tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3950660096624739922024-03-19T18:26:52.338+08:00ex Chersonesus AureaHere appear occasional jottings of my random musings. Profound or jejune, they reveal the contours of my mental universe, with world history, intellectual history, civilizations, philosophy, religion, society, knowledge, and books as some major themes.
Since May 2011, this blog has been exclusively focused on Singapore. All my other reflections are now posted in "Notes from Noosphere" (see link under "Miscellany" on the right margin).Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger620125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-395066009662473992.post-71118023833502265212022-09-16T14:43:00.000+08:002022-09-16T14:43:24.013+08:00The mathematics of vaccination and hospitalization<p><b> </b><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b><i><span style="font-family: verdana;">Vaccination and hospitalization</span></i><span style="font-family: trebuchet;"> </span></b></span><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">: </span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large; white-space: pre-wrap;"> a mathematical study</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face=""Arial Black", sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Suppose that with the Healthy (H), the probability of being vaccinated is 0.65, and the vaccine is 0.9 effective against hospitalization.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Suppose that with the Weak (W), i.e. those with serious health and immunological issues, the probability of being vaccinated is 0.95, and the vaccine is 0.77 effective against hospitalization.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Suppose that, without the vaccine, 1000 healthy people (H) and 4000 weak people (W) would have been hospitalized.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The table below shows the prob (columns 2,3) and numbers (columns 4,5) of H and W that are unvaccinated, effectively and ineffectively vaccinated, and hospitalized, given the vaccine.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The last row in the table is the prob and numbers of people being hospitalized, being the sum of those unvaccinated and those ineffectively vaccinated.</span></p><br /><div align="left" dir="ltr" style="margin-left: 36pt;"><table style="border-collapse: collapse; border: none; table-layout: fixed; width: 468pt;"><colgroup><col></col><col></col><col></col><col></col><col></col></colgroup><tbody><tr style="height: 0pt;"><td style="border-bottom: solid #000000 1.0pt; border-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); border-left: solid #000000 1.0pt; border-right: solid #000000 1.0pt; border-style: solid; border-top: solid #000000 1.0pt; border-width: 1pt; overflow-wrap: break-word; overflow: hidden; padding: 5pt; vertical-align: top;"><br /></td><td style="border-bottom: solid #000000 1.0pt; border-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); border-left: solid #000000 1.0pt; border-right: solid #000000 1.0pt; border-style: solid; border-top: solid #000000 1.0pt; border-width: 1pt; overflow-wrap: break-word; overflow: hidden; padding: 5pt; vertical-align: top;"><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Prob with the Healthy (</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">f</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">)</span></p></td><td style="border-bottom: solid #000000 1.0pt; border-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); border-left: solid #000000 1.0pt; border-right: solid #000000 1.0pt; border-style: solid; border-top: solid #000000 1.0pt; border-width: 1pt; overflow-wrap: break-word; overflow: hidden; padding: 5pt; vertical-align: top;"><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Prob with the Weak (</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">g</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">)</span></p></td><td style="border-bottom: solid #000000 1.0pt; border-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); border-left: solid #000000 1.0pt; border-right: solid #000000 1.0pt; border-style: solid; border-top: solid #000000 1.0pt; border-width: 1pt; overflow-wrap: break-word; overflow: hidden; padding: 5pt; vertical-align: top;"><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">1000 × </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">f</span></p></td><td style="border-bottom: solid #000000 1.0pt; border-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); border-left: solid #000000 1.0pt; border-right: solid #000000 1.0pt; border-style: solid; border-top: solid #000000 1.0pt; border-width: 1pt; overflow-wrap: break-word; overflow: hidden; padding: 5pt; vertical-align: top;"><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">4000 x </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">g</span></p></td></tr><tr style="height: 0pt;"><td style="border-bottom: solid #000000 1.0pt; border-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); border-left: solid #000000 1.0pt; border-right: solid #000000 1.0pt; border-style: solid; border-top: solid #000000 1.0pt; border-width: 1pt; overflow-wrap: break-word; overflow: hidden; padding: 5pt; vertical-align: top;"><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Unvaccinated (~v)</span></p></td><td style="border-bottom: solid #000000 1.0pt; border-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); border-left: solid #000000 1.0pt; border-right: solid #000000 1.0pt; border-style: solid; border-top: solid #000000 1.0pt; border-width: 1pt; overflow-wrap: break-word; overflow: hidden; padding: 5pt; vertical-align: top;"><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">0.35</span></p></td><td style="border-bottom: solid #000000 1.0pt; border-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); border-left: solid #000000 1.0pt; border-right: solid #000000 1.0pt; border-style: solid; border-top: solid #000000 1.0pt; border-width: 1pt; overflow-wrap: break-word; overflow: hidden; padding: 5pt; vertical-align: top;"><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">0.05</span></p></td><td style="border-bottom: solid #000000 1.0pt; border-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); border-left: solid #000000 1.0pt; border-right: solid #000000 1.0pt; border-style: solid; border-top: solid #000000 1.0pt; border-width: 1pt; overflow-wrap: break-word; overflow: hidden; padding: 5pt; vertical-align: top;"><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">350</span></p></td><td style="border-bottom: solid #000000 1.0pt; border-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); border-left: solid #000000 1.0pt; border-right: solid #000000 1.0pt; border-style: solid; border-top: solid #000000 1.0pt; border-width: 1pt; overflow-wrap: break-word; overflow: hidden; padding: 5pt; vertical-align: top;"><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">200</span></p></td></tr><tr style="height: 0pt;"><td style="border-bottom: solid #000000 1.0pt; border-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); border-left: solid #000000 1.0pt; border-right: solid #000000 1.0pt; border-style: solid; border-top: solid #000000 1.0pt; border-width: 1pt; overflow-wrap: break-word; overflow: hidden; padding: 5pt; vertical-align: top;"><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Vaccine effective (v,e)</span></p></td><td style="border-bottom: solid #000000 1.0pt; border-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); border-left: solid #000000 1.0pt; border-right: solid #000000 1.0pt; border-style: solid; border-top: solid #000000 1.0pt; border-width: 1pt; overflow-wrap: break-word; overflow: hidden; padding: 5pt; vertical-align: top;"><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">0.65 × 0.9</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">= 0.585</span></p></td><td style="border-bottom: solid #000000 1.0pt; border-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); border-left: solid #000000 1.0pt; border-right: solid #000000 1.0pt; border-style: solid; border-top: solid #000000 1.0pt; border-width: 1pt; overflow-wrap: break-word; overflow: hidden; padding: 5pt; vertical-align: top;"><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">0.95 × 0.77</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">= 0.7315</span></p></td><td style="border-bottom: solid #000000 1.0pt; border-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); border-left: solid #000000 1.0pt; border-right: solid #000000 1.0pt; border-style: solid; border-top: solid #000000 1.0pt; border-width: 1pt; overflow-wrap: break-word; overflow: hidden; padding: 5pt; vertical-align: top;"><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">585</span></p></td><td style="border-bottom: solid #000000 1.0pt; border-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); border-left: solid #000000 1.0pt; border-right: solid #000000 1.0pt; border-style: solid; border-top: solid #000000 1.0pt; border-width: 1pt; overflow-wrap: break-word; overflow: hidden; padding: 5pt; vertical-align: top;"><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">2926</span></p></td></tr><tr style="height: 0pt;"><td style="border-bottom: solid #000000 1.0pt; border-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); border-left: solid #000000 1.0pt; border-right: solid #000000 1.0pt; border-style: solid; border-top: solid #000000 1.0pt; border-width: 1pt; overflow-wrap: break-word; overflow: hidden; padding: 5pt; vertical-align: top;"><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Vaccine ineffective (v,~e)</span></p></td><td style="border-bottom: solid #000000 1.0pt; border-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); border-left: solid #000000 1.0pt; border-right: solid #000000 1.0pt; border-style: solid; border-top: solid #000000 1.0pt; border-width: 1pt; overflow-wrap: break-word; overflow: hidden; padding: 5pt; vertical-align: top;"><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">0.65 × 0.1</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">= 0.065</span></p></td><td style="border-bottom: solid #000000 1.0pt; border-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); border-left: solid #000000 1.0pt; border-right: solid #000000 1.0pt; border-style: solid; border-top: solid #000000 1.0pt; border-width: 1pt; overflow-wrap: break-word; overflow: hidden; padding: 5pt; vertical-align: top;"><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">0.95 × 0.23</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">= 0.2185</span></p></td><td style="border-bottom: solid #000000 1.0pt; border-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); border-left: solid #000000 1.0pt; border-right: solid #000000 1.0pt; border-style: solid; border-top: solid #000000 1.0pt; border-width: 1pt; overflow-wrap: break-word; overflow: hidden; padding: 5pt; vertical-align: top;"><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">65</span></p></td><td style="border-bottom: solid #000000 1.0pt; border-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); border-left: solid #000000 1.0pt; border-right: solid #000000 1.0pt; border-style: solid; border-top: solid #000000 1.0pt; border-width: 1pt; overflow-wrap: break-word; overflow: hidden; padding: 5pt; vertical-align: top;"><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">874</span></p></td></tr><tr style="height: 0pt;"><td style="border-bottom: solid #000000 1.0pt; border-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); border-left: solid #000000 1.0pt; border-right: solid #000000 1.0pt; border-style: solid; border-top: solid #000000 1.0pt; border-width: 1pt; overflow-wrap: break-word; overflow: hidden; padding: 5pt; vertical-align: top;"><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Hospitalized </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">= (~v) + (v,~e)</span></p></td><td style="border-bottom: solid #000000 1.0pt; border-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); border-left: solid #000000 1.0pt; border-right: solid #000000 1.0pt; border-style: solid; border-top: solid #000000 1.0pt; border-width: 1pt; overflow-wrap: break-word; overflow: hidden; padding: 5pt; vertical-align: top;"><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">0.415</span></p></td><td style="border-bottom: solid #000000 1.0pt; border-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); border-left: solid #000000 1.0pt; border-right: solid #000000 1.0pt; border-style: solid; border-top: solid #000000 1.0pt; border-width: 1pt; overflow-wrap: break-word; overflow: hidden; padding: 5pt; vertical-align: top;"><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">0.2685</span></p></td><td style="border-bottom: solid #000000 1.0pt; border-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); border-left: solid #000000 1.0pt; border-right: solid #000000 1.0pt; border-style: solid; border-top: solid #000000 1.0pt; border-width: 1pt; overflow-wrap: break-word; overflow: hidden; padding: 5pt; vertical-align: top;"><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">415</span></p></td><td style="border-bottom: solid #000000 1.0pt; border-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); border-left: solid #000000 1.0pt; border-right: solid #000000 1.0pt; border-style: solid; border-top: solid #000000 1.0pt; border-width: 1pt; overflow-wrap: break-word; overflow: hidden; padding: 5pt; vertical-align: top;"><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">1074</span></p></td></tr></tbody></table></div><br /><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The total number hospitalized (</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">H</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">= 415 + 1074</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">= 1489</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The total number of vaccinated hospitalized (</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">VH</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">= 65 + 874</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">= 939</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">VH</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> ÷ </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">H</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> = 939 ÷ 1489 = 63.06 %</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">63 %</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> of the hospitalized were vaccinated.</span></p><br /><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">To generalize, let</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">R </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> = (</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">N, </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">the number of weak people hospitalized without vaccine) </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">÷ (</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">M, </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">the number of healthy people hospitalized without vaccine)</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">In the previous example,</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">R </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> = 4000 ÷ 1000 = 4</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">VH </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">÷ </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">H </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">= (0.065 + 4 x 0.2185)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> ÷ (0.415 + 4 x 0.2685)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> = 0.939 ÷ 1.489</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> = 0.6306</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">In general, </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Z </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> = </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">VH</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> ÷ </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">H</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> = (0.065 + </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">R</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> x 0.2185)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> ÷ (0.415 + </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">R</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> x 0.2685)</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">R </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">can assume any non-negative real value, from 0 (when </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">N </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">= 0), to</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">∞ (when </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">M</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> = 0)</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The value of </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Z </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">monotonically increases from 0.157 (= 0.065/0.415) when </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">R</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">=0 to 0.814 (= 0.2185/0.2685) when </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">R</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">=∞.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Therefore, </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Z</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, the percentage of the vaccinated among the hospitalized can vary from 15.7 % to 81.4 %, depending on the ratio of </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">N </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">to</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> M.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">To further generalize, 0.157 (0.814 resp.) is the percentage of the vaccinated among the </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">healthy </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">(</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">weak</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> resp.) hospitalized.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Therefore, </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Z</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, the percentage of the vaccinated among the hospitalized can take on any value between</span></p><br /><ul style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-inline-start: 48px;"><li aria-level="1" dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; list-style-type: disc; margin-left: 36pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">the percentage of the vaccinated among the healthy hospitalized</span></p></li></ul><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">and </span></p><ul style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-inline-start: 48px;"><li aria-level="1" dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; list-style-type: disc; margin-left: 36pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">the percentage of the vaccinated among the weak hospitalized, </span></p></li></ul><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 72pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">depending on the ratio of </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">N</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> to </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">M</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Finally, we generalize </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Y, </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">the percentage of the vaccinated among the healthy/weak hospitalized.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Let us consider the healthy hospitalized. (The case of the weak hospitalized is identical.)</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Let </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">v</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">= probability of a healthy person being </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">vaccinated</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">= proportion of the vaccinated among the healthy</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">= vaccination rate among the healthy</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Let </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">k </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">= prob of the vaccine being </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">ineffective</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> with a healthy person</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Y </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">= ( </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">v</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> x </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">k </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">) ÷ ((1-</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> v </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">) + </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">v</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> x </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">k </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">)</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">In the example above, </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">v</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> = 0.65, </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">k </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">= 0.1, </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Y </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">= 0.065 ÷ (0.35 + 0.065)</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">[1] </span><span style="color: #980000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Y </span><span style="color: #980000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">as a function of </span><span style="color: #980000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">v</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Given a fixed </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">k </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Y </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">monotonically increases (as </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">v</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> increases) from 0 (when </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">v</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> =0) to 1 (when </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">v</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> =1).</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Given any vaccine efficacy, the proportion of the vaccinated among the hospitalized can be </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">any </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">value between 0% and 100%, depending on the proportion of the vaccinated among the general population in question.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">[2] </span><span style="color: red; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Y </span><span style="color: red; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">as a function of </span><span style="color: red; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">k</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Given a fixed </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">v</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> , </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Y</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> monotonically increases (as </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">k</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> increases) from 0 (when </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">k </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">=0) to </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">v</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> (when </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">k</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> =1).</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Given any vaccination rate </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">v, </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">the proportion of the vaccinated among the hospitalized can be </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">any</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> value between 0% and </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">v</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, depending on the vaccine efficacy.</span></p><br /><br /><br /><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">□♡♤</span></p><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-395066009662473992.post-77456891778969582642013-06-03T09:54:00.001+08:002013-06-03T10:32:55.175+08:00Tan Wah Piow: The real reason behind the Internet crackdown in Singaporeby <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tan_Wah_Piow" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Tan Wah Piow</span></a><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">, Singaporean political exile in London</span><br />
<br />
(<a href="https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=481368155275440&set=a.296578130421111.71914.296552400423684&type=1" target="_blank">source</a>)<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgn8fzOk1CSpnBH80DaLAxCsvZBlas9pAVIgwJ8Kynga9Ss6CdjlYoltFFJfc448uyALYxHFR0f29U7plhbAZ1e1d7nhNuY5bzfNieDKizU-Z7HfxhSviiLqwZzsm-YRsFIJVbGvzmPYg/s1600/freeMy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="236" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgn8fzOk1CSpnBH80DaLAxCsvZBlas9pAVIgwJ8Kynga9Ss6CdjlYoltFFJfc448uyALYxHFR0f29U7plhbAZ1e1d7nhNuY5bzfNieDKizU-Z7HfxhSviiLqwZzsm-YRsFIJVbGvzmPYg/s640/freeMy.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Lee Hsien Loong in his first national day speech in 2004 as Prime Minister invoked Chairman Mao’s “let the hundred flowers bloom”. He added “… we are going to do is to open up the Speakers’ Corner where you can go and make any speech you like and we are going to say, ‘Well, if you want to go there and have<span class="text_exposed_hide">...</span></span><span class="text_exposed_show"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> an exhibition, go ahead.”<br /> <br /> And now, less than a decade after his speech, not just a hundred flowers have blossomed, cyberspace and Hong Lim Park have merged into one gigantic political force never seen before in Singapore’s history. This certainly was not what he anticipated.<br /> <br /> If Lee Hsien Loong’s 2004 speech was a branding exercise to distinguish himself from his father’s knuckle-duster politics, the latest regulatory framework to control news websites signals the end of the liberal pretence. <br /> <br /> In essence, independent bloggers carrying news on Singapore can be required to put up a bond of $50,000 if so required by the government when they pass the threshold of readership. The new regulation would empower the government to impose a fine of S$200,000 or imprisonment of up to 3 years against those who fail to remove offending articles within 24 hours of being ordered to do so.<br /> <br /> If there is an example of social control by stealth, this is one. The new framework was presented as an innocuous piece of regulation ostensibly to equalize the playing field between online and offline news. Of the 10 web-based media notified by the MDA as falling within their criteria for control, ironically nine of the ten are government-friendly, owned by Singapore Press Holdings, and Media Corp. The exception is Yahoo Sg. <br /> <br /> Although the “usual suspects”, namely sites such as Temasek Review Emeritus (TRE), The OnLine Citizen (TOC), Public House sg and many others which provide alternative news forum are not immediately named by the MDA as falling within the ambit of their control, they are anxious that these new regulations would eventually threaten their very survival, and financial viability. They are also concerned that it could curb “fellow Singaporeans’ ability to receive diverse news information”.<br /> <br /> The 21 leading bloggers and websites of Singapore were right when they pointed out in their joint statement that “These new regulations significantly impact Singaporeans’ constitutionally protected right to free speech, and they should not be introduced without the most rigorous public debate and discussion.” <br /> <br /> This latest regulation attracted instant and universal rejection by netizens. But is this simply a stupid decision on the part of a single Minister or someone at the MDA? Or is it a case that the PAP has not learnt the errors of their way by misjudging the mood of the population?<br /> <br /> I believe the answer is “No” to both questions. There are just a thousand days between now and the 2016 general elections. With the way the public has responded to issues such as AIM, and the Population White Paper, there is no reason for the PAP to feel confident that they could do better in 2016 than in 2011; and the outcome of the by-elections at Punggol East was most worrying for them.<br /> <br /> The erosion of public trusts in the PAP, and their elites does not come from any of the opposition parties, or the opposition MPs. A new potent political force has emerged which is unprecedented in Singapore history. This force is far more radical, dynamic, reflective of the people’s mood, and certainly more threatening to the PAP than all the opposition parties combined. For want of a better expression, I will call this force the “Virtual Movement for Democracy in Cyberspace (VMD)”<br /> <br /> It is a movement without leaders, organisation, or membership. Yet it has a capacity to grow, and is already setting the political demands for change. The power of this virtual movement lies in its ability to synergise the individual desires for democratic changes in Singapore into real collective political actions. The energy within this virtual movement comes from the decades of pent up frustrations, as well as the feeling of betrayal of the Singapore cause by the PAP elites who have, over the decades, evolved into a self-serving bureaucratic capitalist class. All of us are now part of this VMD.<br /> <br /> It is this VMD which is now setting the political agenda in Singapore. The avalanche of criticisms against AIM, the Population White Paper, and now the control of the Internet are <span style="background-color: yellow;">not led by any of the opposition party, but by the uncoordinated collective efforts of individuals in cyberspace</span>. They include those who write articles, bloggers, those who make comments, those who distribute articles through facebook and social media. The VMD would not be a potent political force without a buoyant cyberspace. At the same time, the cyberspace in Singapore would be sterile without the VMD.<br /> <br /> It is this symbiotic relationship between the VMD and cyberspace that triggered the need for control, hence the MDA’s new regulatory regime.<br /> <br /> In the times before 2011, the government could look at those in cyberspace as irritating but tolerable armchair critics. After all, up to the 2011 elections, cyberspace and netizens do not reflect electoral intentions. By the time of the Punggol East by-elections, cyberspace becomes the mirror of the people’s mood for change. <br /> <br /> Over the Population White Paper, the government not just lost their ability to set the news agenda, it could no longer control the contents. It was the various websites and the traffic in cyberspace that eventually brought the thousands to rally against the government’s 6.9m population policy at Hong Lim Park.<br /> <br /> It is instructive to note how Cheong Yip Seng, the former Chief Editor of The Straits Times describes the government obsession over the control of the media: “The government sees this in terms of what it calls “setting the agenda”. It wants to ensure that at all times, it… not anyone else… controls the agenda.” [pg 427 OB Markers] And now they have lost that power.<br /> <br /> To continue its position as a dominant party, it is crucial for the PAP to retain The Straits Times as the dominant paper. Yet the paper is increasingly referred to in cyberspace as “The S***ing Times”, while many are relying on alternative news websites to follow political events in Singapore. So long as The Straits Times continue to be the mouthpiece of the government, its relevance as a newspaper will decline. Equalizing the playing field in this context would simply mean that the government wants to put independent news media under such pressure of control that they would toe the line as The Straits Times does for commercial survival.<br /> <br /> The government is certainly aware that this new regulation will incur the wrath of netizens. That, to them, is a smaller price to pay than to allow the VMD to grow unchecked as that certainly could threaten the PAP electoral fortunes by 2016.<br /> <br /> Ultimately, the final solution is to vote out the PAP so that we can have the political space to restore our democratic constitutional rights. (see my Critique on Tharman’s Pap as a Dominant Party in TRE and Public House sg,). <span style="background-color: yellow;">During the interim, we need more guerrilla-type bloggers and cyber-warriors to counter the current set of regulations. Each time we forward an article we like in cyberspace to our friends and acquaintances, we are actively undermining the legitimacy and dominance of the PAP. </span></span></span><br />
<span class="text_exposed_show"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: yellow;"><br /></span><br /> Meanwhile, may the VMD grow and grow.</span></span><br />
<span class="text_exposed_show"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /> </span></span><br />
<span class="text_exposed_show"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">*********************************</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">Related</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"><strong>Is the PAP government going back to its old ways?</strong> Dr Wong Wee Nam (<a href="http://publichouse.sg/categories/topstory/item/890-is-the-pap-government-going-back-to-its-old-ways" target="_blank">here</a>)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">******************</span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-395066009662473992.post-82072865682084822832013-02-28T21:04:00.003+08:002013-04-30T20:21:02.338+08:00The Cherian George gate: La trahison des clercs at NTU?<div id="yui_3_7_2_1_1362054058315_2480">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In the following message from the organizers of the petition concerning NTU's unfair evaluation of Cherian's George's quality of scholarship and teaching, and its unjustified denial of tenure to George, it is clear that George's professional colleagues at the School of Communication and Information value his research and teaching at the school, and endorsed his tenure. </span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">However, for some non-academic reasons (political pressure?), either the College of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences or NTU refused George his tenure, and thus terminating his services at NTU.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">What a disgraceful and despicable act of betrayal of academic integrity (</span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trahison_des_clercs" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">la trahison des clercs</span></a><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">) if indeed NTU had kowtowed to Singapore's political masters.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">We demand that NTU, which is a public institution and accountable to the Singapore public, be transparent and reveal the<span style="background-color: yellow;"> exact areas in teaching, research and publication</span> where George is considered deficient, and the relevant supporting evidence. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">We will then judge whether Cardiff University professor Karin Wahl-Jorgensen, who has reviewed George's teaching and scholarship as part of the tenure process, is right to be <a href="https://twitter.com/karinwahlj" target="_blank">outraged by NTU's denial of George's tenure</a>.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong>Background</strong>: </span><a href="http://exchersonesusaurea.blogspot.sg/2013/02/cherian-george-denied-tenure-at-ntu.html" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">here</span></a><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong>NTU professor denied tenure may have to leave job,</strong> <em>Yahoo!News</em> (<a href="http://sg.news.yahoo.com/ntu-professor-denied-tenure-may-have-to-leave-job--142039295.html" target="_blank">here</a>)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong>NTU rejects outspoken professor's tenure appeal,</strong> <em>Yahoo!News,</em> April 30, 2013 (<a href="http://sg.news.yahoo.com/ntu-rejects-outspoken-professor-s-tenure-appeal-115504121.html" target="_blank">here</a>)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"></span><br />
<br />
*************<br />
<br />
<strong><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Message from Petition organizers to the signatories</span></strong><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Dear Signatories,</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><br />
<div id="yui_3_7_2_1_1362054058315_2479">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The petition, signatures and comments were delivered to four key professors yesterday. The organisers of the petition today (February 28, 2013) met with Dr Benjamin Hill Detenber, chair of the Wee Kim Wee School of Communication and Information (WKWSCI), as well as Dr Mark Cenite, assistant chair of the school. Dr Alan Chan Kam-Leung, the dean of the College of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences (HASS), was unable to attend the meeting because he was travelling overseas.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><br />
<div id="yui_3_7_2_1_1362054058315_2475">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The objective of the meeting was for us to reiterate the key limbs of the petition, which are as follows:</span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><br />
<div id="yui_3_7_2_1_1362054058315_2477">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">- WKWSCI and HASS have to join the signatories in publicly affirming the stellar teaching credentials of Dr Cherian George </span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><br />
<div id="yui_3_7_2_1_1362054058315_2478">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">- Given claims by Dr Karin Wahl-Jorgensen on February 23, 2013 that the denial of a tenure contract could have been politically motivated, as well as members of the WKWSCI community and the public echoing similar sentiments, NTU is obliged to provide categorical assurances that there is no policy of curtailment of academic freedom or political discrimination in the university.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><br />
<div id="yui_3_7_2_1_1362054058315_2481">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We also conveyed to the two professors that the petition is wholly organised by students, and does not involve any faculty member, including Dr Cherian George. In addition, we made clear that what was said in the meeting was to be on the record. Dr Detenber told us that Dr Chan and the <span style="background-color: yellow;">NTU provost and deputy president Dr Freddy Boey were best placed to comment on the issue of academic freedom in the university. </span>He assured us that the two of them would meet us at a later date.</span></div>
<br />
<div id="yui_3_7_2_1_1362054058315_2483">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Dr Detenber then provided us with a brief outline of how the tenure application process works in NTU, and in particular, in WKWSCI. He emphasised that the process does not involve self-nomination or seniority. Instead, it is kick-started by an internal promotions and tenure committee in WKWSCI, who select candidates based on merit. The nominations are then sent to the chair, who eventually decides on who to endorse, with the help of a separate advisory committee.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><br />
<div id="yui_3_7_2_1_1362054058315_2484">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The endorsed nominations are then sent to the dean of the college of HASS and his own advisory committee, and later to a university-level promotions and tenure review committee. The final approving body for tenure applications in NTU is the Academic Affairs Council, which is a subset of the university’s board of trustees.</span></div>
<br />
<div id="yui_3_7_2_1_1362054058315_2489">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Dr Detenber said at the school level, <span style="background-color: yellow;">WKWSCI had endorsed Dr George as a nominee for a tenure contract on both occasions</span>, adding that he was making this clarification with the approval of Dr Boey. He said he was unable to comment on whether the nominations on both occasions had been cleared at the subsequent levels. Dr Detenber also said that the school <span style="background-color: yellow;">had nominated Dr George to be reappointed as the head of the division of journalism and publishing in 2010, but the university turned this down.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><br />
<strong><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">*3+3+1 road to a tenure contract *</span></strong><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A tenure contract in NTU refers to a full-time permanent faculty position with no periodic contract reappointments until retirement. Dr Detenber said tenure-track professors employed in NTU first get a three-year contract before they are put up for consideration for a tenure contract. If they fail to get a tenure contract at the first attempt, they would then be granted another three-year contract. If they fail at the second attempt, they would be then allowed to stay in the university for another year, before being asked to leave. This policy essentially means that <span style="background-color: yellow;">Dr Cherian George will leave NTU within the next year.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><br />
<strong><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">*Teaching credentials *</span></strong><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Dr Detenber also affirmed Dr George’s teaching credentials. He said <span style="background-color: yellow;">WKWSCI fully recognised Dr George’s quality, and that this was validated by the fact that it nominated him for a teaching award in 2009, which he won</span><span style="background-color: white;"> (<em>ed.</em> NTU news <a href="http://www.ntu.edu.sg/Nanyang-Awards/Recipients/Pages/NanyangAwards2009Winners.aspx" target="_blank">here</a>).</span> Dr Cenite also pointed out Dr George’s distinction in pioneering the annual Going Overseas for Advanced Reporting (GO-FAR) programme as well as in helming the Asian Journalism Fellowship.</span><br />
<br />
<strong><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">*Further action *</span></strong><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We will further apprise signatories on new developments and plans after our meetings with Dr Chan and Dr Boey. Dr Detenber also said he was considering the best way to engage the WKWSCI community on this issue.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Yours sincerely,<br />Bhavan Jaipragas<br />Eve Yeo Yu Ping<br />Mark Tay Hiok Leng<br />Jasmine Ng Zi Ting</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">_______________________</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><br />
<div id="yui_3_7_2_1_1362054058315_2511">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This message is from Bhavan Jaipragas who started </span><a href="http://www.change.org/petitions/tenure-contract-for-dr-cherian-george?utm_source=supporter_message&utm_medium=email" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">the petition</span></a><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> "Tenure contract for Dr Cherian George"</span></div>
<br />
<br />
***********************<br />
<br />
<strong><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Dons alleged bias in NTU tenure process in 2009</span></strong><br />
<strong><span style="font-family: Verdana;"></span></strong><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><em>The Straits Times</em>, Feb 22, 2009 (</span><a href="http://www.asiaone.com/News/Education/Story/A1Story20090220-123438.html" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">source</span></a><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A GROUP of professors from the Nanyang Technological University (NTU) has
raised a protest to varsity heads over the process of awarding tenure.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Unhappy about what they call a 'non-transparent' process, the group of about
10 has sent e-mail messages to the heads of their respective schools as well as
to NTU provost Bertil Andersson, who has said the claims are baseless.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
The group has also sought help from the Education Services Union (ESU), a body
affiliated to the National Trades Union Congress (NTUC) which was set up to
promote good relations between employees of private education institutions and
their employers.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">However, the group was turned away because ESU can represent only bargainable
employees, and university faculty members are considered non-bargainable staff.
