Confusing times for a confused PAP leadership
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Confusing times for a confused PAP leadership
February 5, 2010 by Our Correspondent - Temasek Review
OPINION
Faced with rising frustration, resentment and anger from Singaporeans over its misguided liberal immigration and pro-foreigner policies, PAP leaders have been flip-flopping to and fro in their recent public statements to an equally confused electorate.
Some of them appear to have contradicted earlier statements made by themselves while others give the impression that they do not know what their colleagues are talking about.
While such blatant discrepancies can be attributed to the senility of some senior PAP leaders, it is pretty shocking that younger members of the party don’t quite understand the ramblings of one another either.
As late as December last year, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong told Singaporeans that foreigners are “essential” to Singapore as they took up jobs shunned by locals.
Minister of Community, Youth and Sports Dr Vivian Balakrishnan added that the government cannot “shield” Singaporeans from competition with the foreigners.
A week later on 1 January 2010, PM Lee tried to reassure Singaporeans that they “remain a priority for his administration.”
Now, how is he going to ensure that when he cannot even protect locals from losing their jobs to foreigners?
In early January this year, Law Minister Shanmugam said he had a “hunch” that foreigners and PRs are not responsible for driving up HDB flat prices:
“You say maybe foreigners are paying these high valuations. I think if you check, you’ll find that the majority are Singaporeans.”
Two weeks later, the octogenarian Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew contradicted him during a speech made at an event to celebrate HDB’s 50th anniversary:
“…property prices have gone up because foreigners with permanent residence are buying into the market.”
So who should Singaporeans believe, Mr Shanmugam or MM Lee?
The celebrated Minister in Prime Minister’s Office Lim Swee Say has constantly urged Singaporeans to be “cheaper, faster and better.”
Now Manpower Minister Gan Kim Yong wants Singapore workers to focus on acquiring new skills, rather than working longer and harder, to be more efficient.
National Development Minister Mah Bow Tan seems clueless about the sky-rocketing prices of HDB flats. He has been insisting that they remain “affordable” to Singaporeans though evidence on the ground suggest otherwise.
In November 2009, he said a family with a monthly income of $3,000 can buy a flat worth up to $250,000 and spend only 30 per cent of their income every month on the mortgage.
“Similarly, a family with a monthly income of $4,000 can afford to buy a new flat worth up to $333,000 without spending more than 30 per cent a month on the mortgage. This means they can comfortably buy any of the flats offered in the latest BTO projects this month,” he added.
A month later, he admitted that he was “caught off guard” by how the HDB resale market headed north in a recession year:
“Nobody, no matter how prescient, no matter how clever, would have been able to predict that this was what was going to happen,” he said.
Now he acknowledged that some people may be “adversely” affected by his housing policies:
“There’s no question that our policies are designed for the good of the people. While there may be certain parts of the policies that are not favourable, overall, I think these policies are for the well-being of the people and are good for the country.”
Does he know what is happening exactly?
One cannot blame the junior ministers for being confused when their paramount leader Lee Kuan Yew appears to be equally lost as well.
The elder Lee has been one of the strongest proponents of the PAP’s unpopular immigration policies. As late as August last year, he was telling Singaporeans to “bear with the tide of immigrations” as foreigners are “essential” for Singaporeans.
In a recent interview with the National Geographic magazine published in December 2009, he was quoted as saying that “it is a good thing” that Singapore has welcomed so many Chinese immigrants (from mainland China) as they are more “hard-driving” and “hard-striving” than locals.
He is now singing a different tune altogether:
“We’ve grown in the last five years by just importing labour. Now, the people feel uncomfortable, there are too many foreigners. Trains are overcrowded with foreigners, buses too, property prices have gone up because foreigners with permanent residence are buying into the market. The answer is simple: We check the flow of foreigners, raise your productivity, do the job better, so that instead of two workers, eventually you’ll do it with one worker, like the Japanese do,” he said.
So is Lee admitting that his government has made a mistake earlier by importing too many foreigners over the last five years? If the inflow has been well managed, why is there a need to slow the intake now?
To further complicate matters, Senior Minister Goh Chok Tong said a week later that these recent moves by the government do not mark a “sudden turnaround” in its foreigner policy and that while the rate of increase will “slow down”, the number of foreign workers may actually rise!
