directed by political elites picking electoral winners alienates an increasing number of voters.

The other three candidates gained significant traction with voters by trumpeting their determination to make the presidency a watchdog of sorts on the government. This might not be surprising coming from Tan Jee Say, who had contested the previous parliamentary election as an opposition candidate, and ended up in a distant third place on Saturday. But the theme was picked up by Tan Cheng Bock, a former PAP backbencher who came in second, and Tan Kin Lian, former head of an insurance cooperative and a PAP member for 30 years, who placed fourth.Read more.

Sand and Singapore

By Luke Hunt

The politics of sand is a dirty business, and there’s plenty of it around – particularly in the tiny island-state of Singapore. Its voracious appetite for constructing mega-buildings and expanding its borders by filling in the sea has led to widespread ecological damage around the region.

Indonesia has complained bitterly about its disappearing islands and banned the export of sand. So has Vietnam. Malaysia uses dealings over sand as a political bargaining chip when negotiating with Singapore, and countries further afield are also thinking twice about selling it sand.

This was the case with Cambodia, which acted on a report by environmental activists Global Witness that was released in May. It has announced that it has ordered a suspension of sand dredging while it assesses alleged damage to fish stocks and the ecology of the Tatai River.

However, all the indications are that private business in Cambodia is thumbing their nose at the government and continuing to dredge the Tatai River. This is despite pleas from impoverished villagers, who live hand to mouth and who have had their livelihoods affected and seen widespread damage to their local environment.

According to the report, Singapore expanded its surface area by 22 percent, from 582 square kilometres in the 1960s to 710 square kilometres in 2008 – and it wants to go much further.

Ho Mak, director of Rivers at the Ministry of Water resources, told The Diplomat the companies dredging the Tatai had been ordered to stop while an environmental impact study is made. Piech Siyon, a provincial director of the Department of Industry, Mines and Energy, insists this has happened.

However, the reports to the contrary are many, something supported by Chum Sok Korb, who told The Diplomat that villagers wanted all sand dredging – big and small – stopped now.

There's no shortage of smugglers in Southeast Asia and the Singapore land developers are well aware of this, prompting accusations by Greenpeace they have launched a ‘war’ for the commodity.Read more.

Xenophobic Singaporeans

Hantu Laut

Xenophobia is defined as "fear or hatred of foreigners and strangers"

Xenophobia can manifest in many forms, fear of losing one's identity, fear and hatred for other culture, suspicion and aggression are just some of the irrational fears of a xenophobic person.

The working class Singaporeans are suffering from this malady complaining of losing jobs to foreigners.

Singapore has an open door policy for Chinese from mainland China.They are in coffee shops, in shopping malls, in supermarkets, at gas stations, at construction sites and populating or polluting the much-loved open-air food courts called hawker centers.

Their presence are also felt in five-star hotels.A recent encounter found a Mandarin-speaking maid who could not comprehend a word of English. To add to the woes, Singapore's two bus companies have been hiring drivers from China.

My stay at two major hotels in Singapore late last year confirmed the fear bewailed by Singaporeans.Almost all the housekeeping staffs came from China.

A police report was lodged against a Filipina for what was construed as insults to Singaporeans on remarks she posted on Facebook in defence of PAP Malaysian MP Penny Low admonished by Singaporeans for looking at her cellphone while the national anthem was being played.

Is it a crime to call someone "incompetent"?

A police report has been made against Ms Rachelle Ann Beguia, who incurred the ire of many netizens with her comments on MP Penny Low’s Facebook wall.

Ms Beguia sparked a massive outcry among netizens by posting a series of derogatory comments belittling Singaporeans in her zeal to defend PAP Malaysian MP Penny Low who was under heavy criticisms herself for looking down at her handphone when the National Anthem was played during the National Day Parade.

The National Heart Centre where Ms Beguia is employed as a clerk also said that they will conduct an official enquiry into the “insensitive” comments made by Ms Beguia.

According to the complainant who lodged the report online, he will be meeting the IO (Investigating Officer) today (Aug 12).

Ms Beguia has since apologised for her comments in a Facebook post yesterday (Aug 11) saying:

“I am very sorry for the insensitive comments I have posted earlier. It was a lack of judgement. For those who have been hurt by those comments. I am very sorry once again.”