Instead, the ESU has referred the case to the Ministry of Manpower.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">At the centre of the professors' complaint is something called the T65
contract, which guarantees them a place on the teaching staff till they hit the
age of 65. It is the most coveted contract among professors.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">More than a dozen professors have claimed that the selection process for the
contract is 'biased and undemocratic'. Last year, 640 of NTU's 1,500 faculty
members applied for the T65 contract. Of these, 55 per cent, or 352 professors,
were awarded the contract.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Some of those who missed out are now claiming that they deserved it too as
they had more publications to their names or were rated higher on student
feedback forms than some professors who received the coveted tenure.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">However, the university's administration has defended the integrity of its
review process.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Professor Andersson said that since 2007, the process has involved internal
committees and external referees assessing T65 applicants on the merit of their
research, teaching and service to the university.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">He added that members of the Academic Research Council, set up by the
Ministry of Education to oversee national research and development efforts, had
commented that NTU's 55 per cent tenure success rate squared with international
standards.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Prof Andersson also said the unhappy professors were in the minority. Only 5
per cent of the 288 unsuccessful T65 applicants had sent in appeals.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">However, 15 or so professors who spoke or wrote to The Straits Times insist
they have a case.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Associate Professor Michael Heng, from NTU's School of Electrical and
Electronic Engineering, is among them.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">He wrote to the newspaper last month, alleging 'serious lapses' in the
process. He said that in internal school meetings, faculty members were told by
their Chairs that only research counted in the tenure review. They were told
teaching and service to the university were not important, he said.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">He added: 'This is taxpayers' money we are talking about, so this is of
public interest.'</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The other professors, speaking on condition of anonymity, said they agreed
with him. They said they had tried in the past to get their views aired, but
without success.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">After being turned away by the ESU, they attempted to set up their own union,
and went as far as drawing up a draft Constitution. But NTUC advised them
against doing this because unions should represent all employees in a
organisation, not just its executive-level ones.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">When contacted for comment, a Ministry of Manpower spokesman said: 'MOM
encourages employers and employees to engage in constructive dialogue through
established internal grievance management procedures. MOM will render assistance
where necessary.'</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Tenure review processes at the National University of Singapore and Singapore
Management University are similar to those at NTU.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">NUS and SMU spokesmen said multiple layers of checks were in place to ensure
transparency, and that tenure review is an accepted practice at the
universities.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">*****************************************</span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-395066009662473992.post-18668101402063045472013-02-26T01:10:00.001+08:002013-02-27T17:56:40.257+08:00Cherian George denied tenure at NTU: political masters at work?<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKbbNWQOqHf4AUTdLh5lcJfU5yH-nGFSSRmfnBdFw6cI1OiRY5HkDkued1H2MqgF-Ban5FikbyEUOA7g39dcuMUgNY6LyGOzOcpe8kVsiQLP5RlQOU_1pGJVXq88M67VKbzQHoxasiIw/s1600/cherian+george.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKbbNWQOqHf4AUTdLh5lcJfU5yH-nGFSSRmfnBdFw6cI1OiRY5HkDkued1H2MqgF-Ban5FikbyEUOA7g39dcuMUgNY6LyGOzOcpe8kVsiQLP5RlQOU_1pGJVXq88M67VKbzQHoxasiIw/s640/cherian+george.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Cherian George</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<strong><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Outspoken Singapore journalism professor denied tenure, sparking debate over academic freedom</span></strong><br />
<br />
<span class="name">By Faris Mokhtar, <em>The Associated Press,</em> Feb 27, 2013 </span>(source: <a href="http://www.calgaryherald.com/news/Outspoken+Singapore+journalism+professor+denied+tenure/8020837/story.html" style="color: #003399;" target="_blank">Calgary Herald</a>)<br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">SINGAPORE - A Singapore journalism professor who has written extensively about the lack of media freedom in the city-state has been denied tenure a second time, and hundreds of his supporters at home and abroad are demanding to know why.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Supporters of Cherian George, an associate professor in journalism studies at the Nanyang Technological University's School of Communication and Information, contend that his credentials are so strong that politics must be behind the university's unwillingness to give him a permanent faculty position. His first application for tenure was rejected in 2009.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Karin Wahl-Jorgensen, a professor from Wales' Cardiff School of Journalism, Media and Cultural Studies, said she was one of the outside experts who reviewed George's case for tenure. She called him one of the <span style="background-color: yellow;">"foremost public intellectuals in Singapore</span>," and called the rejection "<span style="background-color: yellow;">incomprehensible and plainly absurd</span>."</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"I can only speculate about the reasons for this decision not to grant tenure to someone known for being critical of the government but it does not make NTU or Singapore look good in the eyes of the international academic community, and raises serious questions about academic freedom," Wahl-Jorgensen said in an email to The Associated Press.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The Southeast Asian country, known for its groomed image of efficient governance and political stability, has long been criticized by human-rights groups for using measures such as criminal and civil defamation to stifle opposition voices critical of the government and its leaders. The People's Action Party has ruled since 1959 but has seen support drop in recent years as discontent grows over the high cost of living, an influx of foreigners and rising income inequality.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A former journalist, George holds degrees from Cambridge and Columbia University and obtained his doctorate from Stanford University. He is known for his books such as "Freedom From The Press," which assessed the state of media and politics in Singapore.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Nanyang Technological University did not respond directly to queries from the Associated Press. In a media statement Tuesday evening, the public university said it has a "rigorous tenure process" in place but added that "as all employment matters are confidential, NTU will not comment on any specific cases."</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">George said he learned of the rejection last week, but he declined to comment further. A former student of his, Bhavan Jaipragas, began a petition demanding that the university disclose reasons behind its decision to deny George tenure, along with details on how it assesses the teaching quality of faculty members seeking tenure.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The petition had received about 800 signatories by Wednesday. Bhavan said copies were to be delivered later that day to NTU's president and other key university leaders.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"There are complaints of curtailment of academic freedom and we want the university to categorically assure the student body there is no policy of curtailment and political discrimination," said Bhavan. "We don't want them to just say it but to prove it to us."</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The issue has reignited debate over freedom of thought in Singapore's universities, a debate that also has brought attention to a joint venture between Yale University and the National University of Singapore to open a liberal arts college in the city-state. Enrollment begins in July this year.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Some Yale academics have criticized the move, accusing the university of compromising its values for being involved in a country where freedom of assembly is restricted and homosexual activity banned. The president of Yale-NUS, Pericles Lewis, has said the college has received guarantees that academic freedom will be protected.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">**************************************************</span><br />
<br />
<strong>Yahoo!News</strong>, F<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">eb 26, 2013</span> (<a href="http://sg.news.yahoo.com/denial-of-tenure-to-ntu-associate-professor-sparks-outcry-125052804.html?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter" target="_blank">source</a>)<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"><strong></strong></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">An outspoken associate professor for journalism in Nanyang Technological University (NTU) has been denied tenure, sparking an outcry and raising questions over academic freedom in Singapore.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><a href="https://twitter.com/karinwahlj" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Cardiff University professor Karin Wahl-Jorgensen tweeted</span></a><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> Saturday morning that Cherian George, associate professor at NTU’s Wee Kim Wee School of Communication and Information (WKWSCI), was denied tenure “on the grounds of quality of teaching and research”.<br /><br />In subsequent tweets, Wahl-Jorgensen, who revealed that she was one of the reviewers for George’s case, said she was “outraged” at the decision not to grant him tenure, and that it could have been “because he sometimes expressed political opinions”.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">An adjunct senior research fellow at the Institute of Policy Studies and former journalist with The Straits Times, George has </span><a href="http://sg.news.yahoo.com/existing-press-controls-in-s-pore-must-be-urgently-reviewed--media-experts.html" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">spoken out against media control</span></a><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> and </span><a href="http://us.lrd.yahoo.com/_ylt=AocNk5aXw8V2q2uKUgaVHMsBV8d_;_ylu=X3oDMTFqaTNjbzlmBG1pdANBcnRpY2xlIEJvZHkEcG9zAzMEc2VjA01lZGlhQXJ0aWNsZUJvZHlBc3NlbWJseQ--;_ylg=X3oDMTJzcHJrOWlkBGludGwDc2cEbGFuZwNlbi1zZwRwc3RhaWQDNjkwYzA0NDctNzZlZS0zNjZjLThkYTAtN2JkZTBlYWU4NzAyBHBzdGNhdANzaW5nYXBvcmUEcHQDc3RvcnlwYWdl;_ylv=0/SIG=136thvshp/EXP=1363096700/**http%3A//sg.news.yahoo.com/pap-reform--a-checklist-for-change--part-1-023450377.html" id="yui_3_5_1_1_1361887078024_1020" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">has been critical of the ruling People’s Action Party</span></a><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">. He joined NTU in 2004.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Wahl-Jorgensen alluded to NTU’s decision being detrimental “for academic freedom” and said it raised “big question marks about international collaborations” with Singapore and NTU.<br /><br />She said also said George’s application was “watertight” and believed the board’s decision “made no sense on grounds of research and teaching”.<br /><br />Tenure would give him the contractual right not to have his position terminated without just cause. George was previously denied tenure once in 2009 when he was promoted to the position of associate professor. Typically, academic promotions are accompanied by tenures.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"></span><br />
<strong><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Petition Started</span></strong><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In reaction to the news, </span><a href="http://www.change.org/en-GB/petitions/tenure-contract-for-dr-cherian-george" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">an online petition was set up</span></a><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> by final-year WKWSCI student Bhavan Jaipragas to urge the NTU board to “affirm (George’s) stellar teaching credentials and disclose the reasons behind the decision to deny his tenure”.<br /><br />A day after the petition was initiated, the number of signatories have more than doubled to 686 signatories as of press time.<br /><br />“We felt it was very important any impression that Dr George's teaching skills were sub-par had to be quickly demolished. We also want the school and university to… categorically dispel claims of curtailment of academic freedom in NTU,” said Bhavan to Yahoo! Singapore.<br /><br />Bhavan said he heard of the news from several sources over the weekend, before such tipoffs were confirmed by Wahl-Jorgensen’s tweets. He said he will deliver hard copies of the petition with the list of signatories to four key members of the NTU leadership, including NTU president Bertil Andersson.<br /><br />In one of the petition’s comments, associate professor William Ray Lengenbach, head of media at Sunway University College, said, “Cherian George is a significant regional intellectual and his views on Singapore politics should have no bearing on his tenure. If there indeed is government pressure on the university's decisions, it is time for academic staff and administration to stand up against such pressures.”<br /><br />Among several high-profile signatories who have come forward include Lai Ah Eng, senior research fellow at the Asian Research Institute at the National University of Singapore.<br /><br />She said, "Our local intellectual resources are already so limited and seem to be declining with academic globalisation. We need people who have both global and local knowledge, and Cherian has it. If we do not hire the likes of him, then who do we hire?"<br /><br />Among the students who have spoken out against the alleged grounds, alumnus Johnson Zhang commended George for being friendly and knowledgeable. “To say that the quality of Dr George's teaching was 'sub-par' would be an insult to us graduates who had the honour of learning from him,” said Zhang.<br /><br />“As someone who has worked with Dr George for close to two decades, I am dumbfounded by the news. I don't know of many professors in NTU who give as much to the students, even fewer who have clear vision of how a great journalism department in an university can be and should be,” said WKWSCI photojournalism lecturer Tay Kay Chin </span><a href="https://www.facebook.com/kaychin/posts/164443760371927" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">in a post on Facebook</span></a><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">.<br /><br />George declined comment when approached by <em>Yahoo! Singapore</em>.<br /><br /><strong>NTU statement</strong><br /><br />In a statement issued Tuesday night, an NTU spokesperson wrote:<span style="color: black;">"NTU has a rigorous tenure process. All NTU faculty seeking tenure go through the same process. More than 1,000 faculty have gone through this process at NTU in the last six years and so far, more than 55% have been granted tenure."</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"></span><br />
<div id="yui-tmp-16">
<span style="color: black;"></span><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">"The tenure review process is purely a peer-driven academic exercise comprising internal and external reviewers. The two equally important criteria are distinction in research and scholarship, and high quality teaching. Service and other contributions to the university, profession, or community are also taken into consideration.</span><span style="color: black;"></span></span><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">"</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;"><br /></span><span style="color: black;">"As all employment matters are confidential, NTU will not comment on any specific cases.</span>"<br /><br />Last year, the issue of academic freedom was raised in relation to the launch of the Yale-NUS College, a partnership with Yale University and the National University of Singapore (NUS). </span><a href="http://sg.news.yahoo.com/yale-nus-will-guarantee-academic-freedom--college-president.html" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Yale members passed a resolution expressing their concern restriction of civil liberties in Singapore</span></a><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">*****************************</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"></span><br />
<strong><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">A Protest against NTU's denial of tenure to Cherian George</span></strong><br />
<strong><span style="font-family: Verdana;"></span></strong><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">by Terence Lee (<a href="https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10151404942267933&set=a.10150164420302933.295452.738232932&type=1" target="_blank">source</a>)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-N6idvBWbCRHpA6m8zEwnYwH15JKWW6OWE96Kliy31wlFE2CNO5gfw1EJtsVszQMeJq_vlPdhUbpNuoKsnalPaOsDhizldBRCGQD40qLItbY6Qq7ztMLaT-rA7aUXfuS52OcY0R-sww/s1600/Cherian+G.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="628" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-N6idvBWbCRHpA6m8zEwnYwH15JKWW6OWE96Kliy31wlFE2CNO5gfw1EJtsVszQMeJq_vlPdhUbpNuoKsnalPaOsDhizldBRCGQD40qLItbY6Qq7ztMLaT-rA7aUXfuS52OcY0R-sww/s640/Cherian+G.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="text_exposed_root text_exposed">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Thanks but no thanks, NTU<br /> <br /> I felt compelled to do this after the whole Cherian George debacle erupted. It might make me seem a little opportunistic, but I hope the larger point I'm making wins out. Anyway, here's the background: In January, NTU sent me a congratulatory letter (see photo) about my recent appointment as editor of SGE. It's a nice gesture no doubt, but after what has played out recen</span><span class="text_exposed_show"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">tly, I feel like I can no longer accept the content of the letter.<br /> <br /> After all, I owe a lot of what I am today to the journalism faculty at WKWSCI, of which Cherian George played a major role in shaping.<br /> <br /> So, I've decided to send the letter back to NTU to protest their decision not to grant Cherian George tenure. Here's my reply to them:</span></span></div>
<div class="text_exposed_root text_exposed">
<span class="text_exposed_show"></span> </div>
<div class="text_exposed_root text_exposed">
<span class="text_exposed_show"></span><span class="text_exposed_show"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Dear Director of the Alumni Affairs,<br /> <br /> first of all, I would like to thank you for sending out the congratulatory letter to me about my recent promotion. It came as a pleasant surprise, and I deeply appreciate the gesture.<br /> <br /> However, after the recent debacle in which an esteemed journalism prof was denied tenure for dubious reasons, I feel compelled to reject the letter. Please don't take this personally, as faculty affairs certainly isn't under your purview. So if for any reason you are inconvenienced, please accept my sincerest apologies.<br /> <br /> But do hear me out. I don't think I can accept praise from the university when the person that inspired me and many others isn't given due credit and recognition. I echo others in saying that Cherian George is <span style="background-color: yellow;">one of the most engaging instructors</span> in NTU, and his example has certainly inspired me to pursue my current career path.<br /> <br /> So, I am sending the letter back to the university as a form of protest. Please show my note to your colleagues, and you may send it back to me when he is finally given due credit.<br /> <br /> Cheers,<br /><br /> Terence</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">***********************************</span></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-395066009662473992.post-84474855038392907562013-02-21T20:48:00.000+08:002013-02-22T12:13:24.436+08:00How land and people fit in Singapore's economy<em>Yahoo!Singapore,</em> Feb 21, 2013 (<a href="http://sg.news.yahoo.com/blogs/singaporescene/land-people-fit-singapore-economy-025020996.html" target="_blank">source</a>)<br />
<br />
<strong>By Linda Lim</strong><br />
<strong> </strong><strong></strong><br />
<strong></strong><br />
<strong><div id="yui_3_5_1_1_1361450594871_850">
<em>The writer, a Singaporean, is professor of strategy at the Stephen M. Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan.</em></div>
</strong><br />
The ongoing debate about Singapore’s population policy provides a timely opportunity to reconsider how different pieces of our economic growth model fit—or do not fit—together.<br />
<br />
GDP (output) growth in any country comes from either or both increases in inputs (primarily land, labour and capital) or the productivity of those inputs. As noted first in Lee Tsao Yuan’s 1982 Harvard PhD economics dissertation, and continuing to the present day, Singapore’s GDP growth has depended more on input than on productivity increases, as reflected in the high dependence on foreign labour.<br />
<br />
This has had the unintended (but predictable) consequence of discouraging increased labour productivity.<br />
<br />
Employers could increase output more readily and cheaply by recruiting foreign workers, particularly from lower-income countries, than by investing in capital-labour substitution and upgrading the skills of the domestic labour force. This was and is an entirely rational decision for profit-maximising private enterprises.<br />
<br />
But increasing output by increasing inputs eventually runs into the problem of diminishing marginal returns.<br />
<br />
In Singapore’s case, this is because the addition of more and more people to an essentially fixed and extremely scarce complementary resource, land, inevitably raises other costs. These include rising residential housing and commercial rental costs, and congestion costs especially in transportation.<br />
<br />
Also, both higher housing costs and lengthening commute times effectively lower the real wage of workers (e.g. because it now takes them 10 or 11 hours to earn an 8-hour daily wage).<br />
<br />
In a closed labour market, the rising cost of living eventually translates into higher nominal wages. But in an open labour market like Singapore’s, wage increases held down by the increased supply of foreign labour discourages the substitution of capital, higher technology and sophisticated management processes, for labour.<br />
<br />
This is why the policy of tightening foreign labour supply and increasing labour productivity is necessary.<br />
<br />
<strong>Some solutions</strong><br />
<strong></strong><br />
One way by which the chronic excess demand for labour that Singapore has long suffered (despite or because of a liberal immigration policy) will be reduced is by some businesses moving out of the country. This is a normal process of adjustment to shifting comparative and competitive advantage.<br />
<br />
What is important here to smooth such adjustments and minimise the costs to both employers and workers is commitment to a clear long-term labour market policy that will not vary according to short-term business or electoral cycles.<br />
<br />
But the application of such a policy should not be blunt—applied with immediate and equal force across all sectors—but nuanced and gradual, according to the circumstances of individual sectors and businesses.<br />
<br />
Economic planning agencies need to be involved in calibrating the demand side of the labour market. For example, they shouldn't provide incentives to businesses whose highly specific manpower needs require a heavy reliance on imported labour and talent, with few jobs for native Singaporeans, or which are highly land-intensive.<br />
<br />
Choices and trade-offs must be made—not between growth and foreign labour dependence, but between different sectors that will contribute to growth.<br />
<br />
<strong>Policy consequences</strong><br />
<strong></strong><br />
Given Singapore’s extreme land scarcity, continuation of heavy (if reduced) reliance on foreign labour and immigration has another unintended consequence. It contributes marginally to the low fertility rate and emigration of native Singaporeans, and to labour force participation rates that are lower than they might be for certain demographics.<br />
<br />
These are, for example, mothers of young children, and professionals and skilled workers over 50 years of age who in other developed countries would be at the pinnacle of their careers, but in Singapore are too often sidelined in favour of cheaper (or more globally accomplished) imported talent.<br />
<br />
High housing costs reduce fertility by delaying the age of marriage (since young couples need to both work for a long time to save enough to afford their own home, especially in the unsubsidised private market where they must compete with large numbers of foreign buyers).<br />
<br />
Also, long commutes on congested public transportation reduce time for social interaction and family formation, and make it difficult to transport children for childcare and schooling.<br />
<br />
The costs of child-raising are high, including for some the need for (mostly foreign) maids and nannies to enable both parents to work. This again increases population density, including in the ever-shrinking space of home. Competition with foreigners in school and the job market also increases the stress and expense of child-raising.<br />
<br />
Emigration to more land-abundant countries also becomes more attractive to young Singaporeans who do not see themselves ever being able to replicate or even approach their parents’ standard of living if they stay home, faced with the ever-increasing costs of living, declining quality of life, increased job market competition and a perception of discrimination vis-à-vis foreign talent and immigrants.<br />
<br />
The feeling of being treated as a “second-class citizen in my own home”, and being crowded out by foreigners, adds to the loss of physical markers of “home”—buildings, land, green and wild areas which in every country constitute part of the native’s national patrimony and identity—in discouraging the sojourner’s return to be a “stranger in a strange land”.<br />
<br />
The over-representation of foreigners or immigrants in the leadership and even middle ranks of many organisations also suggests that a “glass ceiling” exists for the locally-born, such that upward career mobility may be more limited than in a larger foreign country.<br />
<br />
From a purely GDP growth input perspective, it may not matter if emigrating or low-reproducing native Singaporeans are readily replaced in the labour market by immigrants and new citizens. But particularly at the high end of the skill ladder, among the globally-mobile talent that the country wishes to attract, many of the same “push factors” operate to discourage a permanent stay in Singapore—from the cost of living to quality of life—reinforced by lack of the bond of a shared collective national identity.<br />
<br />
<div id="yui_3_5_1_1_1361450594871_851">
For those who do stay, sheer numbers (and what some say is the difficulty of making friends with Singaporeans) encourage “clustering among their own” rather than integrating into native Singapore society, and their birth rates will also fall over time for the same reasons this has happened with native Singaporeans.</div>
<br />
<strong>Distortions</strong><br />
<strong></strong><br />
Territorial land is the essence and foundation of a nation. In Singapore, the wisdom of using retirement savings to fund home ownership, including in subsidised public sector housing, has been premised on the assumption of constant asset appreciation. Large-scale immigration contributes to asset appreciation, and thus to the profits of REITS and both private and government-linked property developers.<br />
<br />
But asset appreciations based on increased land scarcity are essentially rents that transfer income from buyers to sellers, thus contributing also to rising inequality.<br />
<br />
From a long-term growth perspective, they distort incentives to work, save and invest in value-creating activities in favor of rentier wealth or income from property “investments” (or speculation).<br />
<br />
Asset inflation also hurts growth by raising the cost of doing business and discouraging entrepreneurship especially by SMEs and local businesses which cannot afford to compete with global multinationals for commercial and retail space.<br />
<br />
We should not forget that a major factor in the downfall of the medieval Italian city-state of Venice was the diversion of entrepreneurial capital and energy into property as the small land-area drove rising rentals and land prices, leaving the city with beautiful buildings that today are but a shell for visiting spectators to admire.<br />
<br />
Beyond these economic considerations, an increase to the already absolutely and proportionately large numbers of temporary foreign workers and new immigrants has resulted in social pressures and political tensions that threaten to make Singapore less livable and less attractive to foreigners turned off by the perceived hostility of natives, as well as natives who feel their livelihood, lifestyle, electoral impact and nationhood undermined by the overwhelming presence of foreigners.<br />
<br />
Land and people together constitute a nation. All of us, new and old Singaporeans alike, and temporary residents, will be better off if our population policy takes a more comprehensive view of both economic growth and social integration in this small but precious piece of land. Fortunately, there are alternative solutions that, together as a nation, we can make work.<br />
<br />
<br />
********************************<br />
<br />
<strong>Related</strong><br />
<strong></strong><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNYvxNCEpgDgItegn_TxqUqpiSuPyeY90CON29MYngeSq9PBrx-KMWMLPEPlFuzSppC1H1mg5JlaKfZSc41A2edGpsBg9bJN0ryMtWJ1Gl43lhu4Xy38KmgPr7QrEMK3irrPKyVYTMPw/s1600/blogMiel_population69.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNYvxNCEpgDgItegn_TxqUqpiSuPyeY90CON29MYngeSq9PBrx-KMWMLPEPlFuzSppC1H1mg5JlaKfZSc41A2edGpsBg9bJN0ryMtWJ1Gl43lhu4Xy38KmgPr7QrEMK3irrPKyVYTMPw/s1600/blogMiel_population69.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">by Miel (<a href="http://blogtoonistmiel.blogspot.sg/2013/02/rejected-cartoon-about-population-white.html" target="_blank">source</a>)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><strong>Singapore population likely to hit 6.1 million by 2030: demography expert</strong></span><br />
<em></em><br />
<em>Yahoo!News</em> Feb 19, 2013 (<a href="http://sg.news.yahoo.com/singapore-population-likely-to-hit-6-1-million-by-2030--demography-expert-104059075.html" target="_blank">source</a>)<br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Singapore’s population in 2030 will not be as large and its older people as unproductive as what the government expects, an Austrian demography professor said Tuesday, Feb 19, 2013.<br /><br />In a public lecture organised by the Institute of Policy Studies to some 140 attendees at RELC International Hotel, Professor Wolfgang Lutz, founding director of the Wittgenstein Centre for Demography and Global Human Capital,<span class="st"></span> estimated that Singapore’s population that year would be 6.1 million, bearing into account increases in the city-state’s population every 5 years since 1970.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><a href="http://sg.news.yahoo.com/pm-lee-makes-passionate-appeal-for-population-white-paper-in-parliament-082910512.html" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In a recent white paper</span></a><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">, the government projected that there would be between 6.5 million to 6.9 million people in Singapore by 2030, </span><a href="http://sg.news.yahoo.com/huge-turnout-at-speakers--corner-for-population-white-paper-protest-101051153.html" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">sparking a backlash among Singaporeans</span></a><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">, many of whom have complained that the large influx of immigrants in recent years have strained infrastructure and pushed up the cost of living.<br /><br />Government leaders have also maintained that a steady, albeit lower, pace of immigration would be needed to sustain economic growth to compensate for Singapore’s low total fertility rate and ageing population.<br /><br />In his hour-long presentation, Lutz declared that the negative effects of an ageing population have been blown out of proportion and argued that Singapore’s vast tertiary-educated population core will counter the consequences of low replacement levels.<br /><br />“There is indeed no empirical evidence so far that the ageing of the workforce is bad for economic growth. We see life expectancy increasing and elderly people being in good health,” Lutz explained to <em>Yahoo! Singapore</em>. “There is no reason why they could not and should not make a contribution to society. If you factor this in, the old age dependency burden becomes less.”<br /><br /><strong>Argument against a retirement age</strong><br /><br />With longer life expectancies, Lutz said, "I think there is no reason to have a government-set universal retirement age".<br /><br />Currently, the statutory minimum retirement age in Singapore is still 62, but employers are required to offer re-employment to eligible employees who turn 62, up to the age of 65.<br /><br />Lutz reasoned how the lack of a pension scheme and the government’s encouragement towards self-sufficiency made such a retirement age redundant.<br /><br />“People have different preferences, financial situations and health status. If somebody thinks he or she can afford to retire at the age of 50 and vice versa, why not? The government pension schemes need to be structured flexibly based on an insurance principle, however,” said Lutz.<br /><br />Lutz said Singapore, like Germany, could be among the countries with the oldest population in the world but still be able to thrive with a knowledge-based economy.<br /><br />He said that a high proportion of 50- to 60-year olds would yield good results for Singapore’s economy as they would have come mostly from high levels of education and, thus, be able to contribute in terms of experience and foresight.<br /><br />Meanwhile, attendees voiced concerns of over-education in which too many citizens have to fight for too few jobs.<br /><br />In response, Lutz said that lifelong learning and broad education were ways citizens could combat such problems. He urged governments to put in place more measures in schools to welcome back citizens for continued education at more periods in their lives.<br /><br />“There is never a point when we feel that we have learnt enough. A broader tertiary education gives the basis for people to learn more skills. As our lives get longer, why do we have to push all education in the first part of life?” said Lutz.<br /><br /><strong>Redefining what is an old age</strong><br /><br />One of Lutz’s suggestions to recalibrate expectations of an ageing population is to redefine what exactly an age that is considered to be old, is. Doing so would change the measure of the number of working people needed to support the old, Lutz said.<br /><br />In the white paper, the government expected a drop in the number of working citizens supporting the aged, from a current ratio of 5.9 working-age citizens for each citizen aged 65 and above, to a ratio of 2.1 by 2030.<br /><br />“70 is the new 60. Educated, old members still can be a productive part of society. Looking at Singapore’s population in an international context, Singapore has one of the strongest transformative societies in recent human history,” said Lutz, referring to the drastic jump in higher-educated residents.<br /><br />Lutz caused much conversation when he said last Wednesday that Singapore’s optimal TFR should be 1.7, lower than the replacement level of 2.1. He is in Singapore for three weeks as a distinguished professor of the National University of Singapore Society. Lutz is founder and director of the Wittigenstein Centre for Demography and Global Human Capital.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">************************</span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-395066009662473992.post-22206587057625306832013-02-18T12:34:00.000+08:002013-02-18T14:39:02.974+08:00Lacking common sense: How Singapore Police investigated filmmaker for bus drivers' allegation of police brutality<h1>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: small;">In Which Lim Makes Me Kopi At The Internal Affairs Office</span></h1>
<br />
by <span class="post-author"><a href="http://www.lianainfilms.com/author/lynn/" target="_blank" title="Posts by Lynn">Lynn Lee</a></span> on <span class="post-date">Feb 15, 2013</span> • 1:49 am (<a href="http://www.lianainfilms.com/2013/02/in-which-lim-makes-me-kopi-at-the-internal-affairs-office/" target="_blank">source</a>)<br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I’ve spent the last 15 years telling stories about other people. It’s a little mortifying knowing I’ve become </span><a href="http://sg.news.yahoo.com/s-pore-film-maker-assists-with-investigation-into-police-brutality-173326960.html?fb_action_ids=10151219523332554&fb_action_types=news.reads&fb_source=other_multiline&action_object_map={%2210151219523332554%22%3A604771672873435}&action_type_map={%2210151219523332554%22%3A%22news.reads%22}&action_ref_map=[]" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">a story</span></a><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> myself. I’ve not read all the news reports, but friends have alerted me to various postings on Facebook and last Thursday, there were hundreds of messages expressing concern and alarm over how I was being treated by the police.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Thank you. I am touched and humbled by the outpouring of support. I am fine. A little worn out, but generally, okay.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I knew when I posted </span><a href="http://www.lianainfilms.com/2013/01/i-have-ways-to-make-you-confess/" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">these clips</span></a><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> online that the allegations raised by former SMRT drivers, He Jun Ling and Liu Xiangying, were serious. I thought the relevant authorities should look into their claims and had, prior to the posting, written to various departments for a response. They still haven’t officially acknowledged my email.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">What the Ministry of Home Affairs did though was to announce through</span><a href="http://www.news.gov.sg/public/sgpc/en/media_releases/agencies/mha/press_release/P-20130205-1.html?AuthKey=4b8bedeb-b510-6846-86e6-3a7eccf8a41b" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> a press statement</span></a><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> that they would be launching an investigation, and that they would be seeking the assistance of various people, including the producers of the videos.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I am still trying to process what happened next.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">*</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">They showed up at our flat on Tuesday, the 5th of February. It was about 11am. I had pulled a late night and James had just flown in from China, so we were both knackered. But the knocking on our door was incessant and so I opened it.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I was still wearing my pajamas when I let them in – two men and a woman at first. They were joined by various other plainclothes police over the course of the morning. Snowy, our Maltese, went a little berserk barking at all the strangers in the house.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Superintendent Lim Chan Huat from the Internal Affairs Office introduced himself. He seemed nice enough, told me he was investigating He and Liu’s allegations and said he wanted to take a look at footage of my interviews with the two men. I showed him the clips. He asked a few questions. I answered them. And then, things got a little strange.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Superintendent Lim said he had to take away the external hard drive containing all my footage of the ex-drivers. I told him I couldn’t let him do so as there was other material in the drive – information not related to his investigation, contacts and research that as a journalist and documentary filmmaker, I was bound to keep confidential. I offered repeatedly to let him copy the relevant footage off my drive, but he refused, showing me instead a letter from the Attorney General’s Chambers, authorising him to act under Section 16(2) of the Criminal Procedure Code (CPC).</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I asked what provision in the CPC allowed him to take my property, especially as I wasn’t the one being investigated. He was unable to give me an answer and had to make a few calls to his office. We spent a good 20 minutes scrolling through the CPC, him pointing out various sections, me reading them and saying, “But that’s not applicable!”</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Things got even weirder when a Superintendent Goh Tat Boon showed up. He said he was from Bedok Division, not the Internal Affairs Office and that he was going to exercise his ‘power of seizure’.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I asked why he had to take the entire drive if all the police were interested in were video clips of the former drivers. He said they needed it to ‘ascertain circumstances’. I asked what kinds of ‘circumstances’. All he would say was that these were ‘circumstances surrounding the case’.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And so it went on, this to-and-fro – me trying to find out why they needed the entire drive, them saying they did so because they did so. Me asking them to name the provisions under which they were acting, Superintendent Goh telling me not to discuss ‘technicalities’.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I called a lawyer friend who suggested letting them take the drive if they allowed me to back everything up and agreed to only look at the two interviews in question. It wasn’t an ideal solution, but at the time, I felt it was perhaps unreasonable to protest any further. The police were after all, investigating allegations brought to light by my videos. And if they undertook to only look at the two interviews, I should have faith that they would keep their word.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We made a copy. They took the drive after getting me to show them where the relevant clips were filed. They repeated their promise not to look at anything else.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Superintendent Lim asked to take my statement. “You can either do it here or at my office tomorrow.”</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I opted for <em>here</em>, thinking it would be easier. But then, he started by asking some pretty strange questions.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">“What causes do you champion?”</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">“Do you do any volunteer work?”</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And again:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">“Do you believe in any causes?”</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">(I believe in numerous causes – saying no to shark fin soup, puppy mills, the death penalty, the genocide in Myanmar’s Rakhine state. I believe in justice, fairness, equality. But how were any of my beliefs relevant to whether He and Liu had been beaten in custody? Did it matter if I volunteered in a dog pound, or homeless shelter, or spent my weekends doing nothing? How was any of this <em>relevant</em> to the investigation? It was bizarre.)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">James suggested we stop the interview. It was nearly two and we had work to do. I said I would go to the Internal Affairs Office the following day to give a fresh statement, and that I did not want to answer irrelevant questions.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">*</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The Internal Affairs Office is located on the 17th floor of Police Headquarters at Irrawady Road. My first visited there lasted about two-and-a-half hours. The interview took place inside a small office. The door was left open at all times, the air conditioning was just nice, Superintendent Lim was civil and polite throughout.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I took pages and pages of notes – writing down the questions he posed as well as the answers I gave.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">He asked if I would like to continue where we left off the day before. I requested a fresh statement.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">There were more than 90 questions in all, many of them relating to the circumstances leading to my interviews with He and Liu. Lim asked why I wanted to speak to the ex-drivers, who arranged the interviews, and why I didn’t tell He and Liu to file a police report.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I said that like many journalists, I was interested in the case and that I had put in a request for interviews with the men via their case worker, S, from the NGO, </span><a href="http://twc2.org.sg/" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">TWC2</span></a><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In response to the last question, I told Superintendent Lim it wasn’t my role to give legal advice.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">He asked if the interviews were recorded in ‘segments’ and if so, why. I explained that this is how the camera we used works – it automatically records in segments. Looking back now, I think what the Superintendent was really interested in was whether a lot of time elapsed between the ‘segments’. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">What happened when the two men were off camera? Did I say anything ‘extra’ to my interviewees?</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">If he’d asked me, I would have told him that very little time elapsed between the ‘segments’. We were racing to finish four interviews in one day. Each one lasted at least one-and-a-half hours. I couldn’t afford to waste precious minutes.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I left Police Headquarters at around lunchtime and headed to a mall in the east to meet a friend. Later that afternoon, as we sat down with another friend (and her baby) for coffee and cake at a café located in the atrium of the mall, I noticed a man in a blue shirt staring at us. He was maybe five foot five. Rotund. Glasses. He circled us, stared, spoke into a handsfree phone headset and walked away. A little later, a taller man in white hovered around our table.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">“Are we being followed?” I asked my friends. It was hard to tell if I was simply being paranoid. We sat at the café for close to an hour. The two men circled us at least three more times. There was a lot of staring. It didn’t seem as if they were interested in coffee, or cake, or shopping.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">*</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">9am on Wednesday. James told me that the police were back again. This time, it was two officers from the Internal Affairs Office and Superintendent Goh Tat Boon from Bedok Division. He seemed to be in charge.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I let them in and Superintendent Goh got straight to the point. He wanted to seize my laptop, iMac and mobile phone. I asked why these were needed as the police already had the drive containing all the footage of my interviews with He and Liu. All Superintendent Goh would say was that the three devices were ‘necessary and related’ and that while it was ‘unpleasant’ for me, he had to take them.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I called my friend, lawyer M Ravi, who came over immediately with his colleague, Claudia Powers. Ravi asked Superintendent Goh to name the provision under which he was acting. He pointed out that I had cooperated fully the day before and that the police seemed to be over zealous, especially given the fact that I was not a suspect in the case and might even be a witness for the State should charges be brought against any officers involved in the alleged assault.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Superintendent Goh’s response was that we should let him seize the items first and lodge a complaint with relevant authorities later.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Ravi then called the Chief Prosecutor and after a short conversation, it was agreed that I would take my laptop and mobile phone to the Internal Affairs Office that afternoon, where the two objects would be examined in my presence.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I am glad I turned to Ravi for help and immeasurably grateful that he put aside his work to come when I called. By the time he arrived, the police had already photographed and tagged everything. Ravi’s intervention meant I was able to keep the three items.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A question I’m trying to figure out – if the investigation into the alleged beatings is being conducted by the Internal Affairs Office, which is an independent body within the police force, why was Superintendent Goh from Bedok directing proceedings that morning?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Maybe there is a logical, plausible answer to my question, but shouldn’t an independent investigation be conducted at all times by members of the independent body charged to carry out the task?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">*</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">My second session at Police Headquarters started with an interview, this time, with DSP Sim Ngin Kit. Again, I took notes.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">There were 62 questions in all. The first few focused once again, on the day we shot the interviews with the drivers. Sim wanted to know how many takes we did for the interviews and who else, besides the cameraman and myself, was involved in the taping.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I replied that both interviews were done in one take and that apart from the cameraman, no one else was involved in the taping.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<em><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">DSP Sim: Can I write down that you were the one who made all the arrangements for the taping?</span></em><br />