These are indeed confusing times for a confused PAP leadership who are getting cold feet over facing angry voters in the next general election due to be called soon.
Both PM Lee and SM Goh claimed they were “surprised” by the on-going “mini-election” frenzy. Perhaps they still do not know that the real reason is that many Singaporeans cannot wait any longer to vote them out of office altogether!
With more and more young Singaporeans joining the electorate, there is a lingering fear that a mini “political tsunami” resembling that of Malaysia in 2008 may happen in Singapore.
The signs are there: young Singaporeans are becoming more vocal and critical of the government (at least online), more of them are joining the opposition including former government scholars, the new media is gaining sufficient readers to counter the mainstream media and more importantly, the genuine concerns of Singaporeans over the rising number of foreigners and high prices of HDB flats are not going to dissipate with time.
After opening the floodgates to allow the foreigners in, there is no way the ruling party can evict them to bring Singapore back to the 1990s.
The demographics of Singapore has been changed beyond recognition with certain parts resembling more than provinces of China and India. This is the result of years of uninterrupted PAP rule and voters will be reminded time and again whenever they find themselves in “unfamiliar” territory surrounded by strange people with strange body odor!
The recent “flip-flops” are nothing more than just strategic posturing to appease voters and to crawl back lost support. Cosmetic changes have been implemented in the fields of education and healthcare to better “distinguish citizens from PRs.”
Even PM Lee is singing praises of Singaporeans by giving “credit” to their “resilience” for keeping last years’ unemployment rate low.
He forgot that his father had just called Singaporeans “daft” if they were to cast a protest vote against the ruling party in the next general election and also insinuated that Singaporeans are “lazy” with his infamous remark made in the same National Geographic interview:
““If native Singaporeans are falling behind because the spurs are not stuck into the hide, that is their problem,” he was quoted saying by journalist Mark Jacobson.
Perhaps what PM Lee actually meant is that Singaporeans are “resilient” despite of all the “spurs” that the PAP has stuck into their hide all these years!
Surely only a confused electorate will vote such a confused party which does not know where the country is heading into power again in the next general election!
Singaporeans must vote wisely in the next general election to reclaim ownership of their beloved country which belongs to all of us and not just to the PAP or a select few.
If we do not make our voices heard now, we will never get the opportunity again because they will be drowned out by the new immigrants who are likely to vote for the PAP!
Singapore for Singaporeans! Vote for change! Vote out the PAP!
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Pay themselves world class salary but performance is mediocre and below. Waste of $$$$ from Singaporeans to pay such exorbitant $$$ world class salary to get poor quality ministers. Tsk tsk tsk! Shame on them.
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Some more flip flops.
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They have been like that for a long time. Somehow, it gives Singaporeans the impression they are not united thus how they expect us to vote for them, trust them with our future.
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Originally posted by Chew Bakar:
Some more flip flops.
They should just cut costs by going for talent hunt for more prata men to join them. -
Originally posted by Fantagf:
They should just cut costs by going for talent hunt for more prata men to join them.They just hired some more and the soon you can see pizza men too.
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Originally posted by Chew Bakar:
They just hired some more and the soon you can see pizza men too.
But are pizza men good for them. Pizza men don't flip flop. -
Singapore for Singaporeans! Vote for change! Vote out the PAP!
Vote out the pap to show displeasure and anger among the pple.
But really vote who to take over the govt? Which opposition has the strongest and largest member in spore who are willing to help sporean and the country?
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Originally posted by likeyou:
Vote out the pap to show displeasure and anger among the pple.
But really vote who to take over the govt? Which opposition has the strongest and largest member in spore who are willing to help sporean and the country?
This you will have to go do a study on the oppositions. The one I know who has credibility is Chiam's party.
The late Mr JB's party is taken over by his son, Kenneth. 2 govt scholars just joined them the Reform Party.
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Originally posted by likeyou:
Vote out the pap to show displeasure and anger among the pple.
But really vote who to take over the govt? Which opposition has the strongest and largest member in spore who are willing to help sporean and the country?
Just like half a century ao, who will think PAP as an oppositions will rule?
They were not much different from shouting like CSJ then.