The latest saga came barely two weeks after another ‘FT” Wang Peng Fei from China was expelled from his school for making racist remarks against Malay ladies in a self-made video clip as social tensions between Singaporeans and foreigners continue to rise due to the PAP’s unthinking and indiscriminate pro-foreigner and mass-immigration policies.

Mr Wang managed to “breeze” out of Singapore right under the police’s nose.

In the meantime, a group of Singaporeans plan to gather at National Heart Centre on Mon 15 Aug 2011 at 12 – 2 pm (lunch hr) dress in black to protest against Ms Rachelle’s comments and to demand that NHC sack Ms Rachelle immediately.

Below is what trigger off the sensitivities of Singaporeans.

Rachelle Ann Beguia: Singaporeans are INCOMPETENT!

August 11th, 2011 | Author: Temasek Review

In a sign that Singaporeans are losing their dignity in the eyes of foreigners, a Filipino ‘FT’ Rachelle Ann Beguia openly called Singaporeans ‘incompetent’ on the Facebook of PAP MP Penny Low from Malaysia.

Ms Rachelle was responding to a comment posted by a Singaporean on foreigners snatching jobs and flats from Singaporeans to which she replied callously:

“If foreigners can come and snatch your (Singaporean) jobs and flats it only shows one thing…how incompetent you are.”

Her comment appeared to be endorsed by Ms Low as she did not bother to delete it though she had a busy day yesterday deleting comments posted by Singaporeans lampooning her for not respecting the National Anthem.

Ms Rachelle also admitted readily that she is ‘bootlicking’ Ms Low because it ‘benefits’ her. It is not known what assistance Mrs Low is giving Ms Rachelle, if any. Foreigners usually seek PAP MPs’ help in PR and citizenship application or in obtaining social visit passes to bring their entire families to reside in Singapore.

According to information posted on Ms Rachelle’s Facebook, she graduated with a Bachelor in Community Health Service from Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Maynila, a University in the Philipines.

She came over to Singapore to study for a diploma in Tourism and Hospitality Management at ERC Institute, a private school.

It was revealed online by a netizen that Ms Rachelle is currently working as a clerk at the Medical Record Office of National Heart Centre. Her manager is Ms Angela Ho who can be contacted at 64367648, email: angela.ho.l.y@nhcs.com.sg

Ms Rachelle’s remarks should not come as a surprise due to the PAP regime’s groveling of foreigners and constant exhortations to Singaporeans to ‘embrace’ them with an ‘open heart’.

During his recent National Day Rally, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong implored Singaporeans not to turn ‘negative’ on foreigners.

Due to the PAP’s pro-foreigner and ultra-liberal immigration policies, the number of foreigners now make up 43 percent of Singapore’s population, up from 14 percent in 1990. Of the remaining 57 percent who are so-called ‘citizens’, an increasing number are born overseas.

It is not known if Ms Rachelle is a Singapore PR or citizen, but no prizes for guessing who she will vote for in GE 2016 if she becomes a new Singapore citizen by then.

With the repressive PAP regime losing support from native Singaporeans, it is following the cue from Malaysia’s UMNO in mass-importing and fast-converting foreigners into instant ‘grateful citizens’ in exchange for their votes.

Read more here.

First World City Suffering From Third World Woes

Hantu Laut

When I lived in Singapore in the eighties and early nineties there was never a case of flooding in the commercial districts other then the occasional flash floods at Bukit Timah Road.

I suppose the massive reclamation works to increase the size of the city state are contributing to the new phenomenon.

Woe betide those who upset mother nature.





The heavy downpour early on Sunday also triggered flash floods across several parts of the island.

Senett Estate, Potong Pasir, MacPherson, Toa Payoh and Bukit Timah were also partially submerged by floods.

Two lanes along Bukit Timah Road near Cuscaden and Hillcrest Road were completely impassable to traffic at one stage. So too was the Kranji Expressway (KJE) at the slip road towards Woodlands.

With the advent of global warming Singapore would soon be the Venice of the East and eventually join the legendary Atlantis.