<em><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span></em><br />
<em><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Lynn: I was the one who arranged for the equipment and the cameraman.</span></em><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I was also repeatedly asked whether I discussed the drivers’ allegations with anyone else. Sim seemed particularly interested in any communication I might have had with NGOs or the two men’s lawyers. I found his line of questioning puzzling.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<em><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">DSP Sim: Were there any persons you were in contact with after the posting of the video, in respect to the allegations of assault?</span></em><br />
<em><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span></em><br />
<em><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Lynn: Lots of people contacted me after the posting of the videos.</span></em><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<em><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">DSP Sim: Were there any NGOs that you can recall?</span></em><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<em><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Lynn: After the posting?</span></em><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<em><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">DSP Sim: And before?</span></em><br />
<em><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span></em><br />
<em><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Lynn: How is this relevant?</span></em><br />
<em><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span></em><br />
<em><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">DSP Sim: I will just put this in.</span></em><br />
<em><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span></em><br />
<em><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Lynn: If you explain this to me logically, I might answer you.</span></em><br />
<em><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span></em><br />
<em><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">DSP Sim: Did any NGO contact you before or after the posting of the videos online, regarding the allegations of He and Liu?</span></em><br />
<em><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span></em><br />
<em><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Lynn: I don’t see why this is relevant. But seriously, why is this relevant?</span></em><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<em><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">DSP Sim does not answer my question.</span></em><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Later…</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<em><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">DSP Sim: You mentioned you posed some questions for your documentary. Why were you interested in posing these questions?</span></em><br />
<em><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span></em><br />
<em><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Lynn: Because they were interesting questions.</span></em><br />
<em><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span></em><br />
<em><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">DSP Sim: Did you discuss these questions with anyone else beforehand?</span></em><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<em><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Lynn: No.</span></em><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Later…</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<em><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">DSP Sim: Do you have any record of the questions prepared for the interview?</span></em><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<em><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Lynn: No, there is no record.</span></em><br />
<em><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span></em><br />
<em><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">DSP Sim: So how did these questions come about?</span></em><br />
<em><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span></em><br />
<em><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Lynn: I just asked them on the spot during the interview.</span></em><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<em><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">DSP Sim: In your previous statement, you said that the men’s allegations were serious and needed to be addressed. Could you tell us how the clips were uploaded and what devices were used to upload the clips?</span></em><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<em><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Lynn: Are you going to use that as an excuse to seize my computer again? How is this question relevant? The clips were uploaded onto the video website, Vimeo.</span></em><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<em><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">DSP Sim: And the device?</span></em><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<em><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Lynn: I don’t think that’s relevant.</span></em><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It was during this interview that I started wondering seriously if I, rather than the alleged perpetrators, was the one being investigated. Were they trying to establish if I had somehow manufactured the allegations? Or that I had worked with He and Liu’s lawyers and various NGOs to fabricate things?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">My suspicions were reinforced when they started examining my computer. Two officers from the Technology Crime Forensic Branch explained that they would start by removing my hard disk before connecting it to something called a ‘write blocker’, to ‘ensure that no data is overwritten or introduced’.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I asked what they would look at when they were examining my hard disk and an officer called Florence Koh said that this would be ‘anything related to the case’.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<em><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Lynn: So what happens if confidential information not relating to the case gets leaked?</span></em><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<em><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Koh: We will not leak it out.</span></em><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<em><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Lynn: I have your word on this?</span></em><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<em><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Koh: Yes.</span></em><br />
<em><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span></em><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Taking apart my laptop proved problematic for the officers charged with the task. They couldn’t figure out how to remove its casing and at one stage, were googling for answers. I was afraid they might break the machine and asked why they couldn’t just look directly at the computer instead.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<em><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Connie (the computer expert): So if the IO (Investigating Officer) just accesses the file from your computer, the date stamp of your files will change.</span></em><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<em><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Lynn: So how is that material to the case?</span></em><br />
<em><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span></em><br />
<em><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Connie: It has always been our practice. We want to ensure that a file is not accidentally created.</span></em><br />
<em><span style="font-family: Arial;"></span></em><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In the end, they managed to remove my hard disk. Once it was hooked up to their own device, I realised that the police would be able to access not only what I currently had on my laptop, but all deleted documents, videos and photos as well. They could also see records of my online activity. This was why they had to take apart my laptop – to run it through forensic software, which would enable them to trawl through my computer’s history. Nice.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The examination took a long time, primarily because I think, they were trying to find things that did not exist. An officer called Choo Kwang Meng asked to look at my video clips. There were only four, none connected to their case. I told them everything I had of He and Liu was on the hard drive they confiscated, and that my laptop didn’t have the capacity to hold big video files.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But still they looked.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">They went through all my documents – scripts I had written for previous documentaries, the draft of a book I was working on, notes, research material, random bits and bobs. By this time, I was getting a little impatient.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<em><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Lynn: Why don’t you tell me what you are looking for? There are no video files (of He and Liu’s interviews) in there. My computer is too small to handle. Your colleagues here can tell you it’s true.</span></em><br />
<em><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span></em><br />
<em><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Choo: What about a script?</span></em><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<em><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Lynn: There is no script.</span></em><br />
<em><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span></em><br />
<em><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Choo: Questions?</span></em><br />
<em><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span></em><br />
<em><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Lynn: No pre-prepared questions.</span></em><br />
<em><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span></em><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And still they looked, and looked and looked. And the night wore on. None of the officers were unpleasant. They treated me well and offered up Milo, instant noodles, biscuits, pau and candy. There was even cappuccino, made, I was told, by Superintendent Lim himself (“Lim’s <em>kopi</em>!” I thought).</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">At 8.02pm, I received a text from my friend, Teo Soh Lung. “I am on my way to get you home”.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Other friends and family had also started calling me. I had been sending regular updates to Kirsten and I knew she was posting them on </span><a href="http://spuddings.net/2013/02/07/mha-investigates-ex-bus-drivers-allegations-against-police/" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">her blog</span></a><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">. But I didn’t realise how much the information was getting re-shared until a former CNN colleague rang.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">At 8.07pm, I messaged Kirsten to tell her that they had started examining the contents of my phone, which had been downloaded a little earlier.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The officers also asked me if I used a web-based email. I told them I did. They asked if I could give them my password.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<em><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Lynn: No.</span></em><br />
<em><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span></em><br />
<em><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Choo: Why not?</span></em><br />
<em><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span></em><br />
<em><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Lynn: Would you allow me to look at your emails?</span></em><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">There were no videos in my phone and the photos proved pretty uninteresting to Investigating Officer Florence Koh. So in the end, most of her time was spent examining my SMSes – messages from my mother telling me about my Dad’s hospital schedule, silly texts from James, plans for meet ups with a close girlfriend. It was surreal going through every single one of these with a stranger. Koh was particularly interested in any contact I might have had with the men’s lawyers and their case worker. She also flagged a text I had sent James the day before: ‘We’re being followed at I12’.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The messages Koh deemed important were then printed. I was asked to verify that these came from my phone and told to sign at the bottom of each page.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">By then, it was nine. I thought we were done. But DSP Sim emerged and said I had to answer more questions, this time relating to my refusal to disclose the password to my email account. They also wanted the phone number of the cameraman who had helped me film the interview. I didn’t give it to them</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">9.07pm. The techonology experts were told to reassemble my laptop and erase from their system, anything they had downloaded from my phone. Connie assured me that the programme they used would ensure that everything was wiped clean. The process took ages.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">During this time, I also sensed some kind of a meeting going on further down the corridor. It was hard to tell what exactly was happening, I was getting hungry. My phone kept ringing – friends, relatives and even a reporter from Yahoo were all wondering when I would be done.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">At about 9.20, Officer Koh informed me that the SMSes extracted from my phone were irrelevant, and that I should witness the shredding of the print-outs they had made me sign.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I didn’t know whether to laugh or feel relieved – all that time spent, those questions asked, my home invaded, my property nearly seized, my privacy violated, for <em>irrelevant</em> information? Were the police officers who had allegedly beaten the drivers given the same kind of treatment?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">*</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I left Police Headquarters at around 10pm. A group of people had gathered outside the gate. Many of them are my friends, but there were a few I had never met. I am incredibly moved that they cared enough to make the effort to go to Irrawady Road just to make sure I was okay.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">At home, I saw multiple Facebook postings about my ‘interview’. My inbox was overflowing with messages of support. A few reporters wrote asking for comment. NGOs wanted to know if they could offer me any help.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Again, to the people who reached out – thank you so much.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I learnt also that my friend, Vincent Wijeysingha, had earlier in the day, put out in his own capacity, an international press release about my situation. He has since pulled the statement because it contained a couple of inaccuracies. I remain grateful to Vince. I know he acted because he was concerned about me. The mistakes were not his fault – he didn’t manage to speak to me before releasing the statement and played no part in the making of the video clips. There were details he would not have known.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Some people have asked if my actions were politically motivated – was I perhaps working with or for the SDP?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The answer is no. Vincent and Soh Lung (both, SDP members) are friends, but I have never once attended an SDP meeting, volunteered at any of their events or tried to become a member of the party, or of any party for that matter.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Was there some kind of conspiracy between the drivers, their lawyers, political parties NGO workers and myself to fabricate the allegations? <span style="background-color: yellow;">The suggestion is ludicrous. The men were not coached. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="background-color: yellow; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">There was no script, not even a list of pre-prepared questions. He and Liu were interviewed separately. Each session consisted of just three people – the relevant driver, the cameraman and me. No one else. There were no retakes.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The interviews were not conducted so He and Liu could talk about being beaten. The two men raised the issue themselves. Prior to the taping, I was in fact, more interested in finding out what brought the ex-drivers to Singapore, what caused them to go on strike, and what happened as a result.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">As for whether He and Liu might have conspired with NGOs and their lawyers to spin a story against the police, all I can say is this: Why would so many people (most of them smart, accomplished and respected) come together to risk their careers, livelihoods, reputations and safety for a scheme so harebrained?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So why did I post the video clips? The answer, to me, is blindingly obvious. Isn’t this what journalists do? Talk to people and tell the public what we’ve found out? If the Ministry of Home Affairs, or the Attorney General’s Chambers, or the Prison Service, or Police Force had gotten in touch with me to rebut or respond to the drivers’ claims, I would have posted their interviews too. My invitation remains. I would be more than happy to speak with representatives from any of these departments.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Maybe it was necessary for investigators to do everything they could to rule out any wrongdoing on my part, but to borrow Ravi’s words, I think authorities were over zealous. <span style="background-color: yellow;">They must think that I am absolutely rubbish at this journalism thing, or believe me dumb enough to throw away my career for a headline.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Over the past 15 years, I have worked for some of the world’s biggest news broadcasters and completed multiple stints at two different United Nations missions. James and I have made documentaries in </span><a href="http://www.lianainfilms.com/2012/09/nowhere-to-go/" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">refugee camps</span></a><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> and </span><a href="http://www.lianainfilms.com/2006/11/afternoon-in-a-minefield/" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">live minefields</span></a><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">, in </span><a href="http://www.passabe.com/" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">post-conflict zones</span></a><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> and </span><a href="http://www.lianainfilms.com/2012/01/the-great-north-korean-picture-show/" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">inside the world’s most secretive state</span></a><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> [<em>ed</em>. video below]. We’ve filmed rebel leaders and Maoists soldiers, interviewed political figures, Nobel Prize winners, a murderer, militiamen and ordinary people. We make a good living doing what we love. We’ve even won a few awards here and there. Why on earth would I throw it all away by manufacturing two little soundbites?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A few concerned friends have advised me to ‘shut up’, to lay low, to not share my experiences or say anything more about the SMRT saga. “You might get ISD-d,” they joke, half seriously. “</span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Spectrum" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Operation Spectrum</span></a><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> was not such a long time ago.”</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But why should the </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internal_Security_Department_%28Singapore%29" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">ISD</span></a><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> even be interested in me? <span style="background-color: yellow;">I believe in transparency, in openness. I would also like to believe that Singapore today is not the Singapore of the 80s.</span> That we have evolved, that the powers-that-be see that draconian methods employed in the past will neither win them love, nor respect, nor entrench their position among a more mature, better-informed people.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Members of the Internal Affairs Office assure me they are taking Liu and He’s allegations ‘very seriously’ and that they would get to the bottom of the matter. I hope so and look forward to learning their findings. If the two ex-drivers lied, they should be punished. If they told the truth, then the police officers who beat them deserve to be brought to justice. Either way, I continue to follow the IAO’s investigations with interest. Maybe when they’re ready, they might even grant me an interview about their work – an on-camera one lasting way less than 7 hours.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In the meantime, I have my job to do – films to make, more questions to ask, stories to tell. Some of these might even be about former SMRT drivers.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">**********************************</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"><strong>The Great North Korean Picture Show</strong></span><br />
<strong><span style="font-family: Arial;"></span></strong><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"> a film by <span style="background-color: yellow;">Lynn Lee</span> and <span style="background-color: yellow;">James Leong</span><span style="background-color: white;"> (Lianain Films)</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">
<object height="410" width="680"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/BmzPsJfkWjA" ></param>
<param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param>
<param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param>
<embed src ="http://www.youtube.com/v/BmzPsJfkWjA" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="680" height="410"></embed></object></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"><strong>Al Jazeera</strong> (<a href="http://www.aljazeera.com/programmes/101east/2011/02/2011217113256267999.html" target="_blank">source</a>)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">North Korean leader Kim Jong-il's love of film is well-documented, but few outsiders know that he is revered as a genius of cinema by his own people.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Now, this groundbreaking film opens a window inside the world's most secretive country and an elite academy, where young actors are hand-picked to serve a massive propaganda machine.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Filmmakers <span style="background-color: yellow;">Lynn Lee </span>and James Leong spent more than two years on this project, becoming the first foreigners to film inside Pyongyang's University of Cinematic and Dramatic Arts.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">On this edition of <em>101 East (Al Jazeera)</em>, we gain a rare insight into the beating heart of North Korea's extraordinary film industry.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">*******************************</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"></span><br />
<strong><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Surely the police have better things to do?</span></strong><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">by Ghui</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">The Online Citizen (<a href="http://www.theonlinecitizen.com/2013/02/surely-police-do/" target="_blank">source</a>)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">According to news reports, a freelance filmmaker spent close to eight hours at the Singapore police headquarters in connection with her recent interviews with two ex-SMRT bus drivers from China (</span><a href="http://sg.news.yahoo.com/s-pore-film-maker-assists-with-investigation-into-police-brutality-173326960.html" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">here</span></a><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">). Her iMac, mobile phone and laptop were also similarly seized.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I question the relevance of this search. Lynn Lee is a journalist and a documentary maker. It is her job to conduct interviews with individuals who the public will be interested in. The bus drivers were embroiled in the recent transportation furore and have alleged that the police assaulted them. Given that these men have generated much controversy, which involves two public departments – the transportation services and the police, Singaporeans are naturally curious. </span><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">(</span><a href="http://ride.asiaone.com/news/transport/story/former-smrt-drivers-allege-police-assault" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">here</span></a><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">) </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Added to that very understandable inquisitiveness is the right of all Singaporeans to hear both sides of the story.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Lee’s desire to speak with the bus drivers to get their version of events is therefore in line with her profession and public interest. All the efforts and time spent on seemingly investigating her appears to me to be a waste of police time and public resources. If the police are trying to investigate the allegations of assault, shouldn’t they be speaking to the persons involved directly? I.e. the police officers implicated and the bus drivers themselves! Why question a third party journalist who was not at the “scene of the crime”?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Perhaps the police merely wanted to ascertain that the bus drivers did make these allegations in her presence and wanted to take her statement. But surely, that would not take 8 hours? Besides, why confiscate her mobile phone?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This is not the first time the police have apparently been overzealous. In 2005, they quizzed filmmaker Martyn See on his film about opposition politician, Dr. Chee Soon Juan. They even ordered for his tapes and video camera to be surrendered! Again, what was the point of going after a filmmaker who was just trying to make a documentary on an individual who Singaporeans are intrigued by? Surely, Singaporeans are entitled to hear Dr. Chee’s side of the story?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">As a Singaporean, I wonder if the police force (funded by taxpayers) should be <span style="background-color: yellow;">spending our resources on these rather pointless exercises?</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Surely, the police have better things to do?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">******************</span><br />
<strong><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span></strong><br />
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-395066009662473992.post-36885120602198675442013-02-18T00:50:00.002+08:002013-02-20T16:20:39.465+08:00Al Jazeera: Singapore seethes over population planAl Jazeera, Feb 17, 2013 (<a href="http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/features/2013/02/20132169114441474.html" target="_blank">source</a>)<br />
<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5Qy4gVn-BrzVc1Whqr7wp8iKXKKKsV2OfS6FrP1R-SM1WCDiNvqvq_77qpPjDwqMlILyQxWtlH_h2uHkpo_DmgiFAEIk4SX66xCbaiVmtoqKzS3s3FQ8QtyTPJWUqrwf2GPuKWmWiCg/s1600/AlJazeera.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="263" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5Qy4gVn-BrzVc1Whqr7wp8iKXKKKsV2OfS6FrP1R-SM1WCDiNvqvq_77qpPjDwqMlILyQxWtlH_h2uHkpo_DmgiFAEIk4SX66xCbaiVmtoqKzS3s3FQ8QtyTPJWUqrwf2GPuKWmWiCg/s400/AlJazeera.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: xx-small;"><strong>Disenchanted Hayatt Shah recently moved his family to Japan</strong></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong>Singapore</strong> - Thirty-year-old Hayatt Shah made the most difficult decision of his life last month.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The Singapore native gathered his belongings and left behind his family and friends to begin a new life in Japan with his wife and six-month-old daughter.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">High housing prices drove him to move from Singapore, explained Shah, who added he has no regrets leaving a country he no longer recognises. "I refuse to pay such a high price to live in a box that I have a lease on for 99 years. It's crazy that property prices here in Saitama [in Japan] are more affordable than properties in Singapore."</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Like many of his fellow citizens, the musician and English instructor found it increasingly difficult to sustain a comfortable lifestyle in Singapore, where he was born and bred. "It is the simple fact that I don't feel like I am home anymore in Singapore," he said, which spurred him to move.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Singapore's success story is relatively well-known. Having transformed itself from a tiny island nation with no natural resources to one of the </span><a class="InternalLink" href="http://blogs.wsj.com/searealtime/2012/08/15/singapore-home-to-the-worlds-richest-people/" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">richest countries</span></a><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> in the world, Singapore prides itself on its booming economy, sustained by encouraging foreign investment and migrant labourers.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But despite being the third-most densely populated country in the world, Singapore's government recently announced plans to increase its total population from 5.3 million to 6.9 million by 2030. The move caused a public outcry, with thousands taking to the streets on Saturday in protest.<br />
<br />
An aging population coupled with dwindling birth rates, escalating housing prices, overcrowding, and caving infrastructure are just some of the factors responsible for the rising dissent among Singaporeans.<br />
<br />
<br />
<strong>Population plans</strong><br />
<strong></strong><br />
In January, Singapore's government - which has been led by the People's Action Party since 1959 - introduced two proposals. The first was its "White Paper on Population", which outlined a strategy to ensure sustainable population levels in the face of low birth rates and an aging society. Shortly thereafter, a <strong><a class="InternalLink" href="http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/singaporelocalnews/view/1251352/1/.html" target="_blank">plan </a></strong>to increase Singapore's land area by nearly 8 per cent was announced to accommodate the new population.<br />
<br />
In addition to the number of foreigners, an estimated 30,000 new permanent residents - a status given to foreigners who live in Singapore for long periods of time - will also be added each year.<br />
<br />
"The White Paper is about mitigating the problems of our aging population and low birth rates, so as to secure Singapore’s future," said Singapore's Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong in <strong><a class="InternalLink" href="http://www.facebook.com/leehsienloong" target="_blank">a post on his Facebook page</a></strong>. "Our priority is to maintain a strong Singaporean core by encouraging Singaporeans to get married and have children. We will reduce inflow of foreign workers, moderate flow of new citizens and maintain [permanent resident] population at about present size."<br />
<br />
Lee added a disclaimer that the government was not aiming for 6.9 million population, explaining the figure "is just a basis for us to plan our infrastructure".<br />
<br />
What shocked many was the report's prediction that the country's population will start to decline by 2025, with more than 900,000 Singaporeans - more than a quarter of the number of citizens - retiring from the workforce. The report noted the country's fertility rate has fallen for the past 30 years, and currently stands below the replacement level of two babies per mother.<br />
<br />
In 2010, the World Bank <strong><a class="InternalLink" href="http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SP.DYN.TFRT.IN" target="_blank">estimated </a></strong>Singapore's fertility rate to be just 1.2 births per woman - among the lowest rates in the world.<br />
<br /> <strong>Rising public anger</strong><br />
</span><br />
<table border="10" class="Skyscrapper_Body" style="background-color: #fb9d04; border-collapse: collapse; border-color: white; border-style: solid; float: right; height: 50px; width: 250px;"><tbody><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span>
<tr><td><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: white;"><strong>"We are talking about an average increase of 100,000 people every year, so if you want to talk in terms of how crucial the impact will have on the next general election, I cannot exaggerate how important it is.</strong></span><span style="color: white;"><strong>"</strong></span></span><br />
<span style="color: white;"><strong><span style="color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">- Chee Soon Juan, opposition leader</span></strong></span></td></tr>
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span></tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
The potential influx of more than 1.6 million additional people has caused rare demonstrations in this island nation. Although the government stressed it would maintain a strong Singaporean core in spite of an incoming surge of foreigners, the majority of Singaporeans remain sceptical about its promise to deliver. <br />
<br />
"It seems like anyone can just come into Singapore," said Shah. "So will having 6.9 million people make Singapore a happier place? Is the economy really that important?"<br />
Cassandra Siew, a housewife, said she doesn't trust that the government will properly handle the population increase. <br />
<br />
"The government has been singing the same song for years," she said. "They keep adding more and more numbers year after year and assure us that it will be for the best, but when will it end? I'm sorry to say that I simply don't buy into their promise of looking out for us anymore."<br />
<br />
Another Singaporean, marketing executive Ron Chew, said: "Our country is rapidly evolving, but Singaporeans are not reaping any of its benefits. Why should a foreigner be entitled to the same, if not more, privileges than a Singaporean?"<br />
<br />
Eugene Tan, an assistant law professor at Singapore Management University, described a "spatial and mental sense of being overwhelmed felt by large swathes of the public".<br />
<br />
"Singapore is barely coping with the rapid influx of immigrants over the past decade, so there is the prevalent view that if we can't cope with 5.3 million, how are we going to manage with 6.9 million within two decades?" said Tan. "There is a sense that the immigration policy will not be of benefit to the average Singaporean."<br />
<br />
But the public could be "reacting to a figure which they don’t really comprehend", said Chua Beng Huat, a sociology professor at the National University of Singapore. "Whether 6.9 million will be the steady state population is completely speculative, and one should not be fixated by it."<br />
<br />
Many say a potential loss of Singapore's national identity is an even more pressing problem than overpopulation.<br />
<span style="background: white;">Dissent against the population plans has been widespread, and a rare public protest <span style="background: white;">on</span><strong><a class="InternalLink" href="https://www.facebook.com/events/162959550518581/" target="_blank"><span style="background: white;"> Saturday</span></a></strong> <a class="InternalLink" href="http://www.facebook.com/events/162959550518581/" target="_blank"><strong>claimed</strong> </a>to have drawn close to 5,000 people - an impressive feat i</span>n a country where many protests and public gatherings are illegal, and a police permit needs to be obtained to hold one.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
<span style="background: white;">"I want to express this displeasure faced by many Singaporeans on a united and peaceful platform," said organiser Gilbert Goh, an unemployment counsellor who runs a support website for the jobless in Singapore.</span><br style="background: white; font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;" /><br />
"My greatest fear that arises from all this is the loss of our Singaporean identity, because it's been eroded so much already and with the heavy influx, it may be destroyed," said Goh. "And to add insult to injury, we are constantly being reminded that we could be the minority population figure in 17 years' time." <br />
<br />
<strong>Political impact</strong><br />
<br />
Singaporeans have become increasingly vocal about the high influx of foreigners in recent years, <strong><a class="InternalLink" href="http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/27/world/asia/in-singapore-vitriol-against-newcomers-from-mainland-china.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0" target="_blank">demanding changes</a> </strong>in the government's relaxed immigration policies. <br />
<br />
The opposition Singapore Democratic Party (SDP) recently launched its own population policy report, calling instead for a plan for businesses to favour Singaporeans when hiring and to tighten the screening of foreign professionals to wean businesses off of cheap foreign labour.<br />
<br />
SDP party chief Chee Soon Juan said instead of moving towards a population of 6.9 million, the current population should be reduced "because of all the current problems Singapore is seeing".<br />
</span><br />
<table border="10" class="Skyscrapper_Body" style="background-color: #fb9d04; border-collapse: collapse; border-color: white; border-style: solid; float: right; height: 50px; width: 250px;"><tbody><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span>
<tr><td><span style="color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong>"I think political change is inevitable and controversial issues like the White Paper on Population might hasten the flight of support to the opposition."</strong></span><br />
<span style="color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong>- Eugene Tan, Singapore Management University</strong></span></td></tr>
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span></tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
<!-- PAGELOADEDSUCCESSFULLY--><br />
Some think dissatisfaction with the White Paper could hurt the People's Action Party (PAP) in the country's elections in 2016. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
"We are talking about an average increase of 100,000 people every year, so if you want to talk in terms of how crucial the impact will have on the next general election, I cannot exaggerate how important it is," said the SDP's Chee.<br />
<br />
"Time is not on the side of the PAP," said professor Tan. "I think political change is inevitable and controversial issues like the White Paper on Population might hasten the flight of support to the opposition."The ruling party appears to have lost support in recent years. This was made clear in a by-election in January that the PAP was expected to win. Instead, unhappy Singaporeans delivered the party a devastating blow by<strong> <a class="InternalLink" href="http://sg.news.yahoo.com/wp-s-lee-li-lian-wins-punggol-east-by-election-150627675.html" target="_blank">voting in favour of the opposition candidate</a></strong>.<br />
<br />
Political blogger Andrew Loh agreed. "I feel <span lang="EN-SG">that the PAP government will see its share of the popular vote decrease further ... I do not see these things improving enough by the next general election for people to reinstate the level of trust in the government which they had in the past."</span><br />
<span lang="EN-SG"></span><br />
<span lang="EN-SG">***********************************************************************</span><br />
<span lang="EN-SG"></span><br />
<span lang="EN-SG"><strong>Related</strong></span><br />
<span lang="EN-SG"><strong></strong></span><br />
<span lang="EN-SG"><strong>The Population White Paper Attacks Us in our Deepest Identity</strong></span><br />
<span lang="EN-SG"></span><br />
<span lang="EN-SG"><strong>Dr Vincent Wijeysingha</strong>'s speech at the Hong Lim Park protest against the PAP Population White Paper on Feb 16, 2013 (<a href="https://www.facebook.com/notes/vincent-wijeysingha/the-population-white-paper-attacks-us-in-our-deepest-identity/559467290737865#!/notes/vincent-wijeysingha/the-population-white-paper-attacks-us-in-our-deepest-identity/559467290737865" target="_blank">source</a>)</span><br />
<span lang="EN-SG"></span><br />
</span><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span lang="EN-SG">Two days ago, the Singapore Democratic Party launched its population policy paper. We made six recommendations that we hope are comprehensive and coherent, defended by international research. Our objective is not to target a particular population figure but to create the conditions, both economic and social, which will achieve a reduction in our population over a manageable period. I offer it for your consideration; please read it on our website.<br />
<br />
But this afternoon, in this historic park, I have come to join you, my fellow Singaporeans, to share this platform with these distinguished speakers, simply because the White Paper on population attacks us in our deepest identity.<br />
<br />
Not because of that number: 6.9 million; or because no sound research and international thinking supported it. Not because all the speeches made in Parliament on the PAP side did not seem to even begin to guess our concerns. But because the White Paper has revealed two things: That the government does not appreciate what it means to be an ordinary Singaporean struggling to get by in 2013. And two, that it appears to care very little.<br />
<br />
That have been many reasons offered for why the government seems so intent on packing our island with so many people. Some people say it is for GDP. Some say it is to bolster its flagging electoral support. Others say the PAP is no longer capable of re-imaging the economy. And still others say that true leadership has left the party.<br />
<br />
There may be some truth in each of them. But the most primary reason why population policy has affected us so deeply is contained in our national pledge. Our children make a commitment every day to it, to happiness, progress and prosperity.<br />
<br />
In our first one hundred and fifty years, our ancestors came to these shores in search of a better existence for their children and their grandchildren. They fled from poverty, from famine, from war and destruction in their own countries. Why? Because the instinct of any human being - in fact of any being - is to maximise their wellbeing.<br />
<br />
Our wellbeing is contained in three ‘Bs’: be safe, belong, be fed and clothed. In an immigrant society, the memory of poverty, of war and famine, has seeped so deeply into the bones and the blood and the sinews of our people that we built for ourselves, through formidable hard work, a home worth living in. A home we wouldn’t have to flee from; a country a peace with itself, even if we disagree with our government or with our neighbours. And we arrived, in the last 20 years, as a society able to provide for itself, able to articulate our deepest wishes for our people.<br />
<br />
But even as we stepped into that new world, even as we settled into a better life, far away from the privations and punishments that brought our ancestors here, we are faced with a government which tells us that what we had worked for, what we had fought for, was not enough, that we had become lazy, complacent, and forgetful of the hard times. It seems almost bizarre that they should not know that it was precisely to leave the hard times behind that we worked so hard to build the home we built.<br />
<br />
At this stage allow me to say something about the guest workers who live in our country. Many of us have reacted angrily to the population policy and have directed our anger at our foreign brothers and sisters. This is wrong. Foreigners are our fellow human beings and they deserve our respect and our friendship. To oppose the government’s population policy, which is our right and our duty, we must direct our dissatisfaction at the government.<br />
<br />