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Originally posted by Fantagf:
This you will have to go do a study on the oppositions. The one I know who has credibility is Chiam's party.
The late Mr JB's party is taken over by his son, Kenneth. 2 govt scholars just joined them the Reform Party.
No, me not going to study opposition.They (opposition party) should join force and be a ONE party.
Not scattered around spore..no use one.
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Originally posted by Chew Bakar:
Just like half a century ao, who will think PAP as an oppositions will rule?
They were not much different from shouting like CSJ then.
Can't imagine the old heck behaved like CSJ.
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Originally posted by likeyou:
No, me not going to study opposition.They (opposition party) should join force and be a ONE party.
Not scattered around spore..no use one.
YOu can suggest this to them.There are good and bad about having more than one opposition.
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Originally posted by Chew Bakar:
Just like half a century ao, who will think PAP as an oppositions will rule?
They were not much different from shouting like CSJ then.
During that time in when pap is a opposition, pap got a very strong supporters all cluttered in spore. So strong that umno unable to dislodge them. No choice kick spore out. That time, spore base are all majority pap supporters. -
Originally posted by Fantagf:
Can't imagine the old heck behaved like CSJ.When I saw him then he did behave like CSJ.
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Originally posted by Chew Bakar:
When I saw him then he did behave like CSJ.
Hahahha! That was interesting.So now he pot calling the kettle black. wahahhaa
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Originally posted by Chew Bakar:
When I saw him then he did behave like CSJ.
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Originally posted by likeyou:
During that time in when pap is a opposition, pap got a very strong supporters all cluttered in spore. So strong that umno unable to dislodge them. No choice kick spore out. That time, spore base are all majority pap supporters.Ah.. the UMNO story, are we kicked out?
Sometimes there are more than meet the eyes. It might be an agreement to nabbed Sarawak and North Borneo from the Brits, so LKY get his piece of SSS.
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Originally posted by likeyou:
During that time in when pap is a opposition, pap got a very strong supporters all cluttered in spore. So strong that umno unable to dislodge them. No choice kick spore out. That time, spore base are all majority pap supporters.
And during that time, all pple who support opposition (pap) are all welcome to join pap with an open arm. And the pple really are royal and fight hand in hadn with pap.Soon after PAP get a foothold and strong enough, they (pap) started to........ok that's for today.
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Originally posted by likeyou:
And during that time, all pple who support opposition (pap) are all welcome to join pap with an open arm. And the pple really are royal and fight hand in hadn with pap.Soon after PAP get a foothold and strong enough, they (pap) started to........ok that's for today.
Confuse
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Nevermind.
I talked rubbish everytime.
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They don't know this and that, everything is uncertain. What if one day our neighbours attack us with a missile from some fighter jet?
They will then say :'' Oh, It's not our fault, we were not notified during that time and condolences to those who died.''
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just reduce the PAP by 20 percent next election!!!!!
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Originally posted by Larryteo:
They don't know this and that, everything is uncertain. What if one day our neighbours attack us with a missile from some fighter jet?
They will then say :'' Oh, It's not our fault, we were not notified during that time and condolences to those who died.''
No, they will say our neighbours had aquired "highly advanced" missiles that our radars can't detect so they don't know what attacked us, is it from a fighter jet or a surface to surface missile etc. Lol!!
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we are all aware that the current strength of oppositions are on a weak level. Symptoms of strong opposition would give a feeling of rising dominance which we have yet felt that; and before that happens, we would also sense the existing govt take tough measures against them...to date, it is far from alert levels...
i m saying this to state the facts of the situation. My earnest advice to strengthen oppositions is not within, but from without. As i have mentioned many times, since Sg is a highly dependent on external powers and markets, that indicates that the determinant is an external party formed with powerful alliances that could affect the markets and inevitably the whole island. That also implies that we would also be vulnerable to such external powers that could wrought many Sg lives beyond our control.
The internal dissensions would act as a catalyst to expedite the weakening of the existing govt with the dominance of external powers and threats - with that, victory of oppositions would then be assured.
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Govt will use isa to detain those who try to oppose and overthrown the govt.
Not easy to topple. Agreed that opp are on a weak level posing no threat against pap.
Need many efforts and many years to kick out pap.