Why Singapore's Election Didn't Live Up to the Hype

The campaign leading to Singapore's May 7 general election had the trappings of a larger political drama. Before the thronged gates of a suburban sports stadium, where a rally for the opposition Workers' Party (WP) was under way one hot night, vendors hurriedly pressed ice cream sandwiches into the hands of the thousands pouring inside. Encircling the lighted stadium were high-rise public-housing blocks, from whose open windows and crowded outdoor passageways hundreds more were listening to the boisterous speeches. Across Singapore, the pages of Facebook crackled with jubilation about the prospect of more political opposition. The mood was one of incipient and sweeping change.

A few days later, on election day, the ruling People's Action Party's (PAP) share of the popular vote did in fact drop to a historic low of 60.1% It was a disquieting number for the PAP, which has swept every general election in Singapore since 1959, winning the past five with an average 66.1% share of the popular vote. Yet this election appeared to have caught the PAP off guard. Frustrated by Singapore's rising cost of living, many lower-income voters criticized the ruling party for pushing economic growth at all costs, claiming this had led to higher prices of basic necessities like food and housing. Voters were unhappy too with the island's increasingly congested roads, buses and subway carriages, clogged at least partly, they felt, by a rapid influx of immigrants into Singapore, in particular between 2004 and '08. Add to this a recent loosening of electioneering laws in Singapore, allowing political messages and videos to circulate on the Internet, and conditions appeared ripe for the opposition. Indeed, one of the PAP's main rivals, the WP, won an unprecedented six parliamentary seats. (See pictures of technology in Singapore.)

In doing so, the WP rose to the PAP's long-standing challenge to the opposition to field high-caliber candidates capable of governing Singapore. One of the WP's winning candidates, Chen Show Mao, is a Stanford-educated lawyer who works for white-shoe New York City legal firm Davis Polk & Wardwell in Beijing, where he has advised on some of China's largest share offerings. Chen was part of a slate of WP candidates who unseated Singapore's Foreign Minister. "This is a watershed general election," declared Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong at a predawn press conference after the ballots were counted. WP chief Low Thia Khiang similarly called the election "a political landmark in modern Singapore." His party's wins, Low said, were a sign that voters wanted "a more responsive, inclusive, transparent and accountable government."

Even so, by the time all the votes were counted, the drama promised by the campaign's enthusiastic crowds had fizzled. Despite the dip in their share of the popular vote, the PAP retained 81 out of 87 parliamentary seats. And though Singaporeans had elected six opposition members to Parliament to check the power of the ruling party, and the opposition's modest inroads on May 7 may one day pave the way to bigger wins, anyone outside Singapore would regard the election result as a handsome victory for the government.

In the end, therefore, the status quo was quietly affirmed. Economists, political scientists and no doubt Singapore's political parties themselves will offer their own varied theories as to why. To me, though, part of the explanation lies in the Canadian new-wave group Men Without Hats' 1982 hit single "Safety Dance," a slightly melancholy pop song that enjoys a ghostly afterlife on Singapore's radio airwaves and in its riverside pubs. Like the brave new world the song beckons at ("We can go where we want to/ A place where they will never find") but finally hesitates to enter, "Safety Dance" seems to capture Singapore's tentative attitude toward political change.

The caution may stem from the power of government in Singapore, a power that dives deeply into the lives of ordinary citizens. The government, for instance, usually both builds and helps maintain the single most valuable asset of Singaporeans: their home. Some 85% of Singaporeans live in sprawling ocher-colored apartment blocks that have been built by the state's Housing Development Board, or HDB, which a PAP government created in 1960. Surrounded by food stalls, clinics, community clubs, and tied to public transport systems like the island's subway or bus grid, public housing in Singapore has risen so much in value that their lofty prices now worry first-time buyers. The question that must haunt every HDB homeowner is, Will another party protect the value of my home as well as the PAP has done?

Education is another area in which government influence is pervasive. With a few notable exceptions, all Singaporean children residing in the country must attend local public schools, and the government often has its eye on students from elite high schools like Raffles Institution or Anglo-Chinese Junior College (whose students are screened for admission by exam results). At graduation, many star students are awarded state scholarships to study at top universities overseas. If they return home, a sizable number of these are lured into the civil service, and some civil servants, in turn, are eventually nudged into politics, usually under the PAP banner. It is a process that creams off the top academic achievers for the state, often leaving Singapore's private sector starved of leadership and innovation. Yet it is also one of the reasons the country's bureaucracy works so well, and why the country's best and brightest may feel tethered to the status quo.