But to the foreign residents in our midst, we must extend our traditional Asian hospitality. I lived abroad once upon a time. I know what xenophobia feels like. Let us not reduce our rightful anger to xenophobia. Let us be neighbours to our foreign friends. And, at the same time, let us oppose, wholeheartedly, the government’s population policy that is so badly considered and so poorly managed.<br />
<br />
The fear of being displaced in our own homes is a fear as old as humanity itself. From the first time we took shelter in caves from wild animals and the elements, we learnt that the most valuable treasure is the treasure called home. But each day as we step out into our daily lives, we feel we are stepping into an alienation and apathy that makes our children wonder whether there is anything valuable left on our island anymore. We feel betrayed that those whom we trusted to govern us, those to whom we surrendered our rights in return for their good government, now appear to have closed their ears against our apprehension, against our fears, against our worries. And they have said that if we are not willing, they will put spurs in our sides and if we are still not willing, they will replace us with those who are.<br />
<br />
This is why we came here this afternoon. Not because we hate foreigners. We do not. How can we? But because we worry for the soul of our homeland and because we grieve for what we have already lost in 10 years of a dissolute population policy that imagines that you can squander the loyalty of your people, that you can cast away the hard-won pride that we built for ourselves and our families and our neighbours, and that you can give away free-of-charge the wealth that our parents and grandparents built. That is not what we want.<br />
<br />
It is the task of our generation to ensure that our home continues to be safe and secure and happy for all our people; that our national pledge continues to be meaningful. We want the government to know that that is what we want; and who will put the vast resources at their disposal at the service of us the people.<br />
<br />
Because we are not machines and our neighbourhoods are not factories and our island is not a hotel. It is our home, where we care for our grandparents, where we raise our children, where we share the experience of being human with our friends and neighbours. You came here today to say this loudly and clearly and urgently to our government. I humbly join my voice to yours so that we can make it heard in Parliament and at the Istana Annexe. So that in 20 years from now, our hopes and dreams are not just memories in our dusty photo albums.<br />
<br />
We cannot fail; we must not. We owe it to our children who depend on us. We owe it to our ancestors who built this land: like Cheang Hong Lim, whose park has become synonymous with our rights. If we throw away our right to speak cogently and bravely to our government, we will not be worth the respect we hope for from our grandchildren.<br />
<br />
Go to your Meet the People Sessions, write in your Facebook, email the ministers, hold more and more forums, events at Hong Lim Green, form organisations to campaign and do research, donate your spare cash to the causes that fight for a better Singapore. But also, support the organisations that work with migrant workers: <em>Transient Workers Count Too, Humanitarian Organisation for Migration Economics, Healthserve</em>. They do good work to help our migrant brothers and sisters who struggle under our system. Do not set yourselves apart from our foreign guests. Change your mindset: it is not they who steal our jobs and lower our wages. It is a policy framework that has forgotten that we Singaporeans are, and must be, the first and last object of governance.<br />
<br />
My friends, we must populate civil society, that space that is ours, between the individual and the state, and there, loudly, tell the government that we want them to change. Use every means at your disposal. Do not walk away from this park and wring your hands. It is the task of this generation.<br />
<br />
Tell the PM that he governs in our interests, not in spite of them; that he governs by our permission. And when he sends our young men off to National Service, that they know what they are training to defend. Ultimately, they defend not our GDP growth, important though that is, but the happiness, prosperity and progress that their parents and grandparents helped to build.<br />
<br />
<br />
**************************************************************</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"></span><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkbSxOhjWinWveD3TrOYCN441yGDpke8hlYf5sNbO0IE61QZPtYc_kNQlJxdI3caR0nEommMNXQGruCPnFHSxcA7vWsG_Z2FnXPHSeH5zlZFLK5ksiFfBi_LXSYH98twKSmvTipUBT1w/s1600/pop+protest+dutch.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkbSxOhjWinWveD3TrOYCN441yGDpke8hlYf5sNbO0IE61QZPtYc_kNQlJxdI3caR0nEommMNXQGruCPnFHSxcA7vWsG_Z2FnXPHSeH5zlZFLK5ksiFfBi_LXSYH98twKSmvTipUBT1w/s640/pop+protest+dutch.jpg" width="357" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: small;">The Dutch are better informed than Singapore's mainstream (PAP) media audience</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><strong>AFP (Agence France-Presse),</strong> Feb 18, 2013 (<a href="http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2013\02\18\story_18-2-2013_pg4_4" target="_blank">source</a>)</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">“PAP leaders seem to have lost their feel of the ground. <span style="background-color: yellow;">Their technocratic
decision-making style is no longer accepted, yet they persist in ‘we know best’
policies</span>,” said Reuben Wong, associate professor of political science at the
National University of Singapore.<br /><br />Saturday’s protesters were rallying
against government projections that the population could rise by a third to
almost seven million in less than 20 years, with much of the increase resulting
from immigration. <br /><br />For years, the affluent but worker-starved city-state,
built by mainly Chinese immigrants, had rolled out the welcome mat for
foreigners, whose numbers rose drastically during the economic boom from
2004-2007.<br /><br />Businesses hired construction workers from Bangladesh, hotel
staff from the Philippines, waitresses from China, shipyard welders from
Myanmar, technology professionals from India and bankers from the
west.<br /><br />Foreigners currently make up 38 percent of the population and the
low Singapore birth rate means immigrants and guest workers will need to fill
the manpower gap, raising that figure to 45 percent. <br /><br />However, anger over
the projections is causing Singaporeans to engage in something new — speaking
out against the PAP in public and not just in social media<br /><br />“I’m thinking
about my children, who are going to have a big problem studying in a competitive
society next time,” tax consultant Kevin Foo, 42, told AFP at the
rally.<br /><br />“Foreigners are going to create a lot of problems here, especially
the rich ones who buy up all our property. Where are Singaporeans going to
live?” </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">**************************************</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;"></span> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-395066009662473992.post-71271299948620556502013-02-17T18:41:00.002+08:002013-02-17T18:41:36.024+08:00PAP grassroots leader speaks out<span class="userContent"><strong><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Letter from a Grassroots Leader to PM</span></strong></span><br />
<span class="userContent"><strong></strong></span><br />
<span class="userContent"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">Feb 17, 2013 (</span><a href="https://www.facebook.com/papconfess/posts/423336991087301" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">source</span></a><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">)</span></span><br />
<br /><br /><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> Dear Prime Minister,<br /> <br /> I am one of your grassroots leader. I’ve voluntereed and served in one of your constituency for the last 20 years. I’ve had these thoughts percolating in my mind for many months. With what I observed in the last 2 weeks, starting with the Punggol BE then the White Paper, I decided to take the risk and go ahead and send this letter to you. I hope you do not take any of these the wrong way.<br /> <br /> After the GE2011 elections, the PAP was dealt a big blow with the unprecedented loss of a GRC. You did a post-mortem with us, and with your MPs. One of the message we tried to send you then was: You (meaning the PAP leadership) just didn’t listen to us. We told you there were many problems on the ground, you did not listen. After the GE, you said PAP will change.<br /> <br /> The next challenge came in Hougang BE. You picked a great PAP candidate and for a while, we thought he could pull off a win. But against the advice of the candidate and the PAP grassroots, you deployed your big guns (KBW, TCH etc) and hijacked the message on the ground. You did not listen.<br /> <br /> The Punggol BE decisive loss was unexpected. The PAP grassroots told you to send one of us, a grassroots type person, to the fight. You chose to parachute in an unknown, someone who just joined the party weeks ago. He commited gaffe after gaffe. You did not listen.<br /> <br /> And right after the Punggol BE, you unveiled the White Paper.<br /> <br /> I know that those close to you, including the mainstream media, are praising you for daring to take on the problems of the future, of not sweeping things aside. But let me tell you this : I think you, and your top leadership, screwed up big time.<br /> <br /> I am sorry I have to use this language. You see, I’m a business leader too. I know what its like to be surrounded by people reporting to you, who are naturally disposed to tell you what you want to hear. Or are all molded in the same way. I am outside your – sorry to use this word, “bubble” – so from the outside, sometimes, I can see things a bit more clearly.<br /> <br /> Virtually all your PAP grassroots leaders and members were taken aback by the White Paper. And it became obvious very quickly that so were all the PAP MPs. Seah Kian Peng said he’s skeptical about the White Paper and thought the targets should be scaled by to 80% (how's that different from WP's 5.9 million?). Jessica said that she, and a few other MPs, would not have been able to support the White Paper in its present form. Even Tin Pei Ling said she supported the amended proposition with a heavy heart.<br /> <br /> Why didn’t you bother to run through the White Paper with your fellow MPs before you publicly released it? They could have told you how toxic the Paper came across and how to refine it. Why didn’t you do that?<br /> <br /> In other words, once again, why didn’t you listen? Time and again, our team scored our own goals because of the sheer arrogance of the top leadership.<br /> <br /> And look at how your top leaders handled the White Paper since its roll-out. Within days, KBW started back-tracking saying 6.9 million was just a “worst case target, which we hope we never reach, that is for planning purposes only”. And you quickly followed suit, saying you agree. And the rest of the Ministers echoed the same language.<br /> <br /> And then it was pointed out to you that in the past, PAP had also used the words “worst case target” or “planning purposes only”, only to have those numbers quickly exceeded.<br /> <br /> And you actually got ESM Goh, Mah Bow Tan and Wong Kan Seng to speak in defence of the Paper? With MBT saying “lets go for the maximum”? Are you and your leadership team really that tone deaf? These are the very guys who are most associated with Singapore’s “lost decade” – a decade where we seemingly pursued GDP growth for its own sake, where the social fabric of Singapore was put under tremendous (and some say, irreversible) stress, where you yourself said to have “lacked 20/20 vision” in infrastructure planning. And yet, you actually got these people to speak? Do you know what message you are sending – you are essentially thumbing your nose at Singaporeans and saying, “So?”.<br /> <br /> I now know why MBT, WKS, VB, RL, etc did not show the slightest remorse over their egregious mistakes during their tenure. It is because you, the PM, set the tone at the top. You did not see these as any big deal, and that tone filtered through your entire organisation. In other words, you still do not listen.<br /> <br /> On the very last day of the Parliament debate, you said that the population numbers for the future is for future generation to decide. Huh ???? What then have almost 60 MPs been debating these 5 days ? You put up a White Paper, you start back-tracking and now you think that just because you've muddied it up, its become palatable?<br /> <br /> Why did you put the party through this? Did it have to be handled in such a – pardon my language again – incompetent way? And how do you think we, your faithful foot-soldiers, feel ? You put us in the difficult position of having to defend something we did not agree with. How do we answer to our family members and friends, who asked what are we fighting for, what's wrong with today's PAP leaders?<br /> <br /> Let me tell you something honestly. The reason I, and some of my friends, volunteered was because we were grateful for what the Old PAP did for this country. We believed in its policies and its leadership. But in recent years, you and your team have gradually undermined this reservoir of goodwill and support. You know, I heard that in the Punggol BE, some PAP grassroots members actually told their family members to vote opposition, while they put up the show of canvassing for KPK’s support. In my heart, I also sometimes root for the other side, especially the WP. I know. I should not feel this way. But you guys just don’t listen.<br /> <br /> Let me tell you something else too – I personally like you. And I think many Singaporeans do too. You gave a good speech in Parliament, just like you did in the last day of Punggol BE rally.<br /> <br /> But you know – after I actually got over the emotional high from your speech, and think through about what you said, more doubts actually crept in.<br /> <br /> “Growth is not for its own sake. But growth is not unimportant. If you are in the top 5, 10% of the population, you may say, well, I have enough, I can manage .. (but) if you are in the bottom 10, 20% of the population, ..it would be patronising for us to say growth is unimportant… Our experience has shown that in fact when the economy is growing, the low income Singaporeans get benefits, their incomes go up.”<br /> <br /> Mr PM, do you know that in the last 10 years, the bottom 10% and 20% didn’t see their real income rise at all? If the last 10 years of growth, with 1 million increase in population, didn’t increase their income or make their lives better, how do you expect Singaporeans to believe you that the next 10 years of growth will be different? And Mr PM, did you realise that, until Lim Chong Yah came up with his radical proposal, even the top Union leader did not even realise that incomes of cleaners etc have not risen over the years, and didn’t realise they (the Union) have done nothing about it? In other words, they – the Union – was caught with their pants down (sorry to use this analogy, I know, Palmer-gate still hurts).<br /> <br /> “Singaporeans, "feel together" as when the nation grieved with Mr and Mrs Francis Yap when their two sons, aged 13 and seven, were tragically killed in a Tampines accident last week. And when Singaporeans triumph, as Mr Nickson Fong, 43, did in winning an Oscar this year for a new animation technique, the country celebrates with him, said Mr Lee. .”<br /> <br /> PM, Singaporeans did not feel together when Ma Chi crashed his Ferrari. It became a symbol of how Singapore threw its door open in wanton abandonment to the rich, and how they lived it up in Singapore. And Singaporeans feel divided, not united, when the China-imported table tennis team won medals in the London Olympics. It became a symbol of the "instant tree" mentality of the Govt. And I guess you now no longer cite the example of Feng Tian Wen as a unifying factor because she'd said bye-bye to Singapore and moved back to Beijing.<br /> <br /> You see, Mr. PM, you cannot just quote examples in isolation, take us to an emotional high, and assume it assuage all of our raw wounds. Its almost like you are burying your head in the sand, when it comes to examples that do not fit with your idealised notion of how it should have been. We do not exist in that alternate reality. When I think through these parts of your speech, I actually wonder if you are disconnected from us.<br /> <br /> “He concluded with the promise that the Government will "watch the numbers" and make sure Singaporeans are clearly in the majority. It will always treat citizens better than non-citizens, he said”<br /> <br /> Mr PM, you may not realise this, but in our public spaces – like the MRT, bus, Chinatown, Little India etc – we Singaporeans already no longer feel we are in the majority. My children tell me of attending classes in University, where Singaporeans are the minority and they feel they are in a foreign country. Do you realise that in some offices, large cliques of Filipinos or North Indians prevail, and they tend to hire their own? You see, you work in the Civil Service –when you look out of your office, everywhere you look, you see Singaporeans. It is not like that in many other offices. How do you “watch the numbers” when you do not even have an accurate sense of the current ground reality?<br /> <br /> “For Singapore to thrive, we Singaporeans must always stay lean and hungry," he said. "If we lose our drive, we will lose out."”<br /> <br /> OK, I now get it. Its all about money isn’t it? You are afraid that whatever counter-proposal anyone comes up with – whether it be reducing our reliance on foreign labor, or improving SME productivity, or reducing income inequality – you are afraid that it basically means touching the reserves.<br /> <br /> But isn’t your proposal to give additional grants for children also raiding the reserves? And when KBW said that he (yes, not “we” but “he”) has decoupled BTO flat prices from the resale market by essentially increasing subsidies, isn’t he also – in the words of MBT – raiding the reserves?<br /> <br /> “You said that 6.9 million is a worst case, and you see that the number for 2030 will be significantly below that. But that 6 million proposed by the WP will be too low and it will be higher than that. And that after this, you expect that the population will flatten out. The resident population is going to stabilise and the non-resident population will also eventually level off”<br /> <br /> Mr PM, do you know what you just did? You, and your team, have made the argument strenuously that there is simply no way to grow the economy without population increase. And that as the population ages, we have to supplement with foreign labor.<br /> <br /> And yet you are saying that between 2020 and 2030, this need will magically disappear. In other words, there is no intellectual coherence to your argument.<br /> <br /> And do you know what this sounds like? You sound like someone who’s hooked on drugs or gambling. And he’s saying : just give me one last sniff, or just lend me another $100, and after that, I promise, I will not need it anymore.<br /> <br /> And the worst part is this – nobody is going to believe you that 6.9 million is not real. Because come 2016, as long as the population increases from today’s 5.3 million to 5.6 million, the WP can easily say : See, the PAP is going along the trajectory in the White Paper. Ignore all their talk. Its already happening. If you vote PAP, you will have 6.9 million people.<br /> <br /> In other words, you have fallen onto a trap that you dug yourself. How sad.<br /> <br /> Let me end with the same words you used in your speech. You said you and your colleagues got into politics to improve the lives of Singaporeans. I do not doubt your sincerity. As I said at the very beginning, many Singaporeans like you and want to see you succeed, even though they disagree with your policies.<br /> <br /> I am a grassroots leader. I’m spending time helping the PAP party because I believed that this will help Singapore and Singaporeans. I’m not paid for this. I’m doing it out of my own free will and with my sacrifice of time.<br /> <br /> I’m rooting for you to pursue the right policies. I’m rooting for you to succeed.<br /> <br /> But just like in GE2011, or Punggol BE, or in the recent White Paper – you do not listen.<br /> <br /> At this rate, you will continue to erode the trust (yes, trust) and support of the people. Including people from the older generation who remembered and are eternally grateful to what LKY did for Singapore. In fact, the White Paper had turned out to be a big wake up call to Singaporeans - they better think twice about putting the PAP in such a dominant position in Parliament, if they want to maintain the Singapore they know.<br /> <br /> So what do I want from you, other than “listen to us”? A hallmark of a successful, good leader is not his charisma, or his heart, or his<br /> eloquence, or his intelligence. The starting point is always this – who is he listening to? Whose inputs do he value, whose has he learnt to discount?<br /> <br /> Some of the lousiest emperors in China surrounded themselves with eunuchs who told the emperor what he wanted to hear. Some of the best, like Qian Long, disguised himself as a commoner to understand the true situation on the ground.<br /> <br /> You do not have to listen to me. But find your own channels to listen to the ground. Seriously think again about who constitutes your inner circle.<br /> <br /> But, listen, you must.<br /> <br /> Yours sincerely,<br /> Mr. Tan Ah Kow</span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-395066009662473992.post-39363673977729769122013-02-16T19:53:00.001+08:002013-02-17T13:37:06.542+08:00Popular Protest against PAP's Pernicious Population Plan<strong><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Singaporeans Protest Plan to Increase Population by Immigration</span></strong><br />
<strong></strong><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Bloomberg, Feb 16, 2013 (</span><a href="http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-02-16/singaporeans-protest-plan-to-increase-population-by-immigration.html" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">source</span></a><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia;"></span><br />
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="360" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/0o3fs4jKVy4?feature=player_detailpage" width="640"></iframe>
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia;">Singapore National Anthem at the protest's close</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia;">
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="360" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/upYDD8im5W0?feature=player_detailpage" width="640"></iframe></span><br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia;">Singapore National Anthem at the protest's close</span></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfoiJsD2kEB2YRUCniaLxAP4GXoWJQIl-TvWAKishh902gVB4VHgGHSuQa7RML0U0MK_JT9PiaqlB0w5U8gUFCA1rUWXPLp9-BEuZ5UtTHRJQ4bbSy8te1w5FgkPablos-b_sO8TlebQ/s1600/honglim+1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfoiJsD2kEB2YRUCniaLxAP4GXoWJQIl-TvWAKishh902gVB4VHgGHSuQa7RML0U0MK_JT9PiaqlB0w5U8gUFCA1rUWXPLp9-BEuZ5UtTHRJQ4bbSy8te1w5FgkPablos-b_sO8TlebQ/s1600/honglim+1.jpg" /></a></div>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrgAEEyB0i2HDAbTtcB8iaL2FXGY5BCiy6s1YIheq49riLzGmAVO8sEIAgVKeQqIPBl8bD_3-IBJfzZKZDPIYQes-iiJrsybqex5sgMAIMecpT6jx5X69s0VN51aDpRDzqo2KAZE25jQ/s1600/pop+hong+lim+1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrgAEEyB0i2HDAbTtcB8iaL2FXGY5BCiy6s1YIheq49riLzGmAVO8sEIAgVKeQqIPBl8bD_3-IBJfzZKZDPIYQes-iiJrsybqex5sgMAIMecpT6jx5X69s0VN51aDpRDzqo2KAZE25jQ/s1600/pop+hong+lim+1.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Photos show a crowd of 2700</span> (<a href="https://www.facebook.com/#!/photo.php?fbid=10151505789516383&set=a.310010691382.184332.14440041382&type=1&theater" target="_blank">source</a>)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhramAOsWUxtS31mKYkA85zyMMAqUuBUZWYwkKtanD5lUDMABkwKqgnw5RnurgdOq9KYLg8dcdFq9bRukABWxGxYlFi8rGxCRkKY6evpWCDC6gTNhJROIY-1zQtY163C1-YdETPbizXMQ/s1600/pop+hong+lim.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhramAOsWUxtS31mKYkA85zyMMAqUuBUZWYwkKtanD5lUDMABkwKqgnw5RnurgdOq9KYLg8dcdFq9bRukABWxGxYlFi8rGxCRkKY6evpWCDC6gTNhJROIY-1zQtY163C1-YdETPbizXMQ/s640/pop+hong+lim.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">(<a href="http://sg.news.yahoo.com/photos/population-white-paper-protest-at-speakers-corner-slideshow/#crsl=%252Fphotos%252Fpopulation-white-paper-protest-at-speakers-corner-slideshow%252Fmany-in-the-crowd-came-armed-with-self-designed-posters-photo--481906095.html" target="_blank">source</a>)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjC-MtgnF4jVDuY9IG_x5TF4FJOS802xQVG9iDWHFtdCK-30wcOXVjiZtw-VKOzeYjMgP_5s2zGIV-JkjliBT1Dwbp9PN2Wnpy7YtOb1EaRBVvzi4YtdTrtXANdX-buL2ihPaOtjgU0wg/s1600/vote-against-pap1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="632" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjC-MtgnF4jVDuY9IG_x5TF4FJOS802xQVG9iDWHFtdCK-30wcOXVjiZtw-VKOzeYjMgP_5s2zGIV-JkjliBT1Dwbp9PN2Wnpy7YtOb1EaRBVvzi4YtdTrtXANdX-buL2ihPaOtjgU0wg/s640/vote-against-pap1.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Thousands of Singaporeans demonstrated today against a government plan to increase the island’s population through immigration, saying the policy will erode the national identity and threaten their livelihoods. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Protesters gathered at Speakers’ Corner at </span><a href="http://www.nparks.gov.sg/cms/index.php?option=com_visitorsguide&task=parks&id=67&Itemid=73" rel="external" target="_blank" title="Open Web Site"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Hong Lim Park</span></a><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> at the edge of the city’s financial district on a rainy afternoon, many dressed in black and carrying signs opposing the plan. Lawmakers from Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong’s ruling party last week endorsed a white paper that outlined proposals including allowing more foreigners through 2030 to boost the workforce. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Today’s rally increases pressure on the government to slow an influx of immigrants that has been blamed for infrastructure strains, record-high housing and transport costs and competition for jobs. Singapore’s population has jumped by more than 1.1 million since mid-2004 to 5.3 million, stoking social tensions and public discontent that is weakening support for Lee’s People’s Action Party. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">“The size of the crowd shows people are angry,” said Tan Jee Say, a candidate in Singapore’s 2011 presidential election, who joined the protest. “It will send a signal to the government and I hope it will react in a sensible way and see that people are concerned. The government should not push the white paper down Singaporeans’ throats.” </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"></span><br />
<h2>
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">‘Not Herded’ </span></h2>
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Organizers estimated that more than 3,000 people joined the demonstration at the 0.94-hectare (2.3-acre) park that served as a venue for political rallies in the 1950s and 1960s. They sang patriotic songs. Some signs demanded a referendum on the white paper, while others said “we want to be heard, not herded,”and “waiting for 2016,” when the next general election is due. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Members of the opposition say the government’s policy to spur economic growth through immigration isn’t sustainable. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">There may be as many as 6 million people in Singapore by 2020, and the government will boost infrastructure to accommodate a population of 6.9 million by 2030, according to the white paper that was published last month. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The government will take in between 15,000 and 25,000 new citizens and grant about 30,000 permanent-resident permits annually, according to the paper titled “A Sustainable Population for a Dynamic Singapore.” </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"></span><br />
<h2>
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Left Behind </span></h2>
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Protesters expressed unhappiness with the policy that could see citizens, including new ones, making up only one of every two people on the island smaller in size than New York City by the end of the next decade should the population reach 6.9 million. Singapore is the third-most expensive Asian city to live in and the sixth globally, according to an Economist Intelligence Unit </span><a href="http://www.eiu.com/Handlers/WhitepaperHandler.ashx?fi=FINAL_WCOL_February_2013.pdf&mode=wp&campaignid=Wcol2013" rel="external" target="_blank" title="Open Web Site"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">ranking</span></a><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> of 131 cities around the world published this month. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">“Instead of increasing the population of this country so quickly, maybe we should focus on those that have been left behind,” said Sudhir Vadaketh, author of “Floating on a Malayan Breeze,” a socio-economic narrative on Singapore and Malaysia. “A lot of Singaporeans are feeling a great sense of loss of identity. With continued high immigration, I worry about that sense of identity will be diluted even more.” </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Demonstrations in Singapore are rare as the government imposes strict controls on assemblies and speeches, limiting outdoor protests to locations such as Speakers’ Corner. Authorities say such laws help maintain social stability in a country that was wracked by communal violence between ethnic Malays and Chinese in the 1960s. </span><br />
<br />
<h2>
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Shrinking Workforce </span></h2>
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Speakers’ Corner was modeled after the section of London’s Hyde Park traditionally set aside for free speech. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The white paper was aimed at setting a framework to address Singapore’s demographic challenges of an aging population and a shrinking workforce. The island-nation’s first cohort of baby boomers turned 65 last year, and its number of elderly will triple to 900,000 by 2030, according to the National Population and Talent Division. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In a city with 3.3 million citizens and 2 million foreigners, complaints about overseas workers depriving locals of jobs and driving up home prices helped opposition parties win record support in the 2011 general election. Lee is under pressure to placate voters without disrupting the entry of talent and labor that helped forge Southeast Asia’s only advanced economy. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Ranked the easiest place to do business for seven straight years by the World Bank, Singapore is competing with lower-cost neighbors such as Malaysia and Indonesia for foreign investment as an uneven global recovery hurts demand for exports. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Since the 2011 polls, Lee’s party has lost two by-elections. The government “paid a political price” with the infrastructure strains as a result of a bigger population, the prime minister said last month. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTLjA6qsy3tkyaJ5ekAzgCqag3N1ea5Y8ybVCrig8h2WUIC1kfeSLWWPr8vyszEStzFRCcyG4ptaRrVnm4oQHmJFddFRLVfVP7T0kWiE2oIABQ5P5u95bj6UhUPPtkVxxuIMr1Y9B1Yg/s1600/pop+honglim+x.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTLjA6qsy3tkyaJ5ekAzgCqag3N1ea5Y8ybVCrig8h2WUIC1kfeSLWWPr8vyszEStzFRCcyG4ptaRrVnm4oQHmJFddFRLVfVP7T0kWiE2oIABQ5P5u95bj6UhUPPtkVxxuIMr1Y9B1Yg/s640/pop+honglim+x.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJhtXSJCV_GbboMzQsX4U5DXMpqk9NdAAe_blUiLmlyFDSxnXD13TLCh5K2su8L4HmNvPkZRJuCcSmvEXm-AZfATlbQH90o3i5N-qKt1p_Xhnety3MGDF9jKcuixRYDmJG-WsUDMsLLQ/s1600/pop+14.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJhtXSJCV_GbboMzQsX4U5DXMpqk9NdAAe_blUiLmlyFDSxnXD13TLCh5K2su8L4HmNvPkZRJuCcSmvEXm-AZfATlbQH90o3i5N-qKt1p_Xhnety3MGDF9jKcuixRYDmJG-WsUDMsLLQ/s1600/pop+14.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">(<a href="http://www.tremeritus.com/2013/02/17/photo-essay-of-hong-lim-protest-more-pics-sent-in-by-readers/" target="_blank">source</a>)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOCuj7BN4vsK7MbZfapdTHmSzbu30zXnN54jRGCQKmVYH3uHaX359fCBId7SGwb3GJsCrjAOFFwPYkYRwv8vMtkf190oO5LMJPXzwWoICbqNtwMSMnwlh0Egc0lX9wxuAn5an9JDEyVw/s1600/pop+11.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="592" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOCuj7BN4vsK7MbZfapdTHmSzbu30zXnN54jRGCQKmVYH3uHaX359fCBId7SGwb3GJsCrjAOFFwPYkYRwv8vMtkf190oO5LMJPXzwWoICbqNtwMSMnwlh0Egc0lX9wxuAn5an9JDEyVw/s640/pop+11.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">(<a href="http://www.tremeritus.com/2013/02/17/photo-essay-of-hong-lim-protest-more-pics-sent-in-by-readers/" target="_blank">source</a>)<br />
<br />
**************************************</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: Arial;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"><div id="hn-headline" itemprop="name">
<strong><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Mass rally in Singapore seeks immigration curbs</span></strong></div>
<div itemprop="name">
<strong><span style="font-family: Verdana;"></span></strong> </div>
<div class="hn-byline">
By Annabelle Liang and Bhavan Jaipragas (AFP), Feb 16, 2013 (<a href="http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5jDbTp2CIZuJugIzckAVyu5I68qvA?docId=CNG.447c9cb6ffadc85d1944490270e5989f.3b1" target="_blank">source</a>)</div>
<div class="hn-byline">
</div>
SINGAPORE — More than 1,000 Singaporeans attended the city-state's biggest protest rally in recent memory Saturday (Feb 16, 2013), amid growing public indignation over predictions of a surging foreign population.<br />
<br />
The peaceful rally, held at an officially designated protest zone, was staged by a civic group after the government said foreigners could account for nearly half of the densely packed island's population in less than 20 years.<br />
<br />
Organisers estimated the crowd at 3,000, but AFP reporters on the scene said between 1,000 and 1,500 people had taken part despite afternoon downpours, making it the biggest protest in Singapore in recent years.<br />
<br />
Rally leaders, who used Facebook and other online platforms to draw support, openly attacked the People's Action Party (PAP), which has been in power for more than 50 years, over its immigration and other policies.<br />
<br />
"The large crowd here shows the PAP government that they are not afraid any more, they don't want to hide behind a moniker on Facebook to show their displeasure," said chief organiser Gilbert Goh, a former opposition candidate for parliament.<br />
<br />
"They are showing their deep displeasure with the white paper," he told AFP, referring to a controversial population projection issued last month.<br />
<br />
A spokesman for the Singapore Police told AFP that it was not monitoring the size of the crowd, which was largely clad in black, armed with clappers and clutched a sea of umbrellas.<br />
<br />
There were no signs of riot police in or around the rally venue, a grassy park where protesters are allowed to address the public in a spot known as Speakers' Corner.<br />
<br />
A government policy paper last month said the population could range between 6.5 and 6.9 million by 2030, with foreigners making up 45 percent because Singaporeans are not producing enough babies to sustain economic growth.<br />
<br />
Citizens currently make up 62 percent of the current population of 5.3 million, of whom more than a third are foreign-born.<br />
<br />
A banner at the rally read: "Save Singapore - Say NO to 6.9 million."<br />
<br />
"Stop selling memberships. We are not a country club," read a handmade poster, referring to naturalisation.<br />
<br />
Protests are rare in Singapore, a wealthy island republic known for strict security and social controls, but Facebook, Twitter and other social media have set the tone for political debate in recent years.<br />
<br />
Rallies of more than a few dozen people are unusual.<br />
<br />
In October 2008, about 600 angry investors gathered in the same spot, urging the Singapore central bank to help them recover money they lost from investments linked to collapsed US bank Lehman Brothers and other institutions.<br />
<br />
Saturday's rally came less than two years after the general election of May 2011, when the ruling party suffered its worst ever performance, with immigration already a sensitive issue.<br />
<br />
Foreigners have been blamed for stealing Singaporeans' jobs as well as straining housing, transport and medical services.<br />
<br />
Goh, the rally organiser, ran unsuccessfully for parliament in 2011 under the opposition National Solidarity Party.<br />
<br />
On the eve of the rally, Goh issued a public apology to foreigners living in Singapore for an earlier posting in which he listed racial profiles and social habits of various Asian nationalities as well as westerners.<br />
<br />
"It's rude and insensitive to their feelings," Goh wrote, adding that he did not want to "stir up unpleasant xenophobic sentiments within the country".<br />
<br />
<br />
****************************<br />
<br />
<strong><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">4,000 turn up at Speakers' Corner for population White Paper protest</span></strong><br />
<br />
Yahoo!News, Feb 16, 2013 (<a href="http://sg.news.yahoo.com/huge-turnout-at-speakers--corner-for-population-white-paper-protest-101051153.html" target="_blank">source</a>)<br />
<br />
<br />
Speakers' Corner at Hong Lim Park on Saturday afternoon to protest against the Population White Paper endorsed by Parliament last week.<br /><br />[<a href="http://sg.news.yahoo.com//photos/population-white-paper-protest-at-speakers-corner-slideshow/" target="_blank">SEE SLIDESHOW]</a><br /><br />Organised by <a href="http://www.transitioning.org/about-2/" target="_blank">transitioning.org</a>, a support site for unemployed, the nearly four-hour protest saw people of all age ranges and races turn up in the light drizzle, with umbrellas and some with home-made, colourful placards and posters. Many also came with their young children in tow.<br /><br />A total of 12 speakers, including former NTUC chief Tan Kin Lian, former presidential candidate Tan Jee Say, SDP's Vincent Wijeysingha, NSP's Jeanette Chong-Aruldoss spoke at the event, mainly hitting out at the 6.9 million population figure mentioned in the White Paper.<br /><br />Each speaker was given 10 minutes to address the crowd.<br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
Jee Say, a former high-flying civil servant, asked if there was a need to convert the migrant population in Singapore to be new citizens.<br />
<br />
He also questioned said if half the population are foreigners in 2030, “in the event of a crisis, the other non-Singaporean half will pull in a different direction”, he says to the swelling crowd.<br />
<br />
Ravi Philemon from opposition party NSP asked the crowd if bringing in an average of 900,000 to 1 million foreigners every decade was an acceptable number, to which the crowd responded with a thunderous “no”.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
He then tabled the notion that the paper dilutes the Singapore core for an allegedly relentless economic pursuit.<br />
<br />
“The economy is not everything. The economy has to be for the people and not the people for the economy,” he added. <br />
<br />
“The White Paper revealed two things, one, that the government does not seem to understand what it means to be an ordinary Singaporean and, two, that it does not seem to care,” said another speaker, Wijeysingha. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
</div>
<div id="yui-tmp-15">
“Singaporeans are and must be the first and last object of policy”, he said. <br />
<br />
The peaceful protest was marked by poignant moments when the crowd sang "Count On Me, Singapore" at the midway mark, and also at the end when the National Pledge was lustily recited in unison.</div>
<br />
Organiser Gilbert Goh told <em>Yahoo! Singapore</em> he was pleased with the turnout. Calling the protest "history-making", he said he initially only expected 200 to show.<br /><br />"This protest event is meant for Singaporeans to come here in a peaceful manner to show their displeasure at the 6.9 million population target," he said. <br /><br />"We also wanted to show Singaporeans that there's a place for you to come to legitimately protest against any policy that you have against the government. You don't have to sit behind Facebook and complain. You can show up in unity, in person to complain," he added.<br /><br />Goh also apologised after a <a href="http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:http://www.transitioning.org/2012/05/19/characteristics-and-behaviour-of-our-1-8-million-foreigners/" target="_blank">two-year-old blog post</a> by him that was overtly xenophobic and anti-foreigner in nature was re-posted on Twitter a day before the event.<br /><br />“Unfortunately, what we write always comes back to haunt us. We need to move on. This event is not about xenophobia, it’s more about the 6.9 million figure. But people are offended, so I apologise," he said.<br /><br />"I’m human, I make mistakes. I wrote it two years ago. Since then I have learnt to be a bit more accepting. They’re here to stay. They’re going to be the majority of the population in 2030, and Singaporeans the minority. We probably have to accept this fact, probably even embrace them.”<br /><br />Singaporeans who were present also said they'd showed up to make their voices heard.<br /><br />“The bottom line is saying 'no' to the 6.9 million, saying 'no' to the White Paper," said Kenneth Koh, a director in his 50s.<br /><br />"No, because the people’s representative no longer has the people’s support. This is not a protest. The people want a referendum. The people want their rights back. They don’t want to give the government a free passport,” he said. <br /><br />Others said they were curious and came down for the event after finding out about it on Facebook.<br /><br />"A lot of people are not happy and it’s not every day that they show their unhappiness. I just came to have a look at soak up the atmosphere," said student Jenny Wang, 21.<br /><br />Last week, Parliament endorsed an amended motion to the White Paper on Population by 77 votes to 13. <br /><br />The amended motion filed by Holland-Bukit Timah MP Liang Eng Hwa stated that the White Paper “supports maintaining a strong Singaporean core by encouraging more Singaporeans to get married and have children, supplemented by a calibrated pace of immigration to prevent the citizen population from shrinking”.<br /><br />PM Lee, in an address before the motion was endorsed, stressed that the 6.9 million population figure had been taken out of context and that the p<span class="content-area-content"><span class="story_body">aper was not about any specific population size for beyond 2020, but rather that it was being used for the purpose of land use and infrastructure planning. </span></span><br />
<br />
******************************************************<br />
<br />
<strong>Related:</strong><br />
<br />
<strong>Five thousand gather to protest population White Paper</strong>, commentary by Yawning Bread (Alex Au): <a href="http://yawningbread.wordpress.com/2013/02/17/five-thousand-gather-to-protest-population-white-paper/?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter" target="_blank">here</a><br />
</span><span style="font-family: Arial;"></span><br />
<br />
******************<br />
<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-395066009662473992.post-70010296285331341722013-02-15T00:55:00.001+08:002013-02-15T01:03:05.374+08:00SDP unveils six-point plan to control population<strong><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Singapore Democrats</span></strong><br />
<br />
