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