Read more:

Singapore's PAP Returned To Power

Hantu Laut

PAP, Singapore's ruling party since 1959 was returned to power in Saturday's general election.

The ruling party won 81 seats while the opposition Worker's Party took 6 seats.

Singapore is a prosperous nation but many voters expressed their worries about the relatively high cost of living and the rise of low-wage immigrant workers.It is also a very authoritarian nation curbing freedom of expression, assembly and harassment of opposition leaders.

Singaporeans are now seeking greater freedom and future general elections would see more erosion of PAP's political influence which have been dominant for over five decades.

Malaysians now have higher spending power than Singaporeans: Updated UBS study

While Singapore may boast a record 14.7 percent economic growth last year, the domestic purchasing power of ordinary Singaporeans has decreased, that it now lags behind the Malaysians, according to an updated version of the authoritative UBS study – “Prices and Earnings”. (download updated study here)

In the UBS study, domestic purchasing power is measured by dividing the average annual salary by the total price of a selected basket of goods and services, the higher the figure, the higher one’s purchasing power is.

In the 2009 UBS study, Singaporeans have a low purchasing power of only 39.9 which is only slightly more than Malaysians living in Kuala Lumpur (39.5).

However in the updated study published in August 2010, the order is reversed:

The domestic purchasing power of Singaporeans drop to 38.8, falling behind that of Malaysians (39.3).

Domestic purchasing power is now widely accepted by many economists as a more reliable and accurate economic indicator of prosperity on the ground than GDP which only measures the overall economic output of a nation and disregards the living conditions of its citizens.

The new result is not surprising as rampant inflation has eroded the spending power of Singaporeans while their wages have remained stagnant, caused partly by the relentless influx of cheap foreign workers.

If Malaysians working in Kuala Lumpur have a higher domestic purchasing power than Singaporeans, then Malaysians working in Singapore will surely have much higher disposable income when converted back to Ringgit back home which explains the reluctance of many Malaysian PRs to take up Singapore citizenships, thereby enabling them to enjoy the ‘best of both worlds.’

The shocking findings are not reported by the mainstream media nor the PAP leaders who continue to harp on GDP growth as the sole indicator of their performance to justify their multi-million dollar salaries.

Singapore leaders and diplomats better think twice before taking a jibe at our neighbors for being in a ‘mess’ because of ‘incompetent’ leaders because the Malaysians actually have more spending power than Singaporeans who are supposedly led by the ‘best’ government in the entire universe.Temasek Review

Here is the politically motivated article from Malaysian Insider fits for the rubbish bins.They avoided mentioning that Singapore is worse than KL.

You can go to UBS research here.

Next: Why we should support 1Malaysia free email.

Singapore Malay families seeking economic refuge in JB

I have been coming across several Malay families who are renting out their HDB flats or even selling their HDB flats and living in Johor Bahru and commuting to Singapore. Each family had the same reason to give. They are unable to afford the cost of living in Singapore.

PROFILE OF MALAY FAMILIES SHIFTING TO JB

A few days ago, a friend of mine who is a senior professional in logistics industry claimed that around 40% of the Malay despatch riders live in Johor Bahru. However I am unable to verify this. However when I asked others in logistics industry, they did agree that there are large number of families, where the breadwinner works as a despatch rider, have indeed relocated to JB due to cost pressures in Singapore. These despatch riders earn less than $1000 per month and they are unable to cope even when they have two children.

It does not seem to be the case that all the families that shifted are having a single income earner. There are indeed families in which both the couples are working and yet they are unable to afford to live in Singapore. The few families that I managed to talk to have a household income of less than $2000 a month. They shared with me that given the high costs they face which come along with work e.g. lunch meals,
transport, clothings etc etc they are left with little to afford the other family expenses such as grocery, electricity etc.

Another group of Malay families who make up this trend of Malay families shifting to JB include those who are unable to service their HDB loans. Apparently some of these families are having problems paying their HDB mortgages and out of desperation not to loose their HDB flats they rather rent it out and shift to JB.