February 14, 2013 (<a href="http://yoursdp.org/news/sdp_unveils_six_point_plan_to_control_population/2013-02-14-5548" target="_blank">source</a>)<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQjxLXUXgObBXu2-wN6srGi3XgQ4EfBgIld5ySzU0whqbTYufskNNnOoHGNFAS5Z2ymw0mHQ5NRDK-pvvLyYTb5_7O6CYMkjhFZL1OMQ8MCwztbgsu3YMWQ-KG382mUnRyotPJ7JONIA/s1600/PopPaper.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="358" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQjxLXUXgObBXu2-wN6srGi3XgQ4EfBgIld5ySzU0whqbTYufskNNnOoHGNFAS5Z2ymw0mHQ5NRDK-pvvLyYTb5_7O6CYMkjhFZL1OMQ8MCwztbgsu3YMWQ-KG382mUnRyotPJ7JONIA/s640/PopPaper.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The SDP launched our alternative policy entitled </span><a href="http://yoursdp.ucoz.org/_ld/0/8_Building_a_Peop.pdf"><i><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Building A People: Sound Policies For A Secure Future</span></i></a><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> this evening to deal with the problems of immigration and population in Singapore.<br /><br />As the title suggests, the focus of the paper is on the people and how we can take care of their future and their needs.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Our policy is aimed at lowering the number of foreign workers currently in Singapore as well as tightening the entry of foreigners into the country in the near future thus creating an environment where Singaporeans can thrive and enjoy a high quality of life.<br /><br />To do this, we have drawn up a comprehensive six-point plan:<br /><br /><b>1.</b> <b><i>Enact the Singaporeans First Policy</i></b><br /><br />We will introduce the TalentTrack Scheme to process applications of foreign PMETs wishing to work in Singapore. Their suitability will be a merit-based system with points awarded for a number of factors (age, qualifications, skills, experience, number of dependents, etc.) to determine if the applicants meet the economic and population needs of Singapore.<br /><br />The employment visas of foreign workers currently in Singapore will be allowed to lapse whereupon they will have to apply to the TalentTrack Scheme if they wish to continue working here. Otherwise, they will have to leave.<br /><br />Singaporean employers will be able to hire these professionals if they demonstrate that they have made every effort to employ a Singaporean first but cannot find a local with the requisite qualifications/skills.<br /><br />The Employment Visa Commission (EVC) will also be established to survey, and review at regular intervals, the skills and human resource needs of the various industries and sectors of our economy. The EVC will provide the necessary input to the TalentTrack Scheme to determine the weight given for the various types of professions. <br /><br />The EVC will comprise representatives from the Ministry of Trade and Industry, Ministry of Manpower, independent trade unions, Singapore National Employers' Federation, and other professional organisations.<br /><br />Businesses will also be required to restructure and upgrade their operations over a period so that they will not be dependent on lower-skilled foreign workers. By mechanising and automating their businesses, they will be able to employ more Singaporeans who are increasingly becoming more highly trained.<br /><br />The net effect of the Singaporeans First Policy is that we will be able to considerably reduce the current number of foreign workers in Singapore while, at the same time, only allow into Singapore real foreign talent that our economy needs.<br /><br /><b>2.</b> <b><i>Retain Singaporean talent</i></b><br /><br />Singaporeans are emigrating at an alarming rate. To stem the brain-drain, we need to lower the cost of living which is creating a highly stressful lifestyle for the people. Two of the biggest components of a family's household budget is housing and healthcare.<br /><br />Lowering HDB prices is dealt with extensively in our housing policy (see </span><a href="http://yoursdp.org/_ld/0/7_Housing_a_Natio.pdf"><i><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Housing A Nation</span></i></a><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">). Cheaper housing also means lower office and shop rental which translates into lower prices of goods and services. The SDP has also proposed concrete measures to reduce healthcare costs in our </span><a href="http://yoursdp.org/_ld/0/5_sdp-national-he.pdf"><i><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">National Healthcare Plan</span></i></a><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">.<br /><br />Another major reason that Singaporeans cite for leaving Singapore is the education system which emphasizes rote-learning. School curricula are geared towards exam-taking which leaves little room for the development of lifelong learning and creative thinking. The details of the SDP's educational policy will be laid out in a separate paper.<br /><br /><b>3.</b> <b><i>Raise the Total Fertility Rate</i></b><br /><br />Many younger Singaporean couples put off having children because of two main reasons: the high expenses incurred with raising children and the difficulty of obtaining an HDB flat.<br /><br />Reducing the cost of living is outlined in the preceding section. This will have a significant impact on Singaporean couples' decision on whether to have more children. The SDP has also proposed facilitating the ease of younger couples of obtaining HDB flats through our Young Families Priority Scheme. This can be read in our housing paper.<br /><br />4. <b><i>Introduce the GPI</i></b><br /><br />The PAP uses GDP as a reason to increase population size. It cites GDP growth as an important factor for Singaporeans' well-being. In truth, the GDP is not a good indicator of the economic well-being of our country and it certainly is not a measure of the wealth of the people.<br /><br />For example, couples going through divorces pay for legal services. These fees go into increasing the GDP. However, it does tremendous damage to our families and children. These have economic costs which are not captured in the GDP.<br /><br />A better and more accurate index is the Genuine Progress Indicator (GPI) which not only takes into account the GDP but also the costs incurred in building up the GDP (costs such as crime, pollution, family breakdown, psychological health, etc).<br /><br />The GPI is a better indicator of the overall happiness and quality of life of our people. The GDP may increase because of the influx of foreigners but the GPI will accurately capture the effects of an overcrowded city on Singaporeans. The Government should base its population policy on the GPI, and not the GDP alone.<br /><br />5. <b><i>Strengthen the Singaporean Identity</i></b><br /><br />A massive inflow of foreigners over a short span of time will not enable the new immigrants to assimilate into the Singaporean culture. This tears at the social fabric of our nation. To strengthen our national bond, the Ethnic Integration Policy which determines the percentage of ethnic HDB dwellers in each estate should be abolished. The identification of "race" in our Identity Cards should also be removed.<br /><br />Such practices serve only to divide Singaporeans and reinforce how different and separate we are. In the process, they weaken our identity as Singaporeans.<br /><br />6. <b><i>Revamp the ministerial pay formula</i></b><br /><br />Ministerial salaries are based on GDP growth. This runs the risk of government leaders pushing up the population size which will increased the GDP but adversely impact on the well-being of the people.<br /><br />If ministers' salaries are to be pegged to an index, it should be the GPI. In this way, the happier Singaporeans are and the higher their quality of life, the better ministers are paid. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><a href="http://yoursdp.ucoz.org/_ld/0/8_Building_a_Peop.pdf"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img align="left" alt="" height="400" src="http://yoursdp.org/Graphics/images/bookcover/BuildingAPeople-cover.png" style="border-style: solid; border-width: 1px; margin-right: 5px;" width="304" /></span></a><i><br /><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Building A People: Sound Policies for A Secured Future</span></i><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> (pdf) is available for download </span><a href="http://yoursdp.ucoz.org/_ld/0/8_Building_a_Peop.pdf"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">here</span></a><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">.</span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-395066009662473992.post-27720767702062677992013-02-13T18:45:00.002+08:002013-02-13T18:45:17.614+08:00The hurt of militarized authoritarianism in Singapore, Afghanistan and the world<div align="center" style="text-align: left;">
By <strong>Dr Wee Teck Young</strong>, M.B.B.S. ( S’pore ), MMed Family Medicine (S’pore)</div>
<div align="center" style="text-align: left;">
</div>
<div align="center" style="text-align: left;">
<em>The Online Citizen</em>, Feb 2013 (<a href="http://www.theonlinecitizen.com/2013/02/hurt-militarized-authoritarianism-singapore-afghanistan-world/" target="_blank">source</a>)</div>
<div align="center" style="text-align: left;">
</div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoQ-ZDBDG0MvO9BvMyKEtjRTaWB9WaTu6NQVozucwMG9FoKUk_AA3IzgzfCPeCa-z3T_MbStbX05XPOQirUoKI_jWHQ52FbQpDALo4n7le36yMyGnWitS3-dPbJ2svLxHLT7IB_ciClQ/s1600/Raz-Abdulhai-and-I-in-Kabul-Afghanistan.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="326" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoQ-ZDBDG0MvO9BvMyKEtjRTaWB9WaTu6NQVozucwMG9FoKUk_AA3IzgzfCPeCa-z3T_MbStbX05XPOQirUoKI_jWHQ52FbQpDALo4n7le36yMyGnWitS3-dPbJ2svLxHLT7IB_ciClQ/s640/Raz-Abdulhai-and-I-in-Kabul-Afghanistan.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: small;">Raz Mohammad, Abdulhai and Wee Teck Young in Kabul, Afghanistan</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div align="center" style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span></div>
<div align="center" style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It’s hard for me, an ordinary citizen of Singapore, a medical doctor engaged in social enterprise work in Afghanistan and a human being wishing for a better world, to write this from Kabul.</span></div>
<div align="center" style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But people are dying.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And children and women are feeling hopeless.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">“What’s the point in telling you our stories?” asked Freba, one of the seamstresses working with the Afghan Peace Volunteers to set up a tailoring co-operative for Afghan women. “Does anyone hear? Does anyone believe us?”</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Silently within, I answered Freba with shame,” You’re right. No one is listening.”</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So, I write this in protest against my government’s presence in the humanitarian and war tragedy of Afghanistan, as a way to lend my voice to Freba and all my Afghan friends.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I do so in dissent, against the global security of imprisoned minds.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I thought, “If no one listens as humans should, we should at least speak like free men and women.”</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><br />
<b><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Singapore’s complicity in the humanitarian and war tragedy of Afghanistan</span></b><br />
<strong></strong><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It is clear that the Taliban, the many Afghan and regional warlords, militia groups and the Afghan government are responsible for the current humanitarian and war tragedy of Afghanistan.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But Singapore is also responsible because it is one of the fifty U.S. /NATO (the North Atlantic Treaty Organization) coalition countries working with the corrupt Afghan government (</span><a href="http://transparency.org/cpi2012/results" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">rated the most corrupt country in 2012</span></a><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> ).</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Singapore has inadvertently become a minor accomplice of </span><a href="http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/2011/07/2011711121720939655.html" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">the self-interests of the U.S. government in Afghanistan</span></a><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> ; The U.S. Vice President , Joe Biden, spoke at the Munich Security Conference recently, “The United States is a Pacific power. And the world’s greatest military alliance ( NATO ) helps make us an Atlantic power as well. </span><a href="http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2013/02/02/remarks-vice-president-joe-biden-munich-security-conference-hotel-bayeri" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">As our new defense strategy makes clear, we will remain both a Pacific power and an Atlantic power</span></a><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">.”</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">American power and economic interests naturally do not include the best interests of ordinary Singaporeans or Afghans.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><br />
<b><i><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The Afghan humanitarian tragedy</span></i></b><br />
<strong><em></em></strong><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In the normal, logical world, it should inspire the doubt and curiosity of Singaporeans that while the U.S. /NATO coalition was spending billions of dollars every week on the Afghan war ( the U.S. alone was spending two billion dollars every week ), Afghans have been perishing under </span><a href="https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/af.html" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">one of the highest infant and maternal mortality rates in the world</span></a><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">. At least </span><a href="https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/af.html" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">36% live below the poverty line</span></a><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> and </span><a href="https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/af.html" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">35% of Afghan men do not have work</span></a><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> . </span><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/sep/04/malnutrition-southern-afghanistan-shocking-levels" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The UN calls the acute malnutrition of nearly one million children in the Afghan south ‘shocking’</span></a><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> . </span><a href="http://www.worldbank.org/en/country/afghanistan/overview" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Almost three quarters of all Afghans do not have access to safe drinking water .</span></a><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">On several occasions in the past few years, Afghanistan was declared the worst country for children and women, and yet, many of us still hold this warped presumption, “Afghanistan is the worst country for children and women but whatever we are doing over there MUST somehow be right!”</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><br />
<b><i><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The Afghan war tragedy</span></i></b><br />
<strong><em></em></strong><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In the normal, logical world, it should at least matter to ‘result-orientated’ Singaporeans that the very expensive Afghan/U.S. coalition’s ‘war against terrorism’ has increased rather than decreased ‘terrorism’, with the </span><a href="http://www.visionofhumanity.org/terrorismindex/about-the-gti/" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Global Terrorism Index reporting that terrorist strikes in the region have increased four times since the start of the Iraq war in 2003.</span></a><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Even President Karzai said in the UK recently that the </span><a href="http://www.khaama.com/afghanistan-security-better-before-british-troops-arrival-karzai-1329" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">security situation in southern Helmand province of Afghanistan was better before British troops were deployed</span></a><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Adding to this cynical mess of increased ‘terrorism’ at the hands of global superpowers, </span><a href="http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2012/12/2012-drones-afghanistan/" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">the U.S. has established an epicenter of drone warfare in Afghanistan</span></a><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">, with Afghans and Pakistanis and other ‘insurgents’ as their ‘targets’, and Singapore as one of their many allies. <span style="background-color: yellow;">Singapore has had teams helping in </span></span><a href="http://www.defencetalk.com/saf-deploys-uav-unit-to-afghanistan-28397/" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: yellow;">drone reconnaissance operations</span>, reconnaissance that may have eventually ended up with a U.S. /NATO decision to kill someone without trial.</span></a><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I had raised this personal concern once in a meeting room at Singapore’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs ; I was appreciative of the attentiveness given to this issue, but sensed that there was no great interest in ‘investigating’ how </span><a href="http://www.cfr.org/counterterrorism/un-report-special-rapporteur-extrajudicial-summary-arbitrary-executions/p22297" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Singapore’s co-operation in the drone operations in Afghanistan may be violating international law</span></a><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">, as was suggested by the ex-UN Special Rapporteur on Extra Judicial, Summary or Arbitrary Killings, Mr Philip Alston.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A recent New York Times article highlights these </span><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/31/world/drone-strike-lawsuit-raises-concerns-on-intelligence-sharing.html?ref=asia&_r=0" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">‘fears for U.S. allies’</span></a><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">, reporting on a lawsuit in the British courts that <i>‘accuses British officials of becoming “secondary parties to murder” by passing intelligence to American officials that was later used in drone strikes.’ </i>My life has been changed by listening to Afghan friends like Raz Mohammad tell how </span><a href="http://youtu.be/DYXd76JKqys" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">‘drones bury beautiful lives’</span></a><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The U.N. is finally living up to its charter to ‘remove the scourge of war’ by duly investigating </span><a href="http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2013/01/un-drone-inquiry/" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> drone warfare</span></a><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">. Major U.S. newspapers are also asking for more transparency over </span><a href="http://articles.washingtonpost.com/2012-06-12/opinions/35461683_1_drone-strikes-obama-administration-civilian-deaths" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Obama’s weekly, premeditated ‘kill lists</span></a><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">’. There has been concern over unchecked Powers getting even more out of all jurisdictions with the appointment of ‘drone justifier’ John Brennan as Obama’s CIA Director nominee.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Even the </span><a href="http://news.yahoo.com/us-act-protect-children-conflict-092816481.html" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">UN Committee on the Rights of a Child has been “alarmed”</span></a><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> at reports of the deaths of hundreds of children from US attacks and air strikes in Afghanistan since the committee last reviewed U.S. practices in 2008.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Singapore should be alarmed too.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<b><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Singapore’s own identity as a militarized, authoritarian country</span></b><br />
<strong><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span></strong><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Deep within, like most human beings, Freba yearns for a decent livelihood without war. Abdulhai and the Afghan Peace Volunteers </span><a href="http://ourjourneytosmile.com/blog/2013/01/one-world-in-one-week-we-want-to-break-all-borders/" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">wish for friends from all 195 countries of the world</span></a><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">, </span><a href="http://youtu.be/oiGiozgQXN4" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">a better world without borders</span></a><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">What kind of identity do Singaporeans wish for their country, a peaceful and friendly country or otherwise?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Again, I’m concerned. We like pictures of be-medaled soldiers more than unsung ‘Mother Teresa’ heroines. Our government has a significant number of ex-military commanders.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">According to the Global Militarisation Index released by the Bonn International Centre for Conversion (BICC), </span><a href="http://www.bicc.de/press/press-releases/press/news/all-quiet-in-the-middle-east-region-remains-in-top-position-of-the-updated-335/" target="_blank"><span style="background-color: yellow; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Singapore has been the second most militarized nation in the world for years</span></a><span style="background-color: yellow; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The latest ranking puts Singapore just second to Israel and one brutal position more militarized than Syria.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">What also worries me is that this militarized mindset may be behind Singapore’s enthusiasm in </span><a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-16958916" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">the drone show-business</span></a><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">, and in </span><a href="http://www.navytimes.com/news/2012/06/navy-singapore-host-4-littoral-combat-ships-060212d/" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">‘unintentionally’ being part of the U.S.’ ‘Asia pivot’ by hosting four U.S. littoral combat ships</span></a><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Even on the economic front, while Singapore has one of the higher Gini coefficients of income inequality in the world, not many people in Singapore are aware of or debating Singapore’s participation in the </span><a href="http://truth-out.org/news/item/12857-the-trans-pacific-partnership-this-is-what-corporate-governance-looks-like" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Trans-Pacific Partnership</span></a><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> , again a partnership that corporate America is pushing for.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">What Singapore has aligned herself with in Afghanistan is militarized authoritarianism that concentrates profit and power in the hands of a few. While this follows global norms, such a system works mainly for the wealth and power of the 1% in the short term, but not for the daily needs of the 99% in either the short or long term.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I personally think that both the democratic and socialist practices of today are ‘non-progressive’ vehicles for the rule of the few ‘Kings, Emperors, Presidents, and Prime Ministers’ over the many presumably ‘ignorant, helpless and sometimes lazy’ subjects. These elitist systems tend to maintain control by ‘pacifying the masses’ through formal education, mainstream media and force.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I hope Singapore can steer itself away from this ‘norm’, an ugly ‘norm’ in which war becomes fun, like when Prince Harry described his combat pilot job in Afghanistan as </span><a href="http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/prince-harry-criticized-for-comparing-afghanistan-to-video-game-a-879055.html" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">“a joy … because I’m one of those people who loves playing PlayStation and Xbox</span></a><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">, so with my thumbs I like to think I’m probably quite useful.”</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I believe that for effective defense and genuine security, we ought to be friends with neighbours and all peoples of other lands rather than militarists with superior weapons.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Perhaps these are differences in opinions which can be included in </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Our_Singapore_Conversation" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Our Singapore Conversation</span></a><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It’s hard for me to write this, but I am sincerely ashamed to be a citizen of the 2<span style="font-size: small;"><sup>nd</sup> most militarized nation on earth, a country that has participated in the legally-questionable drone warfare in Afghanistan.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Thankfully, I have hope in Singaporeans like I have hope in humanity. There are alternatives. The world is awakening, the human race is revolutionizing, and so is Singapore’s electorate. Most ordinary folk in the world don’t want to send missiles or guns to kill strangers in other places! Human beings have always preferred otherwise.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">My voice is not political. My voice is human.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Afghans are hurting very badly.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And I am hurting too.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">*****************************</span><br />
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-395066009662473992.post-89849291013333054632013-02-11T08:02:00.005+08:002013-02-11T08:11:21.797+08:00PAP Government's mediocre intellect revealed in its Population White Paper<strong><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Dubious Footnotes in the Population White Paper</span></strong><br />
<strong><span style="font-family: Verdana;"></span></strong><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The Online Citizen</span><br />
<strong><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"></span></strong><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">By Gordon Lee<br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Last week, the Deputy Prime Minister Teo Chee Hean (who heads the National Population and Talent Division) </span><a href="http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/singaporelocalnews/view/1253152/1/.html" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">apologised for the error in footnote 12</span></a><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> in the population white paper which misrepresented nursing as being low-skilled.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Yet, the misrepresentation is not limited to just footnote 12. Here is a selection of other misleading footnotes in the contentious White Paper.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Footnote 2 states that “A comparison of advanced countries shows that incomes grow faster when economic growth is good. Poor growth may also affect employment prospects, especially for lower-educated workers.”</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Yet, this in no way supports the erroneous point that the white paper was trying to make – that without economic growth, unemployment would rise. What the white paper should have instead claimed is: Without economic growth, <span style="text-decoration: underline;">and with a growth in the labour force</span>, unemployment would rise. This simple omission is an important one. If there is no growth in the labour force, unemployment levels would be less susceptible to a lack of economic growth.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Footnote 3 claims that “Economic growth has allowed the Government to introduce various transfer schemes to help lower-income Singaporeans, such as the Goods and Services Tax (GST) Voucher scheme.”</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">GST was introduced at 3% in 1994, and raised over time to 7% in 2007.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">What the footnote should have said was “Taxing consumption via GST has allowed the Government to introduce the GST Voucher Scheme, i.e. take with one hand, and give back with another.”</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Footnote 5, that “The World Bank has ranked Singapore top for ease of doing business”, was used to support that point that “Our well-educated and skilled workforce, good connectivity, reliable public services, stable government, and rule of law make us an attractive place to do business and give us a competitive edge globally.”</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Yet, reading the World Bank report revealed that Singapore was ranked highly for legal and procedural effectiveness, and <span style="text-decoration: underline;">NOT</span> for some of the reasons claimed by the white paper (i.e. educated and skilled workforce, stable government, etc.) Nor does the cited PWC report support the points made. The White Paper should not have misrepresented the World Bank and PWC.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Footnote 7 is plainly ridiculous. It states that the labour productivity <span style="text-decoration: underline;">forecast</span> for 2010-2020 of 2-3% is simply the <span style="text-decoration: underline;">target</span> of the </span><a href="http://app.mof.gov.sg/data/cmsresource/ESC%20Report/ESC%20Main%20Report.pdf" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Economic Strategies Committee</span></a><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">. The ESC report says “We can achieve productivity growth of 2 to 3 percent per year over the next 10 years, more than double the 1 percent rate achieved over the last decade. This is a challenging target.”</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It is good and ambitious to have a “challenging target”, but surely Government report and policies should be based on a more reasonable target.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Footnote 7 goes on to claim that their forecast for 2020-2030 “is assessed to be 1% to 2% per year, similar to the experience of OECD countries over the last decade (i.e. 2000-2010).” How NPTD assessed the accuracy of this statement is not elaborated upon.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<strong><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Conclusion</span></strong><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It is deeply regrettable that the NPTD would go public with such a poorly-substantiated documented. Doing so only encourages speculation that the White Paper is little more than an attempt to create an illusion of robust support, by quoting evidence out of context.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Sadly, the lack of public support is still evident. Donald Low, a senior fellow at the LKY School of Public Policy and a former top civil servant, has criticised the white paper (see <em>Experts Weigh in on Population Projections</em>, below) saying that there “<span style="background-color: yellow;">wasn’t even a References section to show what research the writers of the paper had done, what social science theories they relied on, what competing heories/frameworks they looked at… There was also a surprising lack of rigorous comparison with other countries that have gone through, or are going through, a similar demographic transition.</span>”</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The <span style="background-color: yellow;">poverty of intelligent thinking</span> in Government policies makes us all the poorer.</span><br />
</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">********************</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><strong></strong></span><strong> </strong><br />
<strong></strong><strong><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Expert Weigh in on Population Projections</span></strong><br />
<br />
<em>Today</em>, 4 Feb 2013 (<a href="http://www.todayonline.com/singapore/experts-weigh-population-projections" target="_blank">source</a>)<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4Rwpq5-AuW2nvC_Crp6bttDsKkH2_5nuPQD2FhAT8Nkv40V2XAo0ArmLFiTn9L2Ombpe87YAig_wVOOogjPTP08Rheq21xouCeSjCKROFHTyLLwDqwrK0t0r-LL2WUCpdxgcC7MYjsg/s1600/pop+white+paper+pix.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4Rwpq5-AuW2nvC_Crp6bttDsKkH2_5nuPQD2FhAT8Nkv40V2XAo0ArmLFiTn9L2Ombpe87YAig_wVOOogjPTP08Rheq21xouCeSjCKROFHTyLLwDqwrK0t0r-LL2WUCpdxgcC7MYjsg/s640/pop+white+paper+pix.png" width="596" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">SINGAPORE — As Parliament sits today to debate the White Paper on population, some experts have questioned the soundness and accuracy of the projected population figures, given the difficulty in forecasting population growth. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Citing the Government’s track record of underestimating population growth, they noted that external factors, such as the global economy and the demand for labour, would likely throw such forecasts off the mark. </span><br />
<!-- inline --><br />
<div class="left">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br /></div>
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Nevertheless, others felt that policymakers would have gleaned lessons from past instances and factored in a buffer in their latest projections.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In particular, demographer Gavin Jones from the Asia Research Institute at the National University of Singapore (NUS) pointed out that the population projections for 2030 factored in more than two million non-residents. This would give policymakers some “flexibility”, he noted.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The White Paper projects that by 2020, there could be between 5.8 million and 6 million people in Singapore. By 2030, the range is projected to increase to between 6.5 million and 6.9 million. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But Economic Society of Singapore Vice-President Yeoh Lam Keong reiterated that population growth “always tends to exceed projected forecast”.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">“Because, firstly, there is very strong demand for labour from existing labour-intensive industries, and industry has a strong influence on immigration policy,” he said. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">“Secondly, given economic uncertainty, during the times when we have growth, the Government tends to err on the side of caution and go for more growth. Given these two tendencies, we tend to systematically overshoot population growth, not intentionally, but because of circumstance and current institutional practice.”</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">While SIM University economics professor Randolph Tan noted that such forecasts are “always notoriously inaccurate”, he felt that publishing the White Paper was a “responsible” move by the Government, as it allows Singaporeans to air their concerns and hear “both sides of the debate”. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But he said that policymakers could have come up with a less definitive forecast. Instead, Singaporeans could be informed about the probability of reaching a population of 6.9 million by 2030, he suggested. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">“The question therefore … is, what is the precision of the projections? What is the potential error range? How far can we afford to be wrong?” </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The Government’s past population projections have been below the mark. For example, the Urban Redevelopment Authority’s Concept Plan in 1991 projected a population of four million to be reached after 2010. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">By 2000, however, the Republic’s total population had already crossed that mark.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In 2001, the population was estimated to hit 5.5 million in the long term. When it reached 4.6 million in 2007, the projection for planning purposes was adjusted to 6.5 million. The Government had acknowledged that it was caught off guard by the surge in the number of immigrants. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">NUS sociologist Tan Ern Ser felt that the Government, in learning from its past experience, “would have built in some buffers and not cut (the projection) too close”.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Agreeing with Dr Tan, NUS Department of Real Estate professor Tay Kah Poh added: “In other words, the plan assumes some degree of over-shooting, which is a huge change in thinking from before.” </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">National Development Minister Khaw Boon Wan noted last week that the projection was “aggressive” so that the Government “will not be caught under-providing, as we are experiencing currently” — a stance that Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said on Facebook that he fully agreed with. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Still, Mr Yeoh proposed capping the total population to 6 million in 2030 and 6.5 million by 2050. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">He said: “A population of 6.5 million will be very cosmopolitan, (there will be) a lot of foreigners but it will still have significant indigenous components. And it will be relatively wealthy so it might resemble … Switzerland, with significant social cohesion and national identity.”</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">He added that, should Singapore ever reach a population of 8 million to 9 million, “it would look more like Dubai”. There could be “extreme income inequality, extreme dependence on foreigners and would be extremely crowded and unpleasant”, said Mr Yeoh.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Meanwhile, Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy Senior Fellow<span style="background-color: yellow;"> Donald Low</span> criticised the lack of scholarship and academic rigour in the White Paper. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Writing on Facebook, Mr Low, a former high-flying civil servant, noted that there “<span style="background-color: yellow;">wasn’t even a References section to show what research the writers of the paper had done, what social science theories they relied on, what competing theories/frameworks they looked at</span>”.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Citing Australia’s recent White Paper on Australia in the Asian Century or reports by the British government, which he said are “<span style="background-color: yellow;">always complete with references to the social science literature</span>”, Mr Low added: “There was also a surprising lack of rigorous comparison with other countries that have gone through, or are going through, a similar demographic transition.”</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">*******************************************</span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-395066009662473992.post-84731980436564304642013-02-08T13:12:00.001+08:002013-02-14T08:10:53.727+08:00PAP's suicide plan? The politics of PAP's population policy<strong><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"></span></strong><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiokwYlv4s4b9wrJXCKp36keLdPs-s5gaJPNQNOcVUoGOtsYFNUR-Ovfur67NCIaedSmbov0iNMp-Kr-aUGNZZIMnRNwimAh6kcnfYEISWGvRmFmgAqM338FWq-CVl2oz8x-GP72G30jw/s1600/PAP+suicide.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiokwYlv4s4b9wrJXCKp36keLdPs-s5gaJPNQNOcVUoGOtsYFNUR-Ovfur67NCIaedSmbov0iNMp-Kr-aUGNZZIMnRNwimAh6kcnfYEISWGvRmFmgAqM338FWq-CVl2oz8x-GP72G30jw/s640/PAP+suicide.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">PAP's suicide plan?</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<strong><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"></span></strong><br />
<strong><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"></span></strong><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgo8-hpyJzsRxbwoykDsVZKyYcThdJFpkXNqE-RcBtMDkCWmLuFkZWy6QhOvqJoXzd9_3Q7TLlhKNulcYY4xl2IflyDlOz1wD1_6cgfbWwdKPXDY6Qocx4gGElRNK_7ssXvRqHZVNTlKw/s1600/pass+motion.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="478" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgo8-hpyJzsRxbwoykDsVZKyYcThdJFpkXNqE-RcBtMDkCWmLuFkZWy6QhOvqJoXzd9_3Q7TLlhKNulcYY4xl2IflyDlOz1wD1_6cgfbWwdKPXDY6Qocx4gGElRNK_7ssXvRqHZVNTlKw/s640/pass+motion.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Population White Paper gets what it deserves</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<strong><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"></span></strong><br />
<strong><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"></span></strong><br />
<strong><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Seeing the invisible gorillas: The politics of the Population White Paper debate</span></strong><br />
<br />
By <strong>Devadas Krishnadas</strong> (<a href="http://ipscommons.sg/index.php/categories/featured/117-seeing-the-invisible-gorillas-the-politics-of-the-population-white-paper-debate" target="_blank">source</a>)<br />
<strong></strong><br />
<em><strong>Devadas Krishnadas</strong> is the Director of Future-Moves. He was
previously Deputy Director of Fiscal Policy at the Ministry of Finance.</em><br />
<em></em><br />
<br />
<em></em><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Christopher Chablis and Daniel Simons are authors of the book The Invisible
Gorilla. The book is based on an experiment they conducted several years ago at
Harvard. In the study, they asked subjects to watch a video of a group of people
playing basketball. They set them the task of counting the number of passes the
players made. During the video a man wearing gorilla suit walked past the
screen. At the end of the 1 minute video the test subjects were quizzed on what
they saw. More than half of the subjects could not recall seeing the gorilla at
all. The study showed that when we are asked to concentrate intensely on certain
things we can become so focused that we can miss even the most obvious things
staring at us in the face.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The debate in parliament over the Population White Paper seems to be to an
Invisible Gorilla experiment writ large. The Members have been busy disputing
percentages in labour force growth, trading rhetoric about who cares more about
the Singaporean core. PAP MPs have been, not unnaturally, supporting the White
Paper but signalling concerns. But one of them has gone further.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Mr Inderjit Singh has had the courage to mark out a distinct and unambiguous
position that is not in favour of the White Paper and who has proposed specific
remedies, even if only for the near term. His action is indicative that there is
much more political meat on the bone than is presently being chewed in the
House. So what are we missing?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Let me point out not 1 but 4 gorillas walking across the court of public
discussion.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<strong><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Show me the Money</span></strong><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">First, is the observation that the White Paper is not only about population
strategy it is also a de facto supply bill. The government rationalises the
trade-offs to be made with an increase in population with huge public
investments to come to build up infrastructure. Much of this infrastructure
build is predicated first on the reclamation of land. Reclamation is a very
expensive exercise. Voting for the White Paper is thus essentially the same as
giving a blanket approval for these massive expenditures rolling out over a
generation.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">These expenditures will have to be paid for naturally. Consequently, if we
follow the thread further we can see that voting for White Paper also implies
endorsement for a mixture of adjustments to generate the revenue for these
expenditures. These could include additional taxation, a Constitutional
adjustment to increase the contribution from Net Investment Returns and an
application to the President to draw down the reserves.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Once the intent of the White Paper is endorsed the necessary decisions to
raise the required revenue to finance the enabling infrastructure will be fait
accompli. Yet to date no Member has asked any question on how much and how the
many mitigating proposals the PAP as put forward will be financed. No Member of
the House has asked what are the fiscal trade-offs and what will be the
opportunity costs for these expenditures.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<strong><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Ride the Logic Train…Forever?</span></strong><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Second, the discussion about population number, whether we call it a
‘target’, ‘projection’ or ‘planning parameter’, is misguided. The discussion of
consequence is about the internal logic engine of the White Paper which leads to
the number.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Essentially, the White Paper follows this logic train.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">First, the future will be defined by slow growth.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Second, productivity will be marginal.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Third, the growth will thus be made up by labour force additions.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Fourth, because we are ageing society with low fertility rates, we have to
source an external supply for this added labour.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Fifth, if we cannot raise our indigenous fertility rate then we must convert
some of the added labour into residents to grow the fertility base of the
population.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Sixth, if the added population maintains a low fertility we will have even
more aged so we need to add more labour to support the Old Age Support
Ratio.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The White Paper has 2 not 1 notable numbers and <span style="background-color: yellow;">both are arbitrary</span>. The first
is the <span style="background-color: yellow;">6.9 million population</span> figure. The second is the <span style="background-color: white;">year <span style="background-color: yellow;">2030</span></span>. If we ride
the logic train we must accept that there is no magic event in 2030, the train
keeps running. Hence, the 6.9 number is bogus. There cannot be a number because
we will forever be running the logic as a loop.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This is the intellectual flaw in the White Paper. Members should be pointing
out this fallacy of logic. This is a logic gap which cannot be bridged by
announcements of additional infrastructure plans.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It would be welcome if the debate in the House moved on to establishing why
how productivity is so low even as we become an advanced economy, why our
fertility rate is relentlessly declining even as our standards of living rise
and why we have lagging wages for many even as we have a rising net worth for a
few. Solving these knotty problems may be difficult but therein lies at least
part of a more sustainable solution. Mr Inderjit Singh is wise in his general
caution against rushing ahead when underlying problems are unresolved.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<strong><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Quality of Identity</span></strong><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Third, there has been a spirited discussion about the Singaporean Core. This
is all well and good. Sylvia Lim pointed out the dilution effect in the pool of
residents caused by the addition of foreigners. This was countered by Ms Grace
Fu who pointed to the White Paper’s target/projection/planning parameter that
the ratio of residents to total population would be 1 in 2 which would be
adequate to maintain a ‘core’.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We can be confident that all Members want the best for Singapore. But they
are often talking past each other because what is really being discussed here is
the quality of the Singaporean identity not its quantity. As pointed out in my
last article, it is about different Visions. The Visions are anchored by
different perspectives about identity.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">There is one perspective which sees common history, shared experiences
through the journey of nation building as not only a condition of identity but
its description.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">There is the other perspective which is that identity is entirely
transactional and the possession of an administrative document attesting
national affiliation is validation in and of itself of identity.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<strong><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Meaning of Numbers</span></strong><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This first perspective is in effect a reflection of a political idea about
national destiny. It is about what the numbers mean. One that asks us to believe
in ourselves, which challenges us to overcome the odds and which defies us to
find a way to round the corner on three wheels. It does not lend itself to
explanation in terms of conventional economics or planning models.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So basically this view is low on the economic math but high on belief and
national self-confidence. Funny thing is, that is exactly where we were in 1965.
We translated our circumstances then, could we not do so again? Who knows?
Emotive as this perspective is, it is a risk. The difference between 1965 and
today is that we had no choice then, but we do now.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<strong><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Numbers as Meaning</span></strong><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The second perspective reveals an entirely transactional model of thinking.
It is great on the economic math and the planning computations. But because it
places emphasis only on what can be measured, it can tell you the price of
everything but not its value. It is about what the numbers do. Everything is
tradable and substitutable in this world view. When speaking of the ‘core’ or
‘identity’, the words are the same in both perspectives but in one, they are the
point of the perspective, in the other they seem to be merely labels to paste
over numbers.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<strong><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A Pattern of Behaviour</span></strong><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The final observation is that over 4 political elections over 2 years, we
have seen a persistent swing of support away from the PAP. Even the Presidential
Election should be seen as part of this pattern. It is clear by now that one of
the driving forces behind this phenomena is the general unhappiness amongst
voters over the recent history and current effects of the population
augmentation strategy to date.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Yet, the PAP has persisted in doubling down on the plan. This is either a
testimony to its political boldness or a manifestation of what Margaret
Heffernan has referred to as wilful blindness. But perhaps, the political
friction to date can be put down, as the Public Relations practitioner Ms Rose
Tan suggest in her forum letter in the Straits Times, to poor communication.
