GE 2011: I am a swing voter- try to convince me!

Dear Friends,

I am a beneficiary of the PAP rule.

I enjoy and appreciate ( taking for granted) the following:

1.Efficient and corruption-free civil service
Each time a traffic warden issues a summon (even to me), I know that he is not allowed to cancel the ticket and to try to bribe him would be just foolish. I have renewed passports at the ICA (Immigration and Checkpoint Authority) in less than 15 mins ( if one goes first thing in the morning). Making appointments for SP Power's technician is easy and yes, they turn up on the said timing.

2.Education
Any child from any of our primary schools has a chance to fulfil his/her dream of being a doctor or going to study in a world-class university overseas on a public scholarship.

3.Racial harmony
I am colour blind and enjoy working with and living amongst people of different race and creed. Hence I am upset and incensed when MM Lee casually dismisses the possibility of a non-Chinese Prime Minister or caused the ruckus when he alluded to Malays being barred from some services in the military.

4.Public Safety
It is my constant boast to foreign friends that even our children and women-folk enjoy freedoms and safety on our streets 24/7.

Having mentioned these “non-negotiables” that I presently enjoy, there are many aspects of the PAP’s rule that I find unacceptable.

A.Ministers’salaries
A ruler who only rules if he is paid millions has lost moral authority. In a past blog post (click here)
I mentioned the concept of Noblesse olige.

Literally it means nobility is an obligation. It is defined as:

1. Benevolent, honorable behavior considered to be the responsibility of persons of high birth or rank.

2. the obligation of those of high rank to be honorable and generous (often used ironically)

John D.Rockefeller Jr said,"every right implies a responsibility; every opportunity, an obligation; every possession, a duty" .

B.Gerrymandering
My previous post (click here)
The Electoral Boundaries Review Committee- Must be fair and seen to be fair.

C.GRC as a coat-tail for PAP candidates (who are afraid to lose)
SM Goh ( in one of his many own goals) said in 2006: (Click here)

‘Without some assurance of a good chance of winning at least their first election, many able and successful young Singaporeans may not risk their careers to join politics,’ .

I hope the PAP fields Michael Palmer in Punggol East SMC and if he wins comfortably , this will once and for all demolish PAP’s argument for the GRC’s Raison d'être (reason for existence) that PAP minority candidates cannot win unaided.

D.Abuse of People’s Association and its grassroot organisations etc

MM Lee said in 2009 “They discover that the People’s Action Party (PAP) has only a small office in Bedok. But everywhere they go, they see the PAP – in the RCs (residents’ committees), CCCs (citizens’ consultative committees), and the CCs (community clubs).” Click here

PAP has finally admitted that grassroot organisations are partisan. This cannot be right as public money is being used.


I am not a rabid pro-PAP nor an anti-PAP voter.

I am a swing voter. Try to convince me.

Dr Huang Shoou Chyuan

MOM's reply about Jourgina Dagoplo's repatriation-Ball was in IBM Singapore's court

Dear Friends,

Ministry of Manpower(MOM) has replied to queries about ex-maid Jourgina's non-renewal of immigration status.

In summary, her employer IBM did not do enough to help her upgrade to an S-Pass eligible status ie pay her salary of $1800/mth or more. She was senior technician.

So ends the fairy tale... or will IBM or other employers take the challenge of employing Ms Dagoplo?

Please refer to my previous post here.

Cheers,

Dr Huang Shoou Chyuan

Why ministry did not renew maid's work permit

WE REFER to the letters last Tuesday by Dr Huang Shoou Chyuan and Mr Kevin Kwek ('Ex-maid's dreams dashed').

We limit the number of years that work permit holders are allowed to work here, to ensure that employers do not become overdependent on low-cost foreign manpower and that lower-skilled foreign workers do not sink roots in Singapore.

Miss Jourgina Dagoplo's work permit was not renewed by the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) as she had reached the maximum employment period of 18 years.

For employees who qualify for higher work pass types such as the S Pass or Employment Pass, their employers may apply to upgrade them to such passes, which are not subject to the maximum employment period.

MOM had informed Miss Dagoplo's employer earlier that it could consider upgrading her to an S Pass provided that her salary meets the S Pass criteria. However, the employer had not done so when her work permit expired.

Farah Abdul Rahim (Ms)
Director, Corporate Communications
Ministry of Manpower

Tribute to Mr. Ong Ai Teik

Mr. Ong Ai Teik (1944-2010)

Words cannot express what Mr. Ong meant to the boys of my cohort (Sec 4- 1976).

To those in Boy’s Brigade and Gymnastics, his influence was understandable and obvious as he was the Captain of BB and the teacher who built a very competitive gym team from scratch.

However to the rest of us who were in neither, his stamp of authority is less easily explained.

Perhaps to many of us, he was the father figure that we hoped for, or the older brother we wished we had. Someone who leads from the front but is also waiting at the back to ensure none of us were left behind!

In the mid-70’s, ACS was in apparent decline and had suffered public humiliations when political leaders seemed to stand in line to castigate us and even labeled us as a “Snob” school. The hurt, though deep, was short-lived and Mr. Ong was there to galvanize us to believe in ourselves and to achieve what we did not know was possible.

Not all of us were academically inclined, but that was not important. We were ACSians.

We remember with fondness Mr. Ong’s innovative methods of punishments. I do not think MOE would have approved many of them… but they worked.

Mr. Ong Ai Teik, teacher,mentor,friend. Someone we respect and love.

Till we meet again.

The Best is Yet to Be!

Huang Shoou Chyuan
(on behalf of the 76’ers)