The last group of Malay families that I came across are those who faced life shocks such as retrenchment, illness etc and they were unable to ride through the financial turblence that came along. Hence they shifted to JB to keep afloat.

CAN MALAY PAP MPS AND GOVERNMENT RELATED MALAY AGENCIES SOLVE THIS?

I am inviting, not challenging, all 12 Malay MPs who repeatedly claim they are leaders of Singapore Malays along with their associated Malay agencies to do an assessment of the situation and resolve it by facilitating the Malay families to return to Singapore.

These families are almost like economic refugees seeking refuge from astronomical costs in their homeland. LKY not too long ago asked if Malays will share their last grains of rice with non-Malays in Singapore. I am sure these Malay families may not be able to do that since they are not even located in Singapore and secondly they unlikely to have any last grains during such catastrophic moments. My question is if LKY will share his current godowns of rice supply with these Malay families in current normal circumstances?

Malays in Singapore are repeatedly questioned on their allegiance and fidelity to the nation. Stop asking what they will do for the nation. Lets ask what the nation did for these Malay families in desperate circumstances.

The PAP Malay MPs constantly claim the Malay community have progressed under their leadership. Well at no time in history before 1959 was there ever a moment during which significantly number of Singapore Malay families had to seek economic refuge in Johor.

No where in first world do you see the poor in one country running to the next to commute to work to save costs. US costs are much higher than in Canada and Mexico, yet the poor communities along US borders dont commute from Canada or Mexico to save costs.

This essentially is not really a Malay community problem. If not for the language issues, I am sure many other Indian and Chinese families who are stuck in similar circumstances will also be commuting from JB. This problem is essentially the failure of:

1) fiancial security mechanisms in Singapore
2) elected MPs
3) community agencies such as MUIS, WAREES, MENDAKI etc that sit on large amounts of community endowments but yet not expend for those stuck in rainy days
4) government agencies whose role is to help such families

Temasek

Lee Kuan Yew's Chinese Excellence And Malay Paradox

Hantu Laut

Reported in the Straits Times, Feb 7th:

BY THE time Singaporean kids start Primary school, one in four are myopic. One in two Primary 6 pupils are myopic and towards the end of their teenage years, four in five 18-year-old males are myopic - and the trend is believed to be similar for females.

These alarming statistics has earned Singapore the unofficial title of one of the most myopic nations in the world. Ophthalmologists in Singapore cite genetic and environmental factors as the reasons for such high rates of myopia - or short-sightedness - in Singapore.

Also, Singaporeans' lifestyle which usually involves near-work activities such as watching television and using the computer for prolonged periods of time, contributes to soaring rates of myopia here.

Amy Chua had better described the Chinese gruelling parenting for excellence in her book "The Battle Hymn Of The Tiger Mother" which not only exist in the Chinese American families but among most Chinese Diaspora worldwide and I say Singapore should take distinction in this obsessive compulsive parenting.

My ten-year stay in Singapore where my children were educated have witnessed how parents particularly mothers pressured their children to reach academic excellence with almost zero tolerance.It's all work and no play for many Singapore's children.

A sore pimple in the Malay Archipelago, this 704 sq. kilometer (1/3 reclaimed land) nation outshone its bigger neighbours in academic and economic excellence.

The man who almost single-handedly transformed this tiny island nation into an economic powerhouse that have put bigger and more resourceful nations to shame had also created an ophthalmic nightmare and a society of rat-racers.

Political correctitude is not in his vocabulary.If success breeds arrogance than Lee Kuan Yew has it all and his cut is often the deepest with little attempt at diplomacy even when dealing with his bigger neighbours.

Lee is not an enigma, is not a person who generally expressed himself in metaphorical or allegorical language, he often spades in ethnicity and the genealogical trees that makes him looked like a consummated racist.He spares no time for turkeys.He has paid tribute to the minority Sri Lankan Tamil in Singapore and agonised the Malays at home and across the Malay Archipelago.

His diatribes had angered and caused much discomfort to his neighbours.

The Malays, particularly across the causeway have taken great exception to some of his salvos.

Here, a worthy read on Lee Kuan Yew and the Singapore Malays.

Also read:
Dr M:Kuan Yew just a 'mayor'