This may be true. It may not be.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<strong><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">2016</span></strong><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">While the year 2030 may be a red herring, there is a year date that does
matter. That is 2016, when we will have the next general election. The White
Paper is a 20 year plan and the execution of it and its related programmes will
so fundamentally alter Singapore that in effect, the plan is the PAP manifesto
for the next 4 elections. As the debate over population becomes more protracted,
it will, I think, become clear that we are not only talking about the future of
Singapore. We are also talking about the <span style="background-color: yellow;">future of the PAP</span>.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">--------------</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2Xge61miMUlHtLC40oMyvPnsnTlPhyphenhyphenmVJE4aGF-o_bSh3M1ssGiUEOuig1x1_Wxale3LV1UshOYczrxzhoMECIH63UCPJzN1cYaHpL0HHxUjkvXeVcdX00es2s9jmZEc43QVGuaKh9g/s1600/LKY+pop+cartoon.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2Xge61miMUlHtLC40oMyvPnsnTlPhyphenhyphenmVJE4aGF-o_bSh3M1ssGiUEOuig1x1_Wxale3LV1UshOYczrxzhoMECIH63UCPJzN1cYaHpL0HHxUjkvXeVcdX00es2s9jmZEc43QVGuaKh9g/s640/LKY+pop+cartoon.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-395066009662473992.post-31913010865541565472013-02-06T03:58:00.001+08:002013-02-11T08:19:27.835+08:00Chen Show Mao on PAP's population policy<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="userContent"> </span></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixLzQb5eLDv46jnPJfJfEo_MA8-w9VgBB-IDaWaKKY7fTlw3O9QDhVff0uLAfCnEc7RZosJiB1iWvulF4XpolH4tzbZuHnuvGNSt-MJHBS817HUqPtOyOr8ABi3Y3fCPkfdheiUSoUZQ/s1600/pop+international.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixLzQb5eLDv46jnPJfJfEo_MA8-w9VgBB-IDaWaKKY7fTlw3O9QDhVff0uLAfCnEc7RZosJiB1iWvulF4XpolH4tzbZuHnuvGNSt-MJHBS817HUqPtOyOr8ABi3Y3fCPkfdheiUSoUZQ/s640/pop+international.png" width="640" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="userContent"></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="userContent"></span></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhrwVaA7GvE4dqcpVIGPEw1Gq5IECm6-1niXNl-_LMySuqVlJDnmuOnNGbTziTv9iwZCK_z8zI06rTBKjmAY0kTJtCEZd0c-cQj-4uqa4_6qf5vpm8ox_PzMxVrp7dv6K9WEJJgmsMWg/s1600/pop+breakdown.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhrwVaA7GvE4dqcpVIGPEw1Gq5IECm6-1niXNl-_LMySuqVlJDnmuOnNGbTziTv9iwZCK_z8zI06rTBKjmAY0kTJtCEZd0c-cQj-4uqa4_6qf5vpm8ox_PzMxVrp7dv6K9WEJJgmsMWg/s1600/pop+breakdown.jpg" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="userContent"></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="userContent"></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="userContent"><div class="text_exposed_root text_exposed">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">by Chen Show Mao (<a href="https://www.facebook.com/#!/photo.php?fbid=455688311163101&set=a.177677628964172.44541.150220718376530&type=1&theater" target="_blank">source</a>)</span></div>
<div class="text_exposed_root text_exposed">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span> </div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiB3c0fvPJSG-aDdg1tzIrC1NdrQK7hIsxkhjVFhzKodmWgWSZ4psZyBuYU0vCVLBi0Xjdq4bflFh0hwWJW-lhs2es7JnHcdWmcxvETWuU7za0tPhTX7Jz8hw-4qd-qgpqdw6hw7yZEWA/s1600/chen+Show+Mao+ST.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiB3c0fvPJSG-aDdg1tzIrC1NdrQK7hIsxkhjVFhzKodmWgWSZ4psZyBuYU0vCVLBi0Xjdq4bflFh0hwWJW-lhs2es7JnHcdWmcxvETWuU7za0tPhTX7Jz8hw-4qd-qgpqdw6hw7yZEWA/s640/chen+Show+Mao+ST.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Chen Show Mao</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="text_exposed_root text_exposed">
</div>
<div class="text_exposed_root text_exposed">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In Parliament today (5 Feb 2013), we received numerous question-comments on our views on the population white paper.<br /><br /> Core to my speech is this principle : <strong>Unlocking Existing Value in Our Current Population</strong>. For the Workers' Party, the people is the heart and soul of the nation, and it the duty of the government to provide the conditions for a dynamic people to thrive. A sustainable economy is a must, but it must be one that serves a dynamic Singaporean workforce, not the other way round.<br /> <br /> Over the longer term we should target to increase the existing labour force participation rate -- currently at 66.7% -- instead of immediately turning towards importing new workers to supplement any shortfall in the growth in the resident labour force.<br /><span class="text_exposed_hide">...</span></span><span class="text_exposed_show"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> <br /> We can target groups of our existing population that are currently economically inactive and remove the barriers that may be keeping them from entering or even re-entering the labour force. <br /> <br /> I cited figures to show our reasoning. Well, government schemes were cited to us to show that there were already efforts made. But my point is , have we TRULY put our hearts and minds to it to still be in the situation we are in today with such high foreign labour dependency, low birth rates and income disparity? Have we tried AS IF OUR FUTURE DEPENDED ON IT?<br /> <br /> We are not advocating, as claimed, "no foreign labour" nor "turning off the tap". But just look at our everyday situation around us, hand on heart, have we truly done our best to improve productivity and to improve our labour force participation rate of citizens and residents?<br /> <br /> Reminds me of water rationing in the 1970s. We became so much more careful and innovative in our usage of water as a nation. Scarcity, mother of invention.<br /> <br /> My speech is below</span>.<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> I first summarized the WP position in Chinese (English translation interspersed) and then spoke in English.</span></span></div>
</span></span><strong><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"></span></strong><br />
<strong><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"></span></strong><br />
<strong><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">A Dynamic Population for a Sustainable Singapore: Reclaiming Back Singapore</span></strong> <br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">by MP for Aljunied GRC, Chen Show Mao (</span><a href="http://wp.sg/2013/02/3516/" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">source</span></a><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">[Delivered in Parliament on 5 Feb 2013]</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Madam Speaker, the White Paper states that “To be a strong and cohesive society, we must have a strong Singaporean core.”</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">议长女士,白皮书指出‘ 新加坡人是国家和社会的核心成员’, 还有‘我们要有一个坚强和团结的社会,就必须由新加坡人组成坚 实的核心。’</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It also states that"our population and workforce must support a dynamic economy that can steadily create good jobs and opportunities."</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">白皮书也指出 ’我国的人口和劳动队伍的组合必须有利经济发展,使经济保持蓬勃,为国人创造良好的就业与进取的机会‘</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Our experience over the past few years suggests that to achieve these objectives would require much planning.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">我们过去几年的经验挑战了政府的智慧,也让我们看见,要达到这些目标,需要预先好好的规划。</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Our population will eventually reach the limit of our island’s space.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It would be <strong>more responsible </strong>to plan now for economic growth that would rely on <strong>fewer labour inputs</strong>, while maintaining a Singapore core, than to leave the underlying economic and social issues till later.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">我们的人口迟早会达到这个岛国有限的空间。</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">我们现在就得开始规划一个减少依赖外来劳动力 的经济成长,同时维持一个新加坡核心的劳动队伍, 这是一种负责任的态度。</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The Workers’ Party proposes that we target to increase our resident workforce growth by up to 1% per year from now until 2030. This includes Singapore citizens and permanent residents. The foreign workforce should be held constant and increase when we do not achieve our target for growth in the resident labour force.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">工人党提呈的建议是,我们要规划,使得居民劳动力增长能达到每年1%的目标,从现在开始,持续到2030。这里说到的居民,包括新加坡公民和永久居民。外籍劳工,则在居民劳动力增长不到每年1%的情况下才增加人数。</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We should focus on growing our Singapore core of workers over time through efforts to increase our TFR (total fertility rate) and LFPR (labour force participation rate).</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">在短期,我们依靠每年进入劳动队伍的新加坡居民及必需引进的外劳来扩大我们的劳动力。长期来看,我们应藉着提高总生育率和劳动人口参与率 ,建立一个以新加坡人为核心的劳<br />动队伍。</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The government has recently announced additional incentives for having babies. However, there are structural problems that require longer term solutions, which also affect Singaporeans’ decisions to have babies. These include the lack of work-life balance, escalating housing prices, the stressful education system and even a crowded environment and others. Other governments have been more committed and have shown significant success in reversing declining fertility.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">政府最近宣布了一连串鼓励生育的措施与条例,但是还有许多影响结婚生子意愿的结构性问题,需要长期的解决方案。这些问题包括了工作与家居生活的平衡,节节上升的房价,充满压力的教育制度,和日益拥挤的居住环境等等。我们看到一些其他的国家致力于扭转生育率下降,而且也取得一定的成效。</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">How will we grow our resident workforce if the number of new entrants is not increasing due to declining fertility trends? We need to look into ways to increase our labour force participation rate, so that more residents of working age are encouraged to enter the workforce. Our current labour force participation rate was 66.6% in 2012.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">在生育率下降的趋势下,我们要如何增加我们的劳动队伍?我们要找到方法来提高我们的劳动人口参与率,鼓励更多在工作年龄的人民加入劳动队伍。根据2012年的数据,我国目前的劳动力参与率为66.6%。</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">There are 1,063,400 economically inactive residents, 306,100 or 29% due to family responsibilities, 163,800 or 15% are retired. The numbers for the latter will increase due to ageing workforce. Both represent scope for LFPR increase — getting stay-at-home parents to reenter/enter workforce and reemploying elderly workers.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">在我们当中有100零6万的人没有从事所谓“经济活动”,其中的29% 是因为要照顾家庭,另外有15% 为退休人士,随着人口老化退休人口将逐年增加。鼓励这两个群体重入职场应该是提升劳动人口参与率的重点。</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Historically, in the last 10 years from 2003 to 2012, LFPR increased by 3.4% points, or 0.34% points per year. We should focus on fostering LFPR increase in the future.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">2003至2012的10年中,我们的劳动人口参与率上升了3.4%点,也就是每年0.34%的增长。我们应努力促进将来劳动人口参与率的上升。</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Under the WP proposal, assuming the Government meets its current productivity growth target, we could enjoy 2.5 to 3.5% GDP growth per year up to 2020, and 1.5 to 2.5% GDP growth per year from 2021 to 2030, which is in line with the growth rates of most mature economies.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">在工人党的建议中,假设政府能够达到目前所设的生产力增长目标,一直到2020年我们可以有每年2.5至3.5%国民生产总值的增长。2021到2030年也有每年1.5至2.5%的国民生产总值的增长。这其实是符合一般成熟经济体的增长率。</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In this scenario, we are looking at a projected population of 5.3 to 5.4 million in 2020, and 5.6 to 5.8 million in 2030. Most importantly, we will not need to take in so many foreign workers and immigrants to supplement the local workforce, which will help us maintain a Singapore core.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">在这种情况下,我们预计在2020年人口为530万至540万,2030年为560万至580万。这是低于政府的建议。更重要的是,我们不需要引进众多的外国劳工和移民,来补充劳动力,这将有助于保持我们的新加坡核心。</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The Workers’ Party does not endorse proceeding headlong into the government’s suggested path.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Underlying its plan is that population injections of that magnitude are required for a dynamic economy. Instead, we believe we should focus on growth through a Singapore core. To quote a population expert, immigration is “essentially a one-way policy tool with permanent or long-term social, economic and environmental consequences, and it <strong>cannot be reversed</strong> without human rights violations” . The land use data prepared by the Urban Redevelopment Authority shows how little room we have to move if the White Paper is endorsed. Under the plan, we will use up significantly more land, with <strong>only 4% of land reserve left for future generations</strong>. By then, we would be even worse positioned to meet the challenges of a sustainable population policy, we will have less room for error in planning, with a population of 6.9 million on the island.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">At this critical time, we urge calmness and caution.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">工人党不认同政府所建议的路径。在那计划下,引进大量人口才可以带来充满活力的经济。相反的,我们认为,我们应着眼于增长新加坡核心来带动我们的经济。引用人口专家的话:移民“本质上是一个单向政策工具,要逆转它往往要作出侵犯人权的行为”。市区重建局土地使用数据中,我们看到在白皮书的计划下,我们将只有4%的土地储备留给我们的下一代。 到那时,我们将在一个更艰难的处境面对如何继续发展新加坡的挑战。当我们有690万人口时,我们将会更没有任何犯错的空间。。。</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">我们常说“留得青山在…”</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">在这个关键时刻,我们呼吁谨慎,三思。</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<strong><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Unlocking Existing Value In Our Current Population</span></strong><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Madam, The Workers’ Party is not being facetious when we reversed the wording of the white paper title to A Dynamic Population for a Sustainable Singapore to describe our alternative approach.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">For the White Paper, population growth has to be sustained to feed into a dynamic economy like so many pieces of coal into the furnace to drive the Orient Express. For the Workers’ Party, the people is the heart and soul of the nation, and it the duty of the government to provide the conditions for a dynamic people to thrive. A sustainable economy is a must, but it must be one that serves a dynamic Singaporean workforce, not the other way round.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Our model hinges on resident workforce growth over the long term through the encouragement of local labour force participation, the principal aim of which is to get more Singaporeans to be economically active and independent. And also structural reforms to set the Total Fertility Rate on the path of recovery to replacement rate.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">For the Workers’ Party, A dynamic Singaporean population is the very purpose and meaning of our existence as a nation and economy, an existence that should be sustainable.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We believe that any labour force growth should take place via a targeted 1% per annum growth in the resident labour force. Over the short term, our resident labour force grows only when young citizens or permanent residents enter the labour force. Over the longer term we should target to increase the existing Labour Force Participation Rate — currently at 66.7% — instead of immediately turning towards importing new workers to supplement any shortfall in the growth in the resident labour force.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We can target three groups of our existing population that are currently economically inactive and remove the barriers that may be keeping them from entering or even re-entering the labour force. These are: resident foreign spouses, stay-at-home parents and also the elderly.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">At present, resident foreign spouses who are on Long-Term Visit Passes or Dependant’s Passes are not eligible to take up employment. If they want to do so, they must apply for work passes and be subject to the qualification criteria and are tied in to a specific job. Those on the new LTVP+ scheme do not need to apply for work passes but instead need to apply for a Letter of Consent. Relaxing some of these requirements may make it more likely for LTVP and LTVP+ holders to enter the labour force. And indeed an average of 19.5% of Work Pass applications by these foreign spouses on LTVP are unsuccessful. It could be even more difficult for these foreign spouses to meet MOM’s requirements if they are hoping to work part-time or on a flexible basis because they have other responsibilities at home.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">As for stay-at-home parents, encouraging them to re-enter the workforce can be in the form of introducing better, more affordable and convenient childcare and support, perhaps in conjunction with incentives to employers, and as some have mentioned, also in terms of making flexible working arrangements (for example job-sharing arrangements, increased availability of part-time jobs or working from home) more available and even making them the norm for parents of young children. We see several OECD economies with both higher TFR and higher Female Labour Force Participation Rates than Singapore. Clearly more can be done, and the public sector should lead the way. While current government programmes such as work-life and flexible-work initiatives aim at providing incentives to get economically inactive Singaporeans into the workforce, more can be done in this area and structural changes may be needed in our family-friendly support structures in order to allow a greater proportion to beyond the 35 per cent of employers who were offering at least one form of work-life arrangement in 2010.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<strong><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Independent Active Ageing</span></strong><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The last group that we should look at are the elderly.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The government has been trying to get more elderly people to remain in the workforce for a longer period and indeed the employment rate for older workers aged 55-64 has increased in recent years. But as we pointed out before in parliament, these numbers only tell us these workers are employed, but not whether there is under-employment.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Studies have shown that older Singaporeans are also healthier.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We believe that our elderly should be able to work for as long as they want to and are able to.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And there is scope for older workers to help grow the resident workforce. The male Labour Force Participation Rate for those aged 60-64 was 74.6%, and 52.6% for those aged 65-69% in 2012. For women, the figures are 41.7% and 26.3%.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Yet, age discrimination in hiring and in the workplace is a common concern of many Singaporeans. The Singapore Workforce reports mention ‘Employers’ discrimination (e.g. prefer younger workers)’ as major reasons why discouraged workers have given up their search for a job.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We should actively investigate if additional administrative or legislative measures could be taken to remove this impediment to our older workers entering or staying in the labour force.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In addition, government incentives for businesses to redesign jobs, processes and also workplaces specifically for older workers should play a larger role in the government’s measures to improve productivity. More targeted measures can be done to help older workers remain as productive as their younger counterparts. When older workers are able to be more productive, employers would be more inclined to retain or hire them.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We have all been shown the charts for growing old-age dependency ratio, which is the ratio of persons aged 20-64 years to persons aged 65 years and over. When we look at it, we should also bear in mind that with improvements in health and life expectancy, many of our elders are healthy and able to work longer, and indeed many want to. Not to mention that many have other economic resources of their own. They are not all economically dependent.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Madam, An ageing population is a triumph of development.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We should stop seeing elderly Singaporeans as just a drain on our economy and as a hindrance to our goal to keep Singapore dynamic. Older Singaporeans have much to offer us, and not all of it can be measured in economic terms.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In fact, our elderly Singaporeans are essential to maintaining a Singapore core. Older Singaporeans are custodians of culture and, as some have suggested, can be employed in schools to teach subjects such as social studies and national education, or encouraged to volunteer to do so. This is also a way of encouraging cross-generational sharing and learning, particularly in a society where family trends are shifting and there may be less opportunities for inter-generational sharing within the family.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<strong><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Stopping the Waves of Emigration</span></strong><br />
<strong><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span></strong><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The White Paper warns us:</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">“A shrinking and ageing population would also mean a smaller, less energetic workforce, and a less vibrant and innovative economy. [...] Young people would leave for more exciting and growing global cities.”</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We need to ask ourselves the reasons why Singaporeans are leaving? Are they leaving because they feel Singapore does not offer them the right economic opportunities? That they would need to support their ageing parents or other elderly Singaporeans if they stayed? Or are many of them leaving because they feel Singapore is becoming too crowded, costly and competitive, that they would like to live somewhere and bring their children up in a place with more space and greater well-being? How does increasing the population to up to 6.9 million by 2030 allay these concerns and make it less likely for Singaporeans to decide they have to leave the country of their birth in search of a better life for themselves and their children?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Madam, the assumptions and conclusions laid out in the White Paper need to be looked into again. I oppose the motion.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">***************************************</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"><strong><em>Related</em></strong></span><br />
<strong><em><span style="font-family: Arial;"></span></em></strong><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpp3r7qpAfEi2j-zJv68SVqzlf0PJivfLv4kvrazB7btownnEYI3xAq30tzdlPGUe7CVDhuRiPZmHNDHRNioyXk6HhNACnqyPMOQS8VbECn8JthoAuVS_OH-Yrl5RqbNXs6a3iwBTTdg/s1600/pop+white+paper+pix.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="450" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpp3r7qpAfEi2j-zJv68SVqzlf0PJivfLv4kvrazB7btownnEYI3xAq30tzdlPGUe7CVDhuRiPZmHNDHRNioyXk6HhNACnqyPMOQS8VbECn8JthoAuVS_OH-Yrl5RqbNXs6a3iwBTTdg/s640/pop+white+paper+pix.png" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
<strong><span style="font-family: Arial;"></span></strong><br />
<div style="text-align: left;">
<strong><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Parliamentary Speech during the debate on the motion on the White Paper “A Sustainable Population for a Dynamic Singapore”</span></strong><br />
<strong><span style="font-family: Arial;"></span></strong> </div>
<strong></strong><br />
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Mrs Lina Chiam, Non-Constituency MP (</span><a href="http://www.spp.org.sg/parliamentary-speech-on-population-white-paper/" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">source</span></a><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">)</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span> </div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span> </div>
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Madam Speaker,</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">There has been a lot of media attention on what the 2030 population numbers in this white paper represent – is it a target? is it a projection? or, quote-unquote, a ‘worst case scenario’? Yes, the Minister has taken great pains to explain that the white paper is very much an exercise in infrastructure planning for Singapore.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But make no mistake. The 6.5 to 6.9 million population figure range for 2030 is a planning <strong><span style="text-decoration: underline;">target</span></strong> set by the government. Subjected to the economic situation in the next 15 or so years, but a target nevertheless. The Minister has given us his justifications for this target set.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">As such, the Singapore People’s Party opposes the recommendations of the white paper.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We are also deeply disappointed at the white paper which, as one public policy academic pointed out, did not even contain a References section to show what research the writers of the paper had done, or the methodology employed.[1] In fact, the only citations we found in this white paper prepared by the National Population and Talent Division, were 7 of their own papers and briefs. Talk about cyclical reasoning.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The white paper raises more questions than it seeks to answer.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">If one of the main pillars of the white paper is to maintain a strong and stable Singaporean core, since we are told that the current Total Fertility Rate puts that under threat, then why is it necessary for the non-citizen population to keep growing? Is it so that we will have a bigger pool of foreigners to audition to become Singaporeans?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Is the non-citizen population expected to grow after 2030? Or stagnate at the 2030 level? If it stagnates, what will happen to economic growth, as this government’s model would dictate?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Ten to 20 years is indeed too long a period to make any realistic policy. But the logic underpinning the white paper’s recommendations necessitates a clearer policy direction for Singapore post-2030 to be made now.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Does the government intend to freeze the intake of foreigners in 2030, or at a point when it realises that no new Land Use Plan will work any more?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">That is, of course, if this government still expects to be in power in 2030.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Let us take a look at four assumptions used in the white paper:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Firstly,</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The Minister has emphatically stated that the government is not going for “Growth At All Cost”. Nevertheless the white paper perpetuates the mindset of dependency on labour. It assumes that there is still a good chance for productivity growth to get better, whereas all the productivity enhancement schemes have not worked.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Secondly,</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Singapore is a city-state with no hinterland, a point with many consequences for recreation to national security. This sets our situation apart from just about every other high developed cities in the world. It would be alright for those cities to have half a population of foreign residents.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">For Hong Kong S.A.R., which is perhaps the only comparable city-state entity, their population density currently stands at only about 6,400 persons per square kilometre. Compare that with Singapore’s current population density of about 7,200 persons per square kilometre. Even city-state entities like Hong Kong or Monaco do not have to take care of their national defence, a crucial point I will return to.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Thirdly,</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The White Paper is based on a very unique event in human history, namely, that of the Baby Boomers phenomenon. Given that Baby Boomers is a unique event in history and is transient in nature albeit for 10 years or longer. Is it wise to plan for a country’s population and infrastructure based on this event?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Or put otherwise, can we justify bringing in more migrants to support aged Singaporeans, knowing that the new migrants will themselves contribute to the aged population?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Which leads me to the fourth point;</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The white paper assumes that bringing in more migrants is the solution to our worrying Old Age Support Ratio (OASR), through increased tax revenue collected and so on. But I do not know how this is applicable in Singapore, where the government believes families should be the main source of financial and social support for the elderly, where the state is unabashedly anti-welfare.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">How then can the new migrants support our elderly? How then can the increased revenue collected from them be channelled effectively to Singaporeans? Even if this is the case, we see no projected figures for the increased revenue expected, for substantiation in the white paper.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I now deal with four points in the white paper we take issue with.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Firstly,</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">When the proportion of citizens out of the total population nears the 50 per cent mark, as the 2030 numbers project, I do not know how we can convince our young men of the need for National Service, let alone lay down their lives for the nation. In the worst case scenario of war, they will ask – what are we defending? Why defend a country where so many of its residents can leave if they wish?</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But we do not even need to go that far. Even right now, many are wondering why they should sacrifice two years of their lives, and in subsequent reservist cycles, only to be beaten in the job search by foreigners.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Secondly,</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The white paper foresees that two-thirds of Singaporeans will take on PMET jobs in 2030, compared to 50 per cent currently. Does it mean that foreigners will take up more non-PMET jobs in 2030, compared to current numbers? So, is the plan for Singapore to attract foreigners of lower skill in 2030 as compared to now?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Thirdly,</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Chapter 5 of the white paper is ‘A High Quality Living Environent’, which ties in with the government’s idea that the quality of life can still be maintained in 2030. But what we find in that chapter, instead, is a focus on how our public transport system will be expanded, the new MRT lines that will be build, hospitals, and so on.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Madam Speaker, that is not what quality of life entails. These are the very basic infrastructure requirements for the influx of people the government wants to bring in!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I was hoping to see more relevant indicators of the quality of life, such as a survey of satisfaction with life among Singaporeans. But alas, no such measures seem to be used.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Fourth,</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">If the white paper is indeed the guiding document for infrastructure planning, are we doing enough? For instance, the stated plan is to increase the number of acute hospital beds by 2,200, or 30 per cent. Considering that the increase in the total number of hospital beds over the last decade was zero, how can 2,200 more beds by 2020 be enough to cater for the 700,000 increase in the population?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I now turn to the Land Use Plan, on which I have two questions for the Minister.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Firstly,</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It was reported in a few media outlets that in this Plan, the Ministry of Defence’s activities will be consolidated on Pulau Tekong, so as to free up the space it currently uses on the Singapore mainland, for development. I do not seem to be able to find any mention of this in the Land Use Plan document, so perhaps the Ministry announced this at the press conference.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Now, I have never heard of the armed forces of any country in the world that concentrates all its activities and, presumably, facilities, on one island, away from the mainland. Does that not make it a very easy target for Singapore’s defence capabilities to be wiped out by a belligerent force?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Perhaps I have not understood this correctly. I will certainly appreciate any clarification from the Minister for Defence.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Secondly,</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">According to Table 1 of the document, there will be only 4 per cent of land left for, quote-unquote, ‘Others’, in 2030. What happens if the population continues to grow after 2030, and if any efforts of the government to curtail that fails?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Perhaps the government thinks we can always resort to land reclamation. Then the question is – how much more land can Singapore gain through reclamation, thereafter? There must surely be a limit.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In conclusion,</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The Singapore People’s Party is most concerned that there seems to be no new substantive initiatives in this white paper to address Singaporeans’ most pressing problems like negative real median wage increase over the last five years, and the relentless rise in the cost of living, particularly for basic goods and services. There is just the same old measures, like life-long upgrading, Workfare, job-matching and placement programmes.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">For whom is the white paper? It does not address these concerns of low income Singaporeans.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We are of the opinion the white paper has framed the issues wrongly. A fundamental revamp of Singapore’s economic growth model is sorely needed; not just stop-gap measures to deal with a population explosion which may themselves engender further costs.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Change has to start today. Our immigration policy must change more boldly. Conversion from foreigners to PR and later to Singaporeans must slow down further.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">SMEs that perform poorly in terms of productivity should not be allowed to be artificially sustained.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The government must make wise decisions over MNCs threatening to leave Singapore unless supported with foreign workers quotas to their liking.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It is highly regrettable that the government has decided to rush through the debate and approval of such an important plank of national policy.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The government’s programme of the so-called National Conversation has been a P.R. stunt. And there is no better indication of that than in the formulation of this white paper. They tell Singaporeans that they will start listening more to us, but ultimately, they will still tell us they know what’s best.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Madam Speaker, the Singapore People’s Party cannot support this white paper and the accompanying Land Use Plan, and I am voting against the motion.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<div>
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><hr align="left" size="1" width="33%" />
</span><br />
<div>
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">[1] Donald Low, Senior Fellow, Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy. Reported in TODAY, 4 Feb 2013 (see below).</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">**************************</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"></span><br />
<strong></strong><strong><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Expert Weigh in on Population Projections</span></strong><br />
<br />
<em>Today</em>, 4 Feb 2013 (<a href="http://www.todayonline.com/singapore/experts-weigh-population-projections" target="_blank">source</a>)<br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">SINGAPORE — As Parliament sits today to debate the White Paper on population, some experts have questioned the soundness and accuracy of the projected population figures, given the difficulty in forecasting population growth. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Citing the Government’s track record of underestimating population growth, they noted that external factors, such as the global economy and the demand for labour, would likely throw such forecasts off the mark. </span><br />
<!-- inline --><br />
<div class="left">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br /></div>
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Nevertheless, others felt that policymakers would have gleaned lessons from past instances and factored in a buffer in their latest projections.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In particular, demographer Gavin Jones from the Asia Research Institute at the National University of Singapore (NUS) pointed out that the population projections for 2030 factored in more than two million non-residents. This would give policymakers some “flexibility”, he noted.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The White Paper projects that by 2020, there could be between 5.8 million and 6 million people in Singapore. By 2030, the range is projected to increase to between 6.5 million and 6.9 million. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But Economic Society of Singapore Vice-President Yeoh Lam Keong reiterated that population growth “always tends to exceed projected forecast”.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">“Because, firstly, there is very strong demand for labour from existing labour-intensive industries, and industry has a strong influence on immigration policy,” he said. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">“Secondly, given economic uncertainty, during the times when we have growth, the Government tends to err on the side of caution and go for more growth. Given these two tendencies, we tend to systematically overshoot population growth, not intentionally, but because of circumstance and current institutional practice.”</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">While SIM University economics professor Randolph Tan noted that such forecasts are “always notoriously inaccurate”, he felt that publishing the White Paper was a “responsible” move by the Government, as it allows Singaporeans to air their concerns and hear “both sides of the debate”. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But he said that policymakers could have come up with a less definitive forecast. Instead, Singaporeans could be informed about the probability of reaching a population of 6.9 million by 2030, he suggested. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">“The question therefore … is, what is the precision of the projections? What is the potential error range? How far can we afford to be wrong?” </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The Government’s past population projections have been below the mark. For example, the Urban Redevelopment Authority’s Concept Plan in 1991 projected a population of four million to be reached after 2010. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">By 2000, however, the Republic’s total population had already crossed that mark.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In 2001, the population was estimated to hit 5.5 million in the long term. When it reached 4.6 million in 2007, the projection for planning purposes was adjusted to 6.5 million. The Government had acknowledged that it was caught off guard by the surge in the number of immigrants. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">NUS sociologist Tan Ern Ser felt that the Government, in learning from its past experience, “would have built in some buffers and not cut (the projection) too close”.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Agreeing with Dr Tan, NUS Department of Real Estate professor Tay Kah Poh added: “In other words, the plan assumes some degree of over-shooting, which is a huge change in thinking from before.” </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">National Development Minister Khaw Boon Wan noted last week that the projection was “aggressive” so that the Government “will not be caught under-providing, as we are experiencing currently” — a stance that Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said on Facebook that he fully agreed with. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Still, Mr Yeoh proposed capping the total population to 6 million in 2030 and 6.5 million by 2050. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">He said: “A population of 6.5 million will be very cosmopolitan, (there will be) a lot of foreigners but it will still have significant indigenous components. And it will be relatively wealthy so it might resemble … Switzerland, with significant social cohesion and national identity.”</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">He added that, should Singapore ever reach a population of 8 million to 9 million, “it would look more like Dubai”. There could be “extreme income inequality, extreme dependence on foreigners and would be extremely crowded and unpleasant”, said Mr Yeoh.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Meanwhile, Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy Senior Fellow<span style="background-color: yellow;"> Donald Low</span> criticised the lack of scholarship and academic rigour in the White Paper. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Writing on Facebook, Mr Low, a former high-flying civil servant, noted that there “<span style="background-color: yellow;">wasn’t even a References section to show what research the writers of the paper had done, what social science theories they relied on, what competing theories/frameworks they looked at</span>”.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Citing Australia’s recent White Paper on Australia in the Asian Century or reports by the British government, which he said are “<span style="background-color: yellow;">always complete with references to the social science literature</span>”, Mr Low added: “There was also a surprising lack of rigorous comparison with other countries that have gone through, or are going through, a similar demographic transition.”</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">*******************************************</span><br />
</div>
</div>
<div class="FacebookLikeButton">
<fb:like action="like" class="fb_edge_widget_with_comment fb_iframe_widget" colorscheme="light" fb-xfbml-state="rendered" href="http%3A%2F%2Fwww.spp.org.sg%2Fparliamentary-speech-on-population-white-paper%2F" layout="standard" show_faces="true" width="450"></fb:like> </div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-395066009662473992.post-61313212998372081262013-01-09T01:21:00.001+08:002013-01-09T06:47:36.389+08:00PAP's self inflicted damage: next generation of big bullies threatening financial ruin?Tan Chuan Jin should realise that an accusation of being dishonest, without sufficient plausible evidence, does not carry any weight with any intelligent observer. It is all part of a robust debate. He should not imagine a gullible audience or readership.<br />
<br />
However, being perceived as a high-handed bully intent on suppressing honest, probing and potentially embarrassing debate and on financially crippling political opponents (as exemplified by the cases of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/JB_Jeyaretnam" target="_blank">J.B. Jeyatretnam</a> and Dr <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chee_Soon_Juan" target="_blank">Chee Soon Juan)</a> is a far more odious, indelible, and damaging character stain.<br />
<br />
We are watching, and forming our view of the character and quality of the next generation of PAP leaders, including Tan Chuan Jin. <br />
<br />
PAP should wake up to the era of sophisticated and intelligent voters, and stop behaving as if public opinion in Singapore is still dominated by its party propaganda apparatus masquerading as neutral mass media.<br />
<br />
It should examine how political debates are conducted everywhere else in the free and democratic world. Singaporeans today are utterly familiar with such debates without having lived overseas. We expect, and demand, such debates in Singapore.<br />
<br />
___________________________________<br />
<br />
<br />
<strong><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Has Tan Chuan-Jin suffered greater damage through legal action?</span></strong><br />
<br />
by Faisal Wali<br />
<br />
<em>New Asia Republic</em>, Jan 8, 2013 (<a href="http://newasiarepublic.com/?p=40653" target="_blank">source</a>)<br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Quite a long time ago, I wrote an article reasoning why then Presidential-hopeful Mr Tan Kin Lian should not resort to legal action over supposedly defamatory remarks made online. Perhaps, Kin Lian might have read the article and decided against taking legal actions, but we don’t know what went through his mind. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">My article titled “</span><a href="http://newasiarepublic.com/?p=30157" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Why Tan Kin Lian should take heed of McLibel</span></a><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">” argued that prominent politicians and organisations should not take legal actions if defamed for two reasons. One, is that the latter should have higher threshold of acceptable criticism than ordinary citizens. Given the nature of their jobs, they must accept the fact that they are subjected to greater scrutiny and criticisms. For this, I cited examples of how the European Court of Human Rights reverse judgements which originally ruled in favour of governments or politicans who won their cases against ordinary citizens who have defamed them.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The second reason is that pursuing the legal route will result in greater damage to the prominent entity on the public relations front, which explains my McLibel title. McDonald’s filed a law suit against an environmental activist organisation which distributed pamphlets containing false allegations against the company. Although McDonald’s were awarded damages of 40,000 pounds, it did not collect the money because it was by then a public relations disaster for the company. The reason for the public relations disaster is quite simple – it looks like a powerful entity bullying another smaller and powerless one, and of course sentiments will turn towards the former.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The latest case involved Vincent Wijeysingha vs Tan Chuan-Jin where the former apologised unreservedly for describing the latter as “dishonest”, “deceptive”, “untruthful” over the complaints and issues involving the striking SMRT drivers. Wijeysingha accepted in a </span><a href="https://www.facebook.com/vwijeysingha/posts/10151436090887474" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Facebook post</span></a><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> that his remarks were totally false and has since retracted his original Facebook post. It has also been reported that Chuan-Jin is </span><a href="http://www.todayonline.com/Hotnews/EDC130105-0000056/Ministers-lawyers-want-damages-from-SDPs-Wijeysingha" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">seeking damages</span></a><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> from Wijeysingha. Thus now, we are looking at another McLibel in the making. It is looking like a pyrrhic victory for Chuan-Jin. For a prominent politician taking legal action for defamation, it is akin to a dog biting its tail, he will end up for the worse as the tide of public sentiments turns against him.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Chuan-Jin could have countered Wijeysingha’s remarks in a prominent medium which is far less damaging. Yet, he chose a route which could bite him back in the tail.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">If one does up a dossier of successful law suits won by PAP politicians over their opposition critics, there is a common recurring theme about them – they are won over allegations made over the honesty and integrity of the prominent PAP politicians. To really summarise, if you allege that a particular PAP politician is “dishonest” or a “liar”, you will probably be served a lawyer’s letter to take down your post or article and apologise or be told to pay a certain sum in damages.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">One wonders if the PAP is even aware of the very stereotype of a politician, regardless of whether we are in Singapore, UK, Australia, US or any other part of the world. Using the Wijeysingha vs Chuan-Jin example, since the remarks were made in a Facebook medium, obviously readers of the said defamatory remarks have a level of technology savviness. It is not too hard for them and for the tech savvy PAP politicians to go to a Google search engine and type “Politicians are dishonest”/”Politicians are liars”. The reality is that we have members of the public who already possess a stereotypical view of politicians. This link talks about the stereotyping of American politicians as </span><a href="http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-250_162-57485776/lying-politicians-a-fact-of-life/" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">liars</span></a><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">, and then </span><a href="http://www.news.com.au/national/law-makes-it-illegal-for-pollies-to-lie/story-fndo4eg9-1226441687980" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">this one</span></a><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> talks about how politicians lie that a Queensland law (Australia) has to be made to make lying illegal in parliament. Mind you, laws are made in consideration of a society’s sentiments. Obviously, even Australians think politicians are liars and see fit to put such a law in place. Then, we have this </span><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2009/apr/06/mps-expenses-house-of-commons" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Guardian article</span></a><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> that states from the outset that “All politicians are liars” and that Britons have to “listen the lying bastards lying everyday”.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I am not sure if the PAP subscribes to the idealised/utopian view that all politicians are whiter than white, but the truth of the matter on the ground is that the stereotypical view of a typical politician tend to be more cynical – “all politicians are liars”. However, of course, stereotypes remain as stereotypes, and there are exceptions to the norm – the clean, honest politicians, optimistically speaking, though the PAP surely promotes the fact that its politicians remain in this category.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">However, if the stereotypical view of a politician is more cynical, i.e. “all politicians are liars”, then there should be greater threshold of acceptable criticism for any politician in this country, regardless of PAP or opposition. Any allegations that point out to the effect that a “politician is a liar” should be within the threshold of acceptable criticism since this already reflects the stereotypical, albeit cynical view. If the PAP needs any convincing, may I cordially invite the party members to go to the Google search engine and type “All politicians are liars”, “All politicians are dishonest”, etc. Maybe, the Google search results will change the Men in White’s perception of how a politician is stereotypically perceived, even for one from within their ranks. That will shatter the rose-tinted lenses…</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">************************************</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><br />
<div id="ctl00_cph1_ArticleContents1_divXtra" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">
<div class="articleHeadline" style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; padding: 0px;">
<div class="articleHeadline" style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; padding: 0px;">
<strong><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Lawsuit threats put muzzle on diverse views</span></strong></div>
<div class="articleHeadline" style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; padding: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span></div>
<div class="articleHeadline" style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; padding: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Braema Mathi</span></div>
<div class="articleHeadline" style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; padding: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span></div>
<div class="articleHeadline" style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; padding: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Jan 9. 2013, <em>Today online</em> (</span><a href="http://www.todayonline.com/Voices/EDC130109-0000012/Lawsuit-threats-put-muzzle-on-diverse-views" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">source</span></a><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">)</span></div>
<div class="articleHeadline" style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; padding: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span></div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="articleLeftColumn" id="ctl00_cph1_ArticleContents1_divArticleLeftColumn" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; display: block; float: left; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0px; orphans: 2; padding-bottom: 5px; padding-top: 5px; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; width: 660px; word-spacing: 0px;">
<div id="articlePlaceHolder" style="width: 660px;">
<div class="bodyText" id="articlePage0" style="clear: both; display: inline; float: left; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; overflow-y: hidden; padding-top: 10px; visibility: visible; width: 660px;">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">MARUAH, a human rights organisation, is concerned over the Prime Minister's approach in demanding an apology and removal of the article and subsequent posts on the Action Information Management (AIM) and Aljunied-Hougang Town Council (AHTC) matter on Mr Alex Au's website.<br /><br />These demands were made under threat of a defamation suit ("Blogger Au to remove post after PM Lee takes legal action"; Jan 5). In the recent past, defamation suits by political leaders have exacted high monetary compensations from the affected individuals.<br /><br />As the AIM-AHTC matter is an issue of national interest, threatening a defamation suit at this juncture on the matter is, firstly, untimely. It is not calibrated to meet the need for deeper discussions on what is seen as an issue with many unanswered questions.<br /><br />The Prime Minister's action will have the attendant chilling effect on public debate and increase the cynicism among the citizenry at a time when there seems to be more political space for interaction, which will not always remain sane and palatable.<br /><br />This defamation threat is also regrettable as there are avenues - Parliament, mainstream media, social media - available to politicians to address the AIM-AHTC matter and let the facts speak for themselves.<br /><br />Secondly, Law Minister K Shanmugam recently likened defamation to stealing one's reputation. We say that reputation is not property that can be stolen or reinstated with defamation suits and monetary compensation alone. Anyone defamed does not automatically have his/her honour reinstated because an apology and/or compensation had been secured.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><br /><br />Reputation is an issue of honour that can and should be protected by encouraging open, robust and transparent debates.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><br /><br />There must also be a case to show the ill-will was highly prejudicial, based on malice and/or baseless.<br /><br />Defamation suits in themselves are limiting and political figures, more than anyone else, will remain vulnerable to aspersions; it will be the merits of the case that will speak volumes. In this case, the AIM-AHTC matter merits a thorough sharing of information by both the ruling and opposition parties.<br /><br />Thirdly, Singaporeans are discerning and capable of discarding baseless and nonsensical views. What is important is to develop higher thresholds of dealing with diverse views expressed in myriad ways and to use the available avenues to right one's reputation.<br /><br />We, the Government and public, are on a journey towards greater political space. Threats of defamation suits can silence discussions of national interest, freeze our expressions and stunt our growth. That would be the greater pity.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">**************************</span></div>
</div>
</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-395066009662473992.post-9797008997374687452013-01-07T16:26:00.000+08:002013-01-08T05:54:09.526+08:00PAP's transparent figleaf: Threatening Alex Au with legal action <div class="text_exposed_root text_exposed" id="id_50ea835ed20db2c74221963">
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-WIt8PsffKV_2Vtps0VIkvLQbbiLN-eZ1yz5bhyphenhyphenee9rnpKGFGHaWQ958adXy26av6gjLfgmDxjfTd32BNhW9-1pyg9Gl4CK2KOw9QJ7WF7vARtj7x4J2_5UPQkhRw4sA8usRH986QJw/s1600/super-sized-david-statue-2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-WIt8PsffKV_2Vtps0VIkvLQbbiLN-eZ1yz5bhyphenhyphenee9rnpKGFGHaWQ958adXy26av6gjLfgmDxjfTd32BNhW9-1pyg9Gl4CK2KOw9QJ7WF7vARtj7x4J2_5UPQkhRw4sA8usRH986QJw/s640/super-sized-david-statue-2.jpg" width="401" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Source: <em>Occupy Singapore</em> (<a href="https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=317530975019025&set=a.126483780790413.19898.121806387924819&type=1" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">here</a>)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="text_exposed_root text_exposed">
</div>
<div class="text_exposed_root text_exposed">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">News of PM Lee Hsien Loong sending a lawyer’s letter to activist blogger Alex Au is going viral fast and, ironically, building even greater global awareness of the whole shameful PAP-AIM saga. Our dear leader had his fave lawyer demand that Alex remove his post and apologise for defaming him. Alex’s post “PAP mis-AIMed, faces blowback” had questioned the computer systems deal involving People’s A<span class="text_exposed_show">ction Party (PAP), 14 town councils and Action Information Management Pte Ltd (AIM) a $2 company owned by the party.<br /> <br /> I shall not repeat the PAP-AIM issues and Teo Ho Pin’s pathetic salvage letters which have been picked apart by numerous netizens and well-respected bloggers. For more info, please visit these blogs which provide incisive analyses and which ask sharp questions over the AIM deal that comes in 50 shades of grey.<br /> <br /> Coincidentally, PM’s New Year present to Alex, comes just four days after I wrote my commentary which had contained an imaginary conversation between PM Lee and his father Lee Kuan Yew. This conversation had concluded with Papa Lee telling Ah Boy:”You know what I think Loong? I think you have been too soft. Stick some spurs into their hides and show them who is boss and tell them to stop complaining! They will live and repent if they keep harping on the unimportant stuff…”<br /> <br /> PM’s action of sending a lawyer’s letter to Alex, who had asked very valid and serious questions in the interest of the public, makes one wonder if he did it wholly of his own accord or if it was with a nudge (shove?) from his old man who is known for his fast and furious responses at the slightest sign of dissent.<br /> <br /> The other question that I want to ask is just why did the PM suddenly step forward into this AIM maelstrom? After all, Teo Ho Pin the coordinating chairman of the of 14 PAP town councils, had been the one issuing the media statements to explain the sale of the town council computer system to AIM, a dormant company owned by PAP.<br /> <br /> I had read Alex’s allegedly defamatory post before it was removed (search online and you can still find it <a href="https://www.dropbox.com/sh/1xbw0b05cgr9d47/KPRjkXHVJy" rel="nofollow nofollow" target="_blank">here</a>), and no where did he mention the PM nor accuse him of being corrupt! And yet, PM’s lawyer cleverly put up a case by sewing bits and pieces together. Alex’s post was said to contain “very serious suggestions of criminal breach of trust”, and because he referred to the Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau and the Attorney-General’s Chambers, “of corruption” as well, reported TODAY.<br /> <br /> According to the papers, the lawyer had highlighted 21 comments on Alex’s post that he said, when either taken together with the blog post or read on their own, would suggest that PM Lee “is guilty of corruption in relation to the AIM transaction and will abuse his powers to cover up the matter or prevent any investigation into his corruption”.<br /> <br /> Well, well, so now it looks like the big guns will fire even if they are not mentioned and even if the comments that they find offensive were not made by the blogger but by those who comment on the blog!<br /> <br /> Is PM being infantile in his reaction as admonished by activist Andrew Loh in his commentary “<strong>Stop being so childish Prime Minister</strong>” (see below)? Yes, I think PM is being immature and unpolished as a political leader in how he has responded given that no corruption accusations were made about him although very valid concerns were raised by many citizens over the AIM saga.<br /> <br /> Instead of responding like a courageous and dignified leader should, he chose to respond with a cheap low blow – the bad habit of threatening people with legal letters. Such quick-to-sue actions remind me of the foul-tempered childish Red Queen in the story ‘Alice in Wonderland’ who loved to yell “Off with their heads!” at those who offended her!<br /> <br /> Perhaps PM & Company believe that by using the bazooka to kill an ant, it will scatter and scare off the rest. I have news for them. Ants that scatter tend to regroup very fast and they become more ferocious when angered.<br /> <br /> What PM needs to learn is that as the country’s political leader, we expect the highest level of accountability and honourable behaviour from him. What kind of values is he exhibiting when he does things like this? Shouldn’t he answer pertinent questions such as why PAP awarded the contract to AIM when there was a clear conflict of interest in awarding and selling the rights of the computer system to a PAP-owned company?<br /> <br /> As the head of our country, he owes the people an honest explanation and not a lawyer’s letter.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="text_exposed_show"></span><br /></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="text_exposed_show"></span><br /></span>
<span class="text_exposed_show" style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">******************************</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="text_exposed_show"></span><br /></span>
<span class="text_exposed_show" style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong>Stop being so childish, prime minister</strong> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="text_exposed_show"></span><br /></span>
<span class="text_exposed_show" style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong>Andrew Loh</strong> (<a href="http://andrewlohhp.wordpress.com/2013/01/04/stop-being-so-childish-prime-minister/" target="_blank">source</a>)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<br />
<div class="entry clearfix">
<span class="text_exposed_show" style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It is barely the first week of the new year and we already have a threat of legal action from the People’s Action Party (PAP) / Government. PM Lee Hsien Loong had sent a lawyer’s letter to well known and very much respected blogger, activist and writer, Alex Au, demanding Alex removed his blog posts about Action Information Management, the PAP-owned company embroiled in the controversy over a certain computer system.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="text_exposed_show"><br /></span>
<span class="text_exposed_show">It is unclear whether PM Lee had sent the letter in his personal capacity, or as the prime minister or secretary general of the PAP. Whatever it is, the demand was clear – remove the allegedly offending post, and publish an apology, or else.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="text_exposed_show"><br /></span>
<span class="text_exposed_show">It is the same old tiring, tiresome, and tired tactic of issuing threats instead of engaging the issue or the alleged allegations. Threatening to take legal action over blog postings is, to be honest, infantile. It is childish because it does not befit the office of the prime minister to take offence so easily, when he has in his power all the resources to engage the issue, clarify any perceived falsehoods, or lay out the facts of the issue at hand. In short, he could very well take some time, have a bit of patience, and debate or discuss the issues and in the process enlighten everyone – and maybe gain a bit more respect too from his detractors.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="text_exposed_show"><span id="more-1328"></span><br /></span>
<span class="text_exposed_show">But no. A lawyer’s letter was obviously deemed the better option.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="text_exposed_show"><br /></span>
<span class="text_exposed_show">Nonetheless, lets not let this threat of legal action distract us from the very important matter of the AIM/PAP controversy – for there are still many questions, serious questions, left unanswered, even after some 3 weeks since the matter came into the public spotlight.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="text_exposed_show"><br /></span>
<span class="text_exposed_show">Dr Teo Ho Pin, the coordinating chairman of the 14 PAP town councils, have yet to explain, for example, why he and the chairmen of the town councils, did not see the conflict of interest of awarding and selling the rights of the computer system to a PAP-owned company. If they did, why did they still choose to go ahead in awarding the contract to AIM?</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="text_exposed_show"><br /></span>
<span class="text_exposed_show">He has also not disclosed how much was used to develop the software in the first place. Or indeed, how much AIM paid for the software. Why was AIM’s bid for the contract submitted, apparently, one week after the closing date of the tender – and accepted?</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="text_exposed_show"><br /></span>
<span class="text_exposed_show">Alex raised some very pertinent matters too – such as the danger that there is nothing to stop the PAP from selling out other services to PAP-owned companies. By the way, the PAP has declined to reveal how many companies it owns. This too is a problem because any opposition party which wins a constituency may find itself having to deal with PAP-owned companies, as the Workers’ Party did with AIM in Aljunied.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="text_exposed_show"><br /></span>
<span class="text_exposed_show">It is thus important, in the name of full accountability, that the PAP disclose the number of companies it has, and the nature of their business.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="text_exposed_show"><br /></span>
<span class="text_exposed_show">In the case of AIM, the PAP declined to disclose its past business dealings, or other details about the company.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="text_exposed_show"><br /></span>
<span class="text_exposed_show">So, in spite of the threat of legal action by the prime minister, these questions are being asked even more loudly now – and it would do the PAP a whole lot of good if it addressed each one openly.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="text_exposed_show"><br /></span>
<span class="text_exposed_show">And the best way to do so is in a “live” press conference in the presence of the mainstream media and the alternative media. Take the matter head-on, clear all doubts, lay out all facts.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="text_exposed_show"><br /></span>
<span class="text_exposed_show">That is, if the PAP has nothing to hide, which I am sure is the case.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="text_exposed_show"><br /></span>
<span class="text_exposed_show">And it really – I mean, really – is time to lay down the hatchet.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="text_exposed_show"><br /></span>
<span class="text_exposed_show">Engage Singaporeans. Engage the issue. Engage the questions – and not engage lawyers to issue threats.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="text_exposed_show"><br /></span>
<span class="text_exposed_show">Stop being so childish, prime minister.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="text_exposed_show"><br /></span>
<span class="text_exposed_show"><br /></span>
<span class="text_exposed_show">—————</span></span><br />
<span class="text_exposed_show" style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><em><strong>Read Ravi Philemon’s letter to PAP chairman, Khaw Boon Wan, <a href="http://www.raviphilemon.net/2013/01/opposition-has-more-integrity-than-pap.html" target="_blank">here</a>.</strong></em></span><br />
<span class="text_exposed_show" style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">—————</span><br />
<span class="text_exposed_show" style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<span class="text_exposed_show" style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span>
<br />
<div class="text_exposed_root text_exposed">
<b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Does PAP pass the "smell" test?</span></b><br />
<div class="mbl notesBlogText clearfix">
<span class="text_exposed_show" style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span>
<span class="text_exposed_show" style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">by </span><a data-hovercard="/ajax/hovercard/page.php?id=124537044292246" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tan_Jee_Say" target="_blank">Tan Jee Say</a><span style="font-size: small;"> on Tuesday, 8 January 2013 at 00:05 (</span><a href="https://www.facebook.com/notes/tan-jee-say/does-pap-pass-the-smell-test/406305486115399?__req=1l" target="_blank">source</a><span style="font-size: small;">)</span></span>
<br />
<span class="text_exposed_show" style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<br />
<div>
<span class="text_exposed_show"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">If the PM hopes to stop social media talk (and coffeeshop talk) on the AIM saga with his lawyer's defamation letter to well-known blogger Alex Au, he will be sorely disappointed. In fact, Alex has just posted Part 6 of his legendary<a href="http://yawningbread.wordpress.com/2013/01/07/pap-mis-aimed-faces-blowback-part-6/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"> "PAP''s misAIMed blow" series of blogs</a> as he had promised when he posted his apology. I admire Alex for his persistence and tenacity which can only mean one thing - that he truly believes in what he has written and done to expose questionable deeds and do society good. Well done Alex! Many other bloggers have joined in too, adding greater clarity. </span></span><br />
<span class="text_exposed_show" style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
Most postings have so far concentrated on the transaction itself, its propriety or lack thereof, the conflict of interest, the sale of a public-funded asset to a partisan body and many other related aspects. I have not noticed much being written about the supervisory aspects, the rules and regulations of governance which if properly and duly followed could have prevented this misAIMed episode. I hope to fill the gap with this posting.</span><br />
<span class="text_exposed_show"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<span class="text_exposed_show"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span></span></div>
</div>
<span class="text_exposed_show" style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">What are these rules and who are responsible for supervising them? The official website</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.TownCouncils.sg%2F&h=dAQFUCflb&s=1" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"></a><a href="http://www.towncouncils.sg/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">http://www.TownCouncils.sg</a> states : </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
"<em><strong>MND</strong></em> sets the broad legislative framework and financial guidelines under the Town Councils Act and Town Council Financial Rules<strong><em> to ensure proper governance and accountability by Town Councils</em>.</strong> As the public housing authority, HDB advises and assists MND in its regulatory duties. HDB also works closely with Town Councils in its capacity as the owner of common property in HDB estates."</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
So there is a close working relationship between MND, HDB and the town councils, and the Minister for National Development has a lot to answer for in this particular issue; however, he has been unusually quiet these days, which is so uncharacteristic of him; remember the Yaw Shin Leong affair when he was all guns blazing in Parliament, demanding WP to come clean on all aspects, yet was quiet as a mouse when confronted with his fellow PAP MP Michael Palmer's fling? Did HDB officers bring this matter to the minister and if so, what was his response? Did he declare that he was an interested party by virtue of the fact that the bidder was a PAP company? Were the procedures followed? The public tender announcement stated that the closing date of tender was 14 July 2010, but AIM submitted its bid on 20 July, six days after the closing date and was accepted. Was the tender period extended and if so, why and how was this communicated?</span><br />
<div class="text_exposed_root text_exposed">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjd8k60YSpjicwVxZ9WjMtqo1uy_A6dhNjWT3dPhOzMieQRQae0ZOD2h7NXibsmvyflPIoZsEvVBkTVhcaX_RiuRp_vNTjTYzbKr8-kcTGK1xyVVukFibRuNstvX2luxVWximsYGzTdmg/s1600/ALEX+3.1+LARGE.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjd8k60YSpjicwVxZ9WjMtqo1uy_A6dhNjWT3dPhOzMieQRQae0ZOD2h7NXibsmvyflPIoZsEvVBkTVhcaX_RiuRp_vNTjTYzbKr8-kcTGK1xyVVukFibRuNstvX2luxVWximsYGzTdmg/s640/ALEX+3.1+LARGE.jpg" width="622" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Note the tender's closing date of 14 July 2010 - AIM's bid was submitted on 20 July 2010.</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
<br />
Since it was a single bid, did MND/HDB officers ensure that MOF's financial guidelines on single bids were followed? DPM and Finance Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam told Parliament on 13 August 2012 that "for procurements where only a single bid is received, MOF will require the officers responsible to provide additional justifications to the Approving Authority within each agency, setting out why they consider the single bid competitive or reflective of market prices, before a decision is made to award the contract." Did the MND/HDB officers set out the additional justifications as required of them before AIM was awarded the contract, and if so what were these justifications particularly in light of the basic eligibility requirement stated in the tender announcement that the bidder be "an experienced and reputable company with relevant track record"? Was the MND satisfied with these justifications? Was the opinion of the MOF sought on this matter? If so, what was MOF's response?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
So there are more parties involved in this issue of governance than just the bidder and town councils. This should be the case as public money is involved and proper checks and balances need to be in place. The all-important question is whether the gatekeeper is doing his job. The ultimate gatekeeper of the nation's finance is of course the President, but should his office be involved in this matter? Yes I believe so as the sole bidder was a company owned by the ruling party and only someone above party politics can be a judge of its propriety.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
<br />
***************************************************</span></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-395066009662473992.post-54452247301322591922012-12-21T15:47:00.000+08:002012-12-21T17:04:22.976+08:00Alirio Melendez, former National University of Singapore immunologist, is a fraud <header style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; color: #333333; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 13px/20px arial, helvetica, clean, sans-serif; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><div class="wpn-byline" style="margin: 0px 0px 15px; padding: 0px;">
<time datetime="2012-12-19T21:05:44+00:00" pubdate=""><span class="published"><abbr class="value" style="border: 0px currentColor; font-variant: normal;" title="2012-12-19"><strong><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Immunologist accused of misconduct in 21 papers</span></strong></abbr></span></time></div>
<div class="wpn-byline" style="margin: 0px 0px 15px; padding: 0px;">
<time datetime="2012-12-19T21:05:44+00:00" pubdate=""><span class="published"><abbr class="value" style="border: 0px currentColor; font-variant: normal;" title="2012-12-19">NewsBlog in <strong>Nature</strong> (<em>nature.com)</em> (<a href="http://blogs.nature.com/news/2012/12/immunologist-accused-of-misconduct-in-21-papers.html" target="_blank">source</a>)</abbr></span></time></div>
<div class="wpn-byline" style="margin: 0px 0px 15px; padding: 0px;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><time datetime="2012-12-19T21:05:44+00:00" pubdate=""><span class="published"><abbr class="value" style="border: 0px currentColor; font-variant: normal;" title="2012-12-19">19 Dec 2012<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></abbr>|<abbr class="value" style="border: 0px currentColor; font-variant: normal;" title="21:05:44+0000"><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>21:05 GMT</abbr></span></time><span class="divider" style="padding: 0px 0.2em;"><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>|<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span>Posted by<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><span class="author vcard"><a class="url fn n" href="http://blogs.nature.com/news/author/Richard-Van-Noorden" style="color: #1f699b; font-weight: inherit;" target="_blank" title="Richard Van Noorden">Richard Van Noorden</a></span></span></span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEie3moauD0Fok5qhNZx3gJ9MjfhUm-8kzOzuV6zmcGTOBBvHtxJ46OCPCFpPwinQ0glKyvp4Ne9HTx-qy6lABYRWadQSXXUkRHCoo-zxVo0001I7CSsqy1DTk3cN3pdaqtHOhJbcgxRmA/s1600/alirio_melendez.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEie3moauD0Fok5qhNZx3gJ9MjfhUm-8kzOzuV6zmcGTOBBvHtxJ46OCPCFpPwinQ0glKyvp4Ne9HTx-qy6lABYRWadQSXXUkRHCoo-zxVo0001I7CSsqy1DTk3cN3pdaqtHOhJbcgxRmA/s400/alirio_melendez.jpg" width="368" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Alirio Melendez</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8QA5LCG9we7yIpn48nwHWWFi56dHKwSFMdFtFXJW9gRF-Qnalq0CM0ibbtP5U-3VjwpTYCte4CwQ_HgNE_PfVspsiZmBozpa8Cl_GRUxp0C7owLq2di42OYRKTyx2VcsOIrHxXKW2gA/s1600/alirio+M.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8QA5LCG9we7yIpn48nwHWWFi56dHKwSFMdFtFXJW9gRF-Qnalq0CM0ibbtP5U-3VjwpTYCte4CwQ_HgNE_PfVspsiZmBozpa8Cl_GRUxp0C7owLq2di42OYRKTyx2VcsOIrHxXKW2gA/s400/alirio+M.jpg" width="304" /></a></div>
</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</header><section style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: arial, helvetica, clean, sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 20px; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><div class="wpn-entry-content content" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 15px; padding: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">After a 19-month investigation, the National University of Singapore (NUS) today says that it has determined that one of its former scientists, the immunologist Alirio Melendez, has committed “serious scientific misconduct”. The university found fabrication, falsification or plagiarism associated with 21 papers, and no evidence indicating that other co-authors were involved in the misconduct, it says.</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 15px; padding: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But the university would not identify the papers (although five of Melendez’s papers have already been retracted), nor release the report of the committee that investigated them. That tight-lipped approach mirrors two other investigations into Melendez’s work by the University of Liverpool and the University of Glasgow, UK, which respectively abandoned and concluded inquiries last year without publicly commenting on their findings.</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 15px; padding: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">“It’s standard procedure that for research-misconduct investigations such a report and the list of papers would be kept confidential,” an NUS spokesperson explained to<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><em style="font-style: italic; font-weight: inherit;">Nature</em>. She said that the university is now contacting journal editors and co-authors about each of the papers involved, and added that normally the university would not make a public statement at all, but in this case “the scientific misconduct uncovered was unprecedented”. When asked whether the report would remain permanently under wraps, she added: “I don’t think it will be released at a later date.”</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 15px; padding: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The university did not reveal Melendez’s response to the charges; last year he told<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><em style="font-style: italic; font-weight: inherit;">Nature</em><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>that he was conducting his own investigations into other papers, which he agreed contained “questionable data”, but which he asserted were not his fault.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><em style="font-style: italic; font-weight: inherit;">Nature</em><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>made efforts to contact him for this article without success.</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 15px; padding: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The NUS<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span><a href="http://blogs.nature.com/news/2011/10/immunologist_in_massive_miscon.html" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(31, 105, 155); border-bottom-style: dotted; border-bottom-width: 1px; color: #1f699b; font-weight: normal;" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">launched its investigation in March 2011</span></a><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>after an anonymous letter alleged research misconduct in two papers. An inquiry committee looking into this subsequently extended its remit to cover around 70 papers, focusing on NUS-affiliated work, and the investigation was reported in Singapore’s <em style="font-style: italic; font-weight: inherit;">Straits Times</em><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>in October. Melendez — who left Singapore to come to the United Kingdom in 2007 — had subsequently worked at the Glasgow and Liverpool universities, which conducted their own investigations alongside NUS.</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 15px; padding: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A cascade of retractions and alterations racked up while the NUS was investigating; it now totals five retracted papers, a correction and an expression of concern (the<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span><a href="http://retractionwatch.wordpress.com/category/by-author/alirio-melendez/" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(31, 105, 155); border-bottom-style: dotted; border-bottom-width: 1px; color: #1f699b; font-weight: normal;" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">history can be followed on Retraction Watch</span></a><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">). In autumn of 2012, it emerged that Melendez had resigned from Liverpool in November 2011, not long after the University of Glasgow concluded its investigation in October 2011. But Glasgow told<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><em style="font-style: italic; font-weight: inherit;">Nature</em><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>it would not comment on individual cases (as the<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><em style="font-style: italic; font-weight: inherit;">Times Higher Education</em><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span><a href="http://www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/story.asp?sectioncode=26&storycode=420998&c=1" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(31, 105, 155); border-bottom-style: dotted; border-bottom-width: 1px; color: #1f699b; font-weight: normal;" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">also reported</span></a><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">).</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 15px; padding: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Today, the NUS says that its committee “uncovered evidence of fabrication, falsification, or plagiarism associated with 21 papers, including the two in the original allegation. Based on similarities in the pattern of misconduct and in some cases sole authorship of questionable papers, it concluded that Dr Melendez has committed serious scientific misconduct. The Committee found no evidence indicating that other co-authors were involved in the scientific misconduct. NUS has started the process of informing the relevant authors and journals about the problems in these papers to ensure that the public scientific record will be corrected.”</span><br />
<br />
****************************************</div>
</div>
</section><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">(Venezuela-born Alirio Melendez was with NUS from 2001 to 2009.)</span><br />
<table align="left" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="MsoTableGrid" id="table1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; border-collapse: collapse; font-family: "Times New Roman"; letter-spacing: normal; margin-left: 6.75pt; margin-right: 6.75pt; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; widows: 2; width: 634px; word-spacing: 0px;"><tbody>
<tr style="height: 13.85pt;"><td style="height: 13.85pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 455px;" valign="top"><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana;"><b><span style="color: #000099;"><span style="font-size: 9pt;">Dr<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></span><span style="color: #000099; font-size: 9pt;"> Alirio J MELENDEZ</span></b></span></div>
</td></tr>
<tr style="height: 13.85pt;"><td style="height: 13.85pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 455px;" valign="top"><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana;"><b><span style="color: #000099; font-size: 9pt;">Member, Immunology Programme</span></b></span></div>
</td></tr>
<tr style="height: 13.85pt;"><td style="height: 13.85pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 455px;" valign="top"><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana;"><b><span style="font-size: 9pt;">Department of Physiology</span></b></span></div>
</td></tr>
<tr style="height: 13.85pt;"><td style="height: 13.85pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 455px;" valign="top"><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana;"><b><span style="font-size: 9pt;">Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine</span></b></span></div>
</td></tr>
<tr style="height: 20.05pt;"><td style="height: 20.05pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 455px;" valign="top"><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana;"><b><span style="font-size: 9pt;">National University of Singapore</span></b></span></div>
</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<div class="wpn-entry-meta" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; clear: left; color: #333333; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 13px/20px arial, helvetica, clean, sans-serif; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 1em 0px; orphans: 2; padding: 0px; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: #000099; display: inline !important; float: none; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 12px/16px Verdana; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">Dr Alirio J Melendez studied Medicine at Moscow State University and Biochemistry at the University of Glasgow. His PhD was a joint project between the Department of Medicine and Division of Biochemistry, University of Glasgow, under the supervision of Professor Janet M Allen. In 1998 he started employment as a Post-doctoral Research Fellow, in a newly formed laboratory for Cell Signaling studies, PFIZER Global R&D, Paris, France. In August 1999, he was promoted (on merit) to Senior Scientist to lead a team focused on the characterization and development of cell signaling discovery targets, PFIZER Global R&D Paris, France. In <span style="background-color: yellow;">May 2001</span>, was appointed Assistant Professor & Principal Investigator in the department of Physiology, Faculty of Medicine, NUS. At NUS he has been involved in teaching both undergraduate and graduate modules for the faculties of Medicine, Dentistry and Science. He is the Department of Physiology Research Director and Immunology group coordinator. His research focuses on studying intracellular signaling pathways in immune cells, identifying novel key regulators of inflammation, and validating the findings, using various techniques including functional genomics, on whole organism-models (mice-models) of allergy and inflammation.</span> (<a href="http://immunology.nus.edu.sg/conferences2006/immunology%20symposium/abstracts/melendez.htm" target="_blank">source</a>)<aside><div class="article-tools cleared" style="display: block; float: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">
<ul class="wpn-entry-user-actions" id="wpn-share-post-26024" style="border: 0px currentColor !important; float: left; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">
<li class="wpn-entry-comment-link" style="float: left; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br class="Apple-interchange-newline" /><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span></span></li>
</ul>
************************************************</div>
<div class="article-tools cleared" style="display: block; float: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">
</div>
<div class="article-tools cleared" style="display: block; float: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">
<strong>Retraction Watch</strong> (<a href="http://retractionwatch.wordpress.com/2012/12/20/nus-melendez-committed-serious-scientific-misconduct-but-dont-expect-to-get-any-details/#more-11271" target="_blank">source</a>)</div>
<div class="article-tools cleared" style="display: block; float: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">
</div>
<div class="article-tools cleared" style="display: block; float: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">
<div style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Lucida Sans Unicode", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 15px; orphans: 2; padding: 0px; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Alirio Melendez, a former National University of Singapore immunologist whose story we’ve been following here<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></span><a href="http://retractionwatch.wordpress.com/2011/09/19/group-retracts-nature-immunology-paper-for-figure-irregularities-after-posting-a-correction-to-science/" style="color: #004477; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: underline;" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">since a retraction in September 2011</span></a><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">, committed misconduct on an “unprecedented” scale, according to the university, involving more than 20 papers.</span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Lucida Sans Unicode", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 15px; orphans: 2; padding: 0px; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><em style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Nature’s</em><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>Richard van Noorden<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>has the scoop (above):</span></span></div>
<blockquote style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; background-image: url("http://s1.wp.com/wp-content/themes/pub/journalist/images/quote.gif"); background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; color: #222222; font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Lucida Sans Unicode", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 50px; orphans: 2; padding: 0px 0px 0px 60px; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">
<div style="line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 15px; padding: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">After a 19-month investigation, the National University of Singapore (NUS) today says that it has determined that one of its former scientists, the immunologist Alirio Melendez, has committed “serious scientific misconduct”. The university found fabrication, falsification or plagiarism associated with 21 papers, and no evidence indicating that other co-authors were involved in the misconduct, it says.</span></div>
</blockquote>
<div style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Lucida Sans Unicode", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 15px; orphans: 2; padding: 0px; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Melendez has retracted five papers so far, as<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></span><a href="http://retractionwatch.wordpress.com/category/by-author/alirio-melendez/" style="color: #004477; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: underline;" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">we’ve reported</span></a><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">, but NUS wouldn’t give the whole list. They tell <em style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Nature</em>:<span id="more-11271" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"></span></span></span></div>
<blockquote style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; background-image: url("http://s1.wp.com/wp-content/themes/pub/journalist/images/quote.gif"); background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; color: #222222; font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Lucida Sans Unicode", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 50px; orphans: 2; padding: 0px 0px 0px 60px; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">
<div style="line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 15px; padding: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">“It’s standard procedure that for research-misconduct investigations such a report and the list of papers would be kept confidential,” an NUS spokesperson explained to<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><em style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Nature</em>. She said that the university is now contacting journal editors and co-authors about each of the papers involved, and added that normally the university would not make a public statement at all, but in this case “the scientific misconduct uncovered was unprecedented”. When asked whether the report would remain permanently under wraps, she added: “I don’t think it will be released at a later date.”</span></div>
</blockquote>
<div style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Lucida Sans Unicode", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 15px; orphans: 2; padding: 0px; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Translation: Well, there you have it, folks, please move along, nothing to see here. It’s “standard procedure” to sweep misconduct investigations under the carpet, so we’ll just keep doing things our way, thank you very much. We released a statement this time because the misconduct was “unprecedented.” But misconduct with precedent? We’re not going to release reports about that.</span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Lucida Sans Unicode", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 15px; orphans: 2; padding: 0px; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Considering the scope of some cases of misconduct nowadays, that’s a pretty high bar. Maybe NUS won’t release any reports unless they find someone who has retracted 173 papers, since<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></span><a href="http://retractionwatch.wordpress.com/category/by-author/yoshitaka-fujii/" style="color: #004477; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: underline;" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">172 is the current (unofficial) record</span></a><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">. Then again, as NUS points out, this is “standard procedure” — neither of Melendez’s two other previous employers, the University of Liverpool and the University of Glasgow, have commented on their investigations, either.</span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Lucida Sans Unicode", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 15px; orphans: 2; padding: 0px; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Hurrah for transparency! Makes you really think you’re getting the whole story whenever these places send out press releases, doesn’t it?</span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Lucida Sans Unicode", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 15px; orphans: 2; padding: 0px; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">By the way, as Retraction Watch readers well know, this kind of information blackout doesn’t have to be standard procedure. Just ask the<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></span><a href="http://retractionwatch.wordpress.com/category/by-author/dipak-das/" style="color: #004477; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: underline;" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">University of Connecticut</span></a><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">,<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></span><a href="http://retractionwatch.wordpress.com/category/by-author/don-poldermans/" style="color: #004477; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: underline;" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Erasmus Medical Center</span></a><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">,<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></span><a href="http://retractionwatch.wordpress.com/category/by-author/diederik-stapel/" style="color: #004477; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: underline;" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Tilburg University</span></a><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">, and others who’ve been involved in high-profile misconduct cases.</span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Lucida Sans Unicode", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 15px; orphans: 2; padding: 0px; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">********************************************</span></div>
</div>
</aside><br /></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-395066009662473992.post-64888434180704433942012-12-07T10:55:00.001+08:002012-12-07T11:06:51.805+08:00Jim Sleeper, Yale academic, on Yale-NUS College and Singapore<strong><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Singaporeans Speak Freely at Yale -- and Against It</span></strong><br />
<strong><span style="font-family: Verdana;"></span></strong><br />
<strong><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Jim Sleeper</span></strong><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana;">Lecturer in Political Science, Yale University</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana;">Huffington Post, Dec 6, 2012 (<a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jim-sleeper/singaporeans-win-for-free_b_2249430.html?utm_hp_ref=tw" target="_blank">source</a>)</span><br />
<strong><span style="font-family: Verdana;"></span></strong><br />
<strong>Is the Tide Running Out on Liberal Democracy?</strong><br />
<strong></strong><br />
In his immodestly titled and even more immodestly influential book of 2007, <a href="http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=Fareed+Zakaria%2C+The+Future+of+Freedom" target="_blank"><em>The Future of Freedom</em></a>, the journalist and Yale trustee Fareed Zakaria advanced the belief of Margaret Thatcher and the late Jeanne Kirkpatrick, Ronald Reagan's U.N. ambassador, that illiberal, authoritarian capitalist regimes like Augusto Pinochet's in Chile and Lee Kuan Yew's in the little corporate city-state of Singapore build the strongest foundations for liberal democracy because they stabilize the national wealth-production upon which a democracy ultimately depends.<br />
<br />
But while entrepreneurial capitalism was indeed a progenitor of liberal democracy in the 18th century, where the mind of Margaret Thatcher resides, today's corporate capital, especially in its most recent, casino-finance iterations, has become subversive of democracy. It is undermining the sovereignty and the morals of democratic polities without generating any new frame or faith strong enough to sustain them.<br />
<br />
Not surprisingly, democratic movements -- Occupy Wall Street, public-sector union uprisings in Wisconsin -- have returned the favor by becoming equally subversive of finance capital's agendas, and they'll become increasingly so in the years ahead. <br />
<br />
Sure, they'll sometimes be desperate and irresponsible. And that will prompt people like Zakaria to interview people like Singapore's Lee Kuan Yew and his son Lee Hsien Loong, the current prime minister, at the World Economic Forum, helping them to hint to receptive audiences that most people must be ruled because they really can't govern themselves. <br />
<br />
In such hands as these, disparagement of democracy is becoming a self-fulfilling prophecy that sometimes summons an iron fist against national' working classes and migrants,<a href="http://theonlinecitizen.com/2012/12/you-can-resign-and-go-to-sbs-the-drivers-were-told/" target="_blank"> as Singapore did so decisively this week.</a> <br />
<br />
This doesn't discomfit Zakaria, who hasn't a democratic bone in his body but savors a lively and imaginative contempt for left-of-center movements that, in his telling, always turn their promises of democracy into engines of oppression more draconian than any dreamed of by stern paternalists like Pinochet and Lee. <br />
<br />
Never mind that Chile had democratic and republican roots as deep as Wisconsin's before General Pinochet led a coup that murdered his more intelligent and effective predecessor Salvadore Allende and thousands of supporters; Zakaria's high-capitalist, militaristic music in <em>The Future of Freedom</em> suited Davos' orchestra of high-minded opinion well enough, and the book became a best-seller. <br />
<br />
No surprise, then, that last spring <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jim-sleeper/the-showdown-at-yale_b_1401122.html" target="_blank">Zakaria joined three fellow Yale trustees,</a> long-time investment advisers to Singapore's government, to tout Yale's collaboration with that country's ruling party in establishing an undergraduate liberal-arts college to boost Singapore as the center of what its ambassador to the U.S. called "the education industry" in Southeast Asia. <br />
<br />
Zakaria soon had to resign from Yale's governing corporation for committing plagiarism in an article for TIME magazine, but his neoliberal symphony had already skipped a few bars on its score by mistaking the hubbub of capitalist market dynamism for the conversations of citizens deliberating democratically about big decisions shaping their lives. <br />
<br />
Zakaria missed or downplayed a reality that's harsher than any he's had to face: It's that the true framers of constitutional democracies can't just stride onto foundations prepared by illiberal regimes like Singapore's. <br />
<br />
As Jonathan Schell shows unforgettably in <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Unconquerable-World-Jonathan-Schell/dp/0141016868/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1354763838&sr=1-1&keywords=jonathan+schell%2C+the+unconquerable+world" target="_blank"><em>The Unconquerable World</em></a>, democrats such as Mahatma Gandhi, Vaclav Havel, and Martin Luther King, Jr., have to be willing to survive years of nearly paralyzing fear, public smearing, prosecution for "defamation" of the authorities, bankruptcy, imprisonment, and more, in their struggle to displace power-wielders and their crony capitalist collaborators. (That may sound archaic. But look around.) <br />
<br />
Most such efforts are suppressed energetically by the powers they challenge, and when they seem irrepressible, they may be crushed violently. "Repression is like making love; it's always easier the second time around," explained Singapore's British-educated, eloquent ruthlessly energetic autocrat Lee while refining this "love" into an art form. <br />
<br />
Under the country's Lee's son Lee Hsien Loong, the country is still deep into an energetic, fine-spun suppression of democracy. And world history lately hasn't exactly been smoothing Zakaria's much-heralded neo-liberal paths to democratic reform. <br />
<br />
<br />
<strong>At Last, Singapore's Brave Democrats Speak to Yale</strong><br />
<br />
Against this dark background, two brave framers of democracy in Singapore -- Chee Soon Yuan, secretary-general of the Singapore Democratic Party, and Kenneth Jeyaretnam, secretary-general of the Reform Party -- created a sensation last week, thrilling many who'd been smothering under Yale's institutional happy talk about Singapore and inciting denial and consternation among the regime's and the Yale administration's operatives.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.yale.edu/seas/SingaporePanel" target="_blank">Chee and Jeyaretnam flew many thousands of miles to New Haven</a> to speak out at the invitation of some independent students at the Yale International Relations Association and faculty at the Yale Council on Southeast Asia Studies. The third panelist was the political scientist Meredith Weiss, a Yale PhD who teaches at the State University of New York in Albany and presented richly researched, nuanced information that tended to reinforce the opposition leaders' credibility, not because she cast it that way but because of what the reality is:<br />
<br />
"The crux of my argument," Weiss said, "is that the Singapore polity offers more <em>space</em> than <em>voice:</em> non-institutional engagement is possible and increasingly common, but institutional channels to express those preferences or perspectives remain absent or curtailed..... The structure of 'civic society' that Singapore's ruling People's Action Party has crafted allows for a degree of feedback and responsiveness, so at least some demands have been subtly met, but in a way that gives no credit to those generating the ideas the PAP chooses to embrace."<br />
<br />
The panel organizers had also invited three representatives of the Singapore government, including its recent ambassador to the U.S., Chan Heng Chee. But, perhaps wary of according opposition leaders any recognition beyond what the government has given them in smearing and prosecuting them, the officials declined. <br />
<br />
These officials' absence only reinforced Weiss' description of their modus operandi and prompted the organizers to change its title from "Singapore: The Democratic Divide" to "Singapore Today: Opposition Perspectives." <br />
<br />
Brief but solid accounts of the two-hour session in the <a href="http://nhregister.com/articles/2012/11/30/news/new_haven/doc50b98693893cf480368866.txt?viewmode=default" target="_hplink"><em> New Haven Register</em></a> and the <a href="http://yaledailynews.com/blog/2012/12/03/singaporean-opposition-leaders-challenge-yale-nus/" target="_hplink"><em>Yale Daily News</em></a>, and even in a short report in the Singapore government-controlled <em>Singapore Today</em>, have prompted thousands of Singaporeans to clamor for the video that will be posted soon on the website of Council on Southeast Asian Studies. (E-mail the Council at <a href="mailto:seas@yale.edu">seas@yale.edu</a>).<br />
<br />
The video is really worth watching, even if you're more interested in academic freedom and human rights generally than in Singapore <em>per se</em>, because Singapore thwarts academic freedom and human rights in ways both sinuous and intimidating.<br />
<br />
The panel gave Chee and Jeyaretnam an opportunity to speak to more than 100 Yale faculty and students in person, including many Singaporeans studying in the U.S -- an audience more open and public than any these men have been able to address in Singapore. <br />
<br />
Their account of harsh and often insidious realities hidden by a deluge of Yale-NUS promotional happy talk was as wrenching for Singaporean students who've been apologists for their regime, as it was liberating for others who've come to the U.S. partly to escape the stifling self-censorship and conformity that make Singapore seem clean and safe to outsiders. <br />
<br />
Some Singaporeans listened with their heads down, as if ducking Jeyaretnam and Chee, whom they'd never heard before. The most assiduous and crafty apologist among them, E Ching Ng, sat silently, and "a young woman sitting with her kept running her hands through her hair, braiding and un-braiding, arranging, separating, smoothing, all so anxiously and compulsively throughout the talks that one of us finally had to tap her arm and ask her to put her elbows down so that we could see the speakers," a Yale faculty member told some of us later. <br />
<br />
<br />
<strong>What You Hadn't Been Told About Singapore and its Democrats</strong> <br />
<br />
Chee and Jeyaretnam are seldom seen or heard even on television or radio in Singapore and are slighted or ignored in the print press. The news media are controlled through Government Linked Corporations, or GLCs, that run much else in this country of approximately 6 million, a little over half of them citizens, the rest "permanent residents" and non-resident migrants whose rights are minimal. <br />
<br />
The government controls 50% of the economy and owns 80% of the land, in a nation smaller in area than New York City, and it subsidizes 90% of the housing, so it has wields lots of carrots and sticks to silence the independent-minded. <br />
<br />
Websites are more open and invigorating to Singaporean twentysomethings, a majority of whom identify them as their first or second sources of information. Whenever <a href="http://www.tremeritus.com/2012/11/30/at-last-singapore-opposition-leaders-can-tell-yale-the-truth/" target="_blank">my columns are posted on www.tremeritus.com</a>, readers' comments are numerous, feisty, and enlightening. <br />
<br />
But the government still licenses websites and can pull the plug on them legally for any number of infractions, and Weiss reports that while "Online campaigning legalized 2011, with limits, and clearly helped opposition parties to get their messages out,... only 25% of all voters.... said that the internet was their first or second source of information in the 2011 general election." <br />
<br />
Singapore's labyrinthine, omniscient governance comes from the eternal (and eternally-rigged) People's Action Party, which has a lot more than websites: The PAP took 60% of the vote in the 2011 elections but 93% of the seats in Parliament, the rest going to one "opposition" party whose deputies always vote with the government.<br />
<br />
Neither Chee's nor Jeyaretnam's party has a deputy in Parliament, and they can explain the reasons why, including some you'd never think of: Anyone contributing more than a certain amount to an opposition party must register his or her name, income and many other details -- with the Prime Minister's office, via the election commission that his PAP alone controls. <br />
<br />
Weiss notes that the PAP reacts to every democratic stirring but without any accountability. Few Americans can imagine what this means: In a micro-state with a ruling party that has held power for 50 years, the universities, press, courts, and even civic associations are wired top to bottom with government operatives who dispense punishments from the draconian and punctiliously legal penalties to unofficial and undocumented reprisals. <br />
<br />
All these have been <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jim-sleeper/as-yales-blunder-deepens-_b_1569495.html" target="_blank">visited upon <span style="background-color: yellow;">Dr. Chee</span></a>, who holds a PhD from the University of Georgia, was fired from his professorship at the National University of Singapore in 1993 after joining the Singapore Democratic Party that he now leads. To appreciate the significance of his speaking at Yale, it helps to know that earlier this year he was barred by the regime from leaving Singapore to give a speech of at the Oslo Freedom Forum. <br />
<br />
"In the last 20 years he has been jailed for more than 130 days on charges including contempt of Parliament, speaking in public without a permit, selling books improperly, and attempting to leave the country without a permit," wrote Thor Halvorssen, President of the Human Rights Foundation, in an open letter, published here in the Huffington Post, to Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong. "It is our considered judgment that having already persecuted, prosecuted, bankrupted, and silenced Dr. Chee inside Singapore, you now wish to render him silent beyond your own borders." <br />
<br />
It may have taken Singapore's heightened sensitivity to well-publicized criticisms of its collaboration with Yale, such as mine here, to loosen such restrictions on Chee, who is selling his book, <a href="http://yoursdp.org/index/buy/0-13" target="_hplink"><em>Democratically Speaking</em></a>, to help defray the bankruptcy charges and penalties that the government imposed, although it has recently reduced those penalties, as well.<br />
<br />
<span style="background-color: yellow;">Jeyaretnam</span>, who holds a Double First Class Honours degree in Economics from Cambridge University, is the son of J.B. Jeyaretnam, the first prominent opposition member of Singapore's Parliament, who was evicted from that body in 1986 after being convicted by the ruling-party-controlled courts on criminal charges of misusing his own Worker's Party finances. <br />
<br />
When the British Commonwealth's Privy Council declared the case a "miscarriage of justice," Singapore abolished its ties to the Privy Council, refused to reinstate Jeyaretnam, and sued him for libel years later, bankrupting him and leaving him to walk through transit stations wearing a sandwich board, an aging barrister trying to sell copies of his book, Make It Right For Singapore.<br />
<br />
<span style="background-color: white;">Kenneth Jeyaretnam</span>'s <a href="http://thereformparty.net/" target="_blank">Reform Party</a> has a platform somewhat more centrist than his father's and than Chee's SDP, which emphasizes growing disparities in income that can't be discussed in Singapore as openly as in the U.S. Noting that because the government owns so much of the housing and land, Jeyaretnam observes that it has many ways to silence residents -- including NUS students, most of whom live in such housing and, despite Yale-NUS' assurances of freedom of expression, would jeopardize their families' access to patronage jobs, services and transit, as others have done in the recent past, if they opposed the ruling party with public statements or gatherings that could be closely monitored on campus. The Reform Party wants to loosen those strings by privatizing housing ownership more explicitly. <br />
<br />
A relatively small recent incident tells quite a lot about what Chee and Jeyaretnam have been up against. Two weeks before they spoke at Yale,<a href="http://www.todayonline.com/Singapore/EDC121112-0000043/Aussie-clergyman-barred-from-entering-Singapore" target="_blank"> Singapore's Ministry of Home Affairs barred Australian clergyman James Blundell Michin from entering the country</a> because, on a previous visit, he'd participated in a "talk show" hosted by Chee's Singapore Democratic Party.<br />
<br />
Michin had "abused the social visit pass privileges previously extended to him while he was in Singapore by interfering in our domestic politics and mixing religion with politics," according to the MHA.<br />
<br />
The ministry explained sanctimoniously that "The separation of religion and politics is a long established principle in Singapore, to safeguard the inter-religious and social harmony in our multi-religious society." But the harmony is Orwellian: Singapore's regulations require all foreigners involved in activities directly related to "any seminar, conference, workshop, gathering or talk concerning any religion, race or community, cause or political end" to hold a Miscellaneous Work Pass. <br />
<br />
Michin's "real" affront was that he had written disparagingly about the nation's founder, Lee Kuan Yew, and, in August of 2011 had "alleged that the rule of law was bypassed and corrupted in Singapore, and questioned the independence and integrity of the judiciary."<br />
<br />
The week of the panel, a strike by 100 angry migrant Chinese bus drivers exposed not only their employer's broken promises and their substandard wages and living conditions -- Singapore has no minimum wage -- but also how forbidden any labor-union action is in Singapore. <br />
<br />
The government boasts to investors that it never has strikes or job actions, and it promptly arrested several of the bus drivers for trial and deported most of the rest, prompting the brave writer <span style="background-color: yellow;">Vincent Wijeysingha </span>of the Online Citizen website to pen <a href="http://theonlinecitizen.com/2012/12/you-can-resign-and-go-to-sbs-the-drivers-were-told/" target="_blank">a long, scathingly satirical account </a>of its lies and brutality. It begins:<br />
<blockquote>
"The government has acted in our name as is its duty. It purged an industrial action and returned the nation to business as usual. The bus drivers from SMRT recklessly involved themselves in an illegal strike after refusing to bring their grievances to management or their trade union or seek the assistance of the Manpower Ministry. Twenty-nine have been deported, one hundred and fifty more issued a police warning and the five ringleaders will be tried. Industrial harmony has been restored, the tripartite relationship upheld, and public disorder averted.<br />
<br />
"As fortunate citizens of this prosperous and stable nation, we can heave a sigh of relief. Those refractory foreigners got what they deserved. How dare they come to our land - which our government built from a fishing village - and demand such indulgences as suitable accommodation and an equal wage....."</blockquote>
<br />
Wijeysingha shows how ephemeral -- virtually non-existent -- the "trade unions" are and how calculatingly feeble and false the Manpower Ministry is. Coming just as American Wal-Mart workers staged a walkout on Black Friday without union or legal protection, Singapore's retaliation with what Chee called "zero tolerance for industrial action" reminded me that Asian state capitalism and Western state capital are converging to subvert democracy, not enable it. <br />
<br />
Or do Zakaria and the liberal arts teachers at Yale-NUS mean to help workers of the world to converge, as well? Chee noted that when he arrived at NUS in response to student invitations to speak about civil liberties, he was turned back by police on one occasion and by university officials on another. <br />
<br />
"I am not asking Yale to change the country, but do not be complicit in helping the PAP to oppress Singaporeans, and do not seek to advance your interests at the expense of ours," Chee said in New Haven. "I fear that despite all assurances, making money is the be-all and end-all. I have never yearned so much to be proven wrong." His fear is that Yale's claim to defer to the government and laws of Singapore out of respect for supposed "'Asian values' has been used" in ways that will prove him right. <br />
<br />
Chee told the Yale audience ruefully that, when he landed at Kennedy Airport in New York, the official checking his passport remarked that "The U.S. has a lot to learn from Singapore." Chee told us, "There is a lot to learn from Singapore about controlling your own people," but obviously the officer believed in Singapore's false front as a "rich, clean nation renowned for its disciplined workforce and its no-nonsense government" -- an image that Chee proceeded to unpack with slides and statistics.<br />
<br />
For example, while Singapore boasts a per-capita income of $57,000 compared to the U.S.'s $46,000, Chee noted that that's only because the tiny city-state has seen a 67% increase in centi-millionaires -- residents worth at least $100 million. Meanwhile, 5% of Singaporeans earn less than $5000 a year -- less than $100 a week -- in a city that is 42% more expensive than New York City. Chee then showed slides of people subsisting in miserable living conditions and reminded us of the tiny island's millions of rights-less migrant workers like the Chinese bus drivers. <br />
<br />
"You Americans have just been through an election where income disparity was debated. It is not up for debate in Singapore," whose famously "disciplined workforce" works longer hours than those of Sao Paulo, Johannesburg and Moscow. "More than half say they'd emigrate if they could, and 10% do leave."<br />
<br />
<br />
<strong>A More Skeptical, Combative View</strong><br />
<br />
Jeyaretnam was more sardonic than Chee, comparing Yale president Richard Levin's "naivete" about Singapore to that of Sidney and Beatrice Webb's about the Ukraine, whose wonders they touted rapturously upon returning to American, all to the great benefit and probable amusement of the Soviets in the 1930s. "Levin lets us know that Yale has done its homework about Singapore," Jeyaretnam mocked, adding that if Levin's delegation ever tried to talk with any opposition leaders, "We must all have been out that when they came calling."<br />
<br />
Growing more serious, Jeyaretman worried that "the authoritarian model" is gaining ground worldwide as people "give away their freedom in exchange for security and prosperity. But Singapore was one of the richest cities in Asia before Lee Kuan Yew arrived. <br />
<br />
"There has been no economic 'miracle,' it's been only a deliberate policy to open the floodgates to immigrant labor, producing a disastrous fall in real income for the bottom quarter. You are losing jobs by outsourcing them; Singapore keeps jobs by bringing in cheap labor and increasing its repression."<br />
<br />
Jeyaretnam's criticisms of universities in Singapore and of Yale's feeble accommodations to them were substantially the same as Chee's. "What Singapore does best is not anything that a liberal college such as Yale should want to learn. I can only hope that they'll fulfill their commitments to foster open debate at Yale NUS." <br />
<br />
He also noted that while the internet has had positive impacts, "any blog can be required to gain government approval and a license" -- I wondered how long Online Citizen can expect to survive -- and he made scathing fun of the government's regulation of campaigns, noting that he was given television time on only a Mandarin-language channel even though, as he noted drily, "English is the national language." .<br />
<br />
Few of the Singaporean Yale students in the audience, most of them from elite high schools in Singapore, seemed to have heard of or witnessed anything like this before. The more defensive among them disparaged Jeyaretnam afterward, but they couldn't help but notice that his and Chee's presentations received long, vigorous applause from an audience deeply moved, even impassioned, by their example. <br />
<br />
By far the most defensive, churlish, amazingly naive comments came from two Yale-NUS faculty members. I'm almost too embarrassed even to quote them here, but you can watch them on the video when it's posted on the Council on Southeast Asia Studies <a href="http://www.yale.edu/seas" target="_blank">website</a>.<br />
<br />
These teachers of political science actually believed that because Yale is a non-profit institution and because they and other new faculty had sat together on a hilltop in New Haven for two weeks this past summer and then again in Singapore designing a new liberal arts curriculum in perfect freedom, no business or government interests will control them. <br />
<br />
<br />
<strong>The American Professoriate Weighs In</strong><br />
<strong></strong><br />
But the pervasive monitoring and repression that Chee and Jeyaretnam described are so ubiquitous and generate such pervasive, unthinking self-censorship and fear that, the week that they spoke at Yale, the American Association of University Professors sent <a href="http://www.aaup.org/AAUP/newsroom/2012webhighlight/Yalelet.html" target="_blank">a public letter to the Yale community and to 500,000 American professors</a> expressing "the AAUP's growing concern about the character and impact of the university's collaboration with the Singaporean government." <br />
<br />
The letter poses 16 questions to Yale that the university has yet to answer convincingly because it has refused repeatedly to make public its contract with Singapore in establishing Yale-NUS. "We believe that a healthy atmosphere for shared governance at Yale can only be restored if the Yale Corporation begins by releasing all documents and agreements related to the plan to establish the Yale-National University of Singapore campus," the AAUP writes, after exhaustive reading and research on every document on the collaboration that has been made public. <br />
<br />
"In a host environment where free speech is constrained, if not proscribed, faculty will censor themselves, and the cause of authentic liberal education, to the extent it can exist in such situations, will suffer." <br />
<br />
This reinforces the political scientist Weiss' observation on the panel that "Arguably central to efforts to channel and control participation in Singapore has been depoliticizing students and the university since the late 1960s and early 1970s, through measures ranging from restructuring faculty governance at NUS to eliminating the more radicalized Nanyang U to building a new campus at Kent Ridge without a clear central meeting point to prohibition or restructuring of a host of student activities and organizations to a retreat from (then cautious, instrumental return to) the teaching of 'critical thinking,'"<br />
<br />
The AAUP letter discredits claims by Yale-NUS administrators and faculty (and by Zakaria last spring) that their university critics are ivory tower moralists, provincials fearful of engaging cultural differences and respecting so called "Asian" values: <br />
<br />
"At stake are not simply 'cultural differences' but whether Yale recognizes universal human rights and the protections for academic staff enunciated in the UNESCO Recommendation. Singapore is a modern, industrialized city whose leaders and citizens fully understand these values."<br />
<br />
<br />
<strong>Some Singaporean Professors Weigh Out</strong><br />
<br />
So one might hope. But two weeks before the AAUP released its letter, the Singapore Management University <a href="http://www.singapolitics.sg/news/smu-cancels-opening-research-centre" target="_blank">cancelled the opening of a research center on human rights</a> just days before its launch, without giving reason why. <br />
<br />
The center, which had been planned for two years, "was meant to have been funded by a large donation of between $1 million to $3 million from the Japanese philanthropist Dr Haruhisa Handa, who had flown into Singapore last week specially for the launch," according to the website Singapolitics. <br />
<br />
A brilliantly dissident website, The Online Citizen, speculated that the Government had a hand in the closure of the center. "Asked by Singapolitics "to respond to this allegation, a Ministry of Education spokesman only said: 'We were informed by the SMU that it had decided not to go ahead with the launch of the centre.'"<br />
<br />
Recall here how small and tightly run Singapore is. Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong's wife heads the country's Temasek sovereign wealth fund, whose CEO-designate in 2009 was the current Yale trustee Charles Waterhouse Goodyear IV, a progenitor and proponent of Yale-NUS. Charles Ellis, another Yale trustee at the time when Yale-NUS arrangements were being negotiated, was also an adviser to Singapore's Government Investment Corporation and is married to Yale vice president Linda Koch Lorimer, who is a member of the new, fig-leaf governing board of the Yale-NUS, which will be held to Singapore's corporate laws, which none of Yale-NUS' boosters seems to have examined carefully.<br />
<br />
In the past year the Johns Hopkins University, Australia's University of New South Wales, and New York University's <a href="http://www.thecobrapaper.com/viewarticle.aspx?smid=514&aid=12348" target="_blank">Tisch School of the Arts</a> have <a href="http://theonlinecitizen.com/2012/11/john-hopkins-unsw-and-now-tisch-when-will-we-ever-learn/" target="_blank">all pulled their programs out of Singapore</a>, and faculty at the Claremont Colleges rebuffed overtures to establish an undergraduate liberal-arts college in Singapore after Britain's <a href="http://www.yawningbread.org/apdx_2005/imp-226.htm" target="_blank"> Warwick University cancelled its own effort</a> there. <br />
<br />
<br />
<strong>Business Unusual?</strong><br />
<br />
Yet Yale's trustees and president have rushed in where these institutions declined to tread, without giving Yale's faculty a truly deliberative role like that assumed by the faculties at Claremont and Warwick.<br />
<br />
What were they thinking? Or, as Evan Thomas kept asking in his book <em>The Very Best Men</em>, about the supposedly worldly, smart Yale men in national intelligence who fomented a hapless coup in Guatemala, installed the Shah in Iran, and staged the Bay of Pigs: "How could they be so dumb?"<br />
<br />
I've never charged that Yale's trustees were furthering their own business interests directly by pushing Yale-NUS, nor even that Yale as an institution is "lining its pockets" from the Singapore venture. I've reported that someone with pretty good credibility <a href="http://singaporedesk.blogspot.com/2012/06/where-theres-smoke.html" target="_blank">predicts they'll do so.</a> <br />
<br />
What I do charge is that the "business" mindset of Yale trustees who've meant to do some good in the world while doing well for themselves has driven this project despite many good reasons for doubting its wisdom pedagogically as well as politically. <br />
<br />
I've also speculated about likely reasons why the Yale Corporation went this far. A possible line of inquiry for an investigative reporter or dispassionate historian and perhaps a prosecutor would require learning how business is done in Singapore, not to mention in America these days, where "payments" to institutions can be made, and individuals rewarded, without leaving contractual fingerprints. <br />
<br />
Imagine that a Yale trustee who had left the Yale Corporation by the time the Corporation approved Yale-NUS had also been intimately and enthusiastically involved with Singapore for many years before then, and imagine that he is married to Yale's vice president, who has become a member of the new, Potemkin Yale-NUS governing board, an unmarked subsidiary of the National University and hence of the People's Action Party. <br />
<br />
Imagine further that the Yale University endowment's investment portfolio just happens to be let in on restricted, lucrative investment opportunities that controlled in some measure by Singapore's government investment and sovereign wealth funds, including Temasek (whose CEO-designate in 2009, Charles Waterhouse Goodyear IV, is currently a Yale trustee). <br />
<br />
As one Yale faculty member put it, a lot of business and public financing in Singapore "has been perfected by money launderers and high rollers in ways that make every lead that might throw light on the wheeling and dealing disappear into a Gordian knot."<br />
<br />
Shouldn't we begin by insisting that Yale make public its contract with Singapore for Yale NUS? Why has it refused to do so despite repeated requests from many quarters? Shouldn't we make it impossible for Yale-NUS to enjoy credibility or dignity until that has been done?<br />
<br />
There's no need to presume that the Yale Corporation members who were most active in conceiving and supporting Yale-NUS were mercenary about it, let alone corrupt. Assume that they're all good guys, hale fellows well met, knights-errant of a commodious American capitalism, and that they get almost weepily sentimental about their Yale undergraduate encounters with the liberal arts, which they remember fondly and dimly enough to think that by exporting them to Singapore in this fashion they'll be repaying Singapore and the whole world, by whose gilded graces they have done so well for themselves. <br />
<br />
I think that we can doubt the soundness of their judgment, which has been clouded by the "doing well" side of their equation. They should have sat awhile with Jeyaretnam and Chee. And Yale-NUS' maestros and musicians should have looked more intently at Fareed Zakaria's symphony before hiring themselves out to play it for the People's Action Party.<br />
<br />
<br />
*****************************Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-395066009662473992.post-22402241155736331062012-12-07T06:19:00.004+08:002012-12-07T06:54:35.642+08:00Dr Chee Soon Juan on Yale-NUS College<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuzLaIuDFFvgkBUP7kuSt5hebaxqzxTUH7a_OEamSNB9FaUxTttONSqXE9eoosFz_H9AWxJKursQAYU1JV5Gk_BaGPSlu-g1LrVv-pmZC2VgZcMS4FrMZvfPPLLEpHG4DjU2j9hDQOaQ/s1600/CSJ-11-300x199.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuzLaIuDFFvgkBUP7kuSt5hebaxqzxTUH7a_OEamSNB9FaUxTttONSqXE9eoosFz_H9AWxJKursQAYU1JV5Gk_BaGPSlu-g1LrVv-pmZC2VgZcMS4FrMZvfPPLLEpHG4DjU2j9hDQOaQ/s640/CSJ-11-300x199.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Dr Chee Soon Juan</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<strong><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"></span></strong><br />
<strong><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Dr Chee Soon Juan: Yale must not be complicit in suppressing Singaporeans' rights</span></strong><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><em>The Singapore Democrats</em> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">Dec 6, 2012 (<a href="http://yoursdp.org/news/chee_soon_juan_s_speech_at_yale_university/2012-12-06-5484" target="_blank">source</a>)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"><strong>Dr Chee Soon Juan's address to the Yale community on Nov 30, 2012.</strong></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Dear friends, ladies and gentleman,<br /><br />I want to thank the Yale Council on Southeast Asia Studies and Yale International Relations Association for organising this forum and for so graciously inviting us to participate in it.<br /><br />Many of you here today probably know very little about Singapore, at least not before the Yale-NUS controversy erupted. What you probably heard is that Singapore is this rich, clean island renowned for its disciplined workforce and no nonsense government.<br /><br />This assessment is not entirely wrong. Singapore is very rich. We have the most number of millionaires per capita in the world. In fact, Singapore is one of those places that some would sight as an unmitigated success story. In 2011, US Ambassador to Singapore Mr David Adelman said: "The agreement with Singapore is perhaps our most successful FTA globally.”<br /><br />The US-Singapore Free Trade Agreement was signed in 2004 by Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong and US President George W Bush. </span><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">At that time, I had raised serious questions about how such an agreement would affect workers in Singapore. I visited the US Congress and AFL-CIO to urge caution about the FTA because the lack of democratic freedoms, in general, and workers' rights, in particular, would mean that workers would be exploited instead of helped.<br /><br />That was in 2004. Now some 8 years after the FTA was implemented, the results are in. And they look very pretty, I must admit – at least for a few.<br /><br />As I mentioned earlier, Singapore is the richest country in the world in terms of GDP per capita –US$57,000, the United States is around US$46,000. This is, in large part, due to the influx of a staggering number of millionaires emigrating to the city-state. Between 2010 and 2014, it is projected Singapore will see a 67% increase in centa-millionaires – that's folks with over US$100 million in disposable wealth. We have the highest percentage of millionaire households in the world.<br /><br />It is perhaps inevitable that such wealth will have a significant impact on the economy. This year, the Economist Intelligence Unit listed Singapore as the 9th most expensive city in the world – more expensive than London, New York and Frankfurt. And not just by a whisker – Singapore is 42 percent more expensive than New York City. <br /><br />But the FTA doesn't do as much for the rest of the population. In fact, it keeps the poor firmly anchored at the bottom. About 5 percent of Singapore's workforce draw an annual income of less than US$5,000 – that's less than US$100 a week – in a city that is 42 percent more expensive than New York City. Ten years ago they made the same amount. For a decade they saw no wage increase.<br /><br />How is this possible, a city that is one of the most expensive in the world with wages that are one of the lowest? Because there is no minimum wage legislation. And why is there no minimum wage legislation? Because there is no opposition to fight for it.<br /><br />The ranks of opposition parties have been decimated with years of persecution, there are no independent trade unions because labour leaders have all been imprisoned or run out of the country.<br /><br />There is no free media – all Singaporean TV stations, radio channels and newspapers are owned and run by the government.<br /><br /><b></b>You have just come through a presidential election where income disparity was a major issue. <br /><br />A couple years ago, you had the Occupy Wall Street campaign which brought to the fore, amongst other issues, the yawning gap between the rich and the poor here in the United States. <br /><br />I hear that the richest 1 percent of the population in this country owns 50 percent of the wealth. The statistic is indeed alarming. And yet, the income disparity is wider in Singapore.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhATdQRrUt0jm0fwIixOE_FHTUmSzsiYyfRfavegLT4elTstsD3bl_fYU-E7DKT7eKYHWKrsrM3nU2LX48NnX7KLxyxlyIUTijtxD2LmLVe5_Hlr_LeVrAppIEMNIzphrUWok_cgALfIQ/s1600/CSJ+graph-income.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="352" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhATdQRrUt0jm0fwIixOE_FHTUmSzsiYyfRfavegLT4elTstsD3bl_fYU-E7DKT7eKYHWKrsrM3nU2LX48NnX7KLxyxlyIUTijtxD2LmLVe5_Hlr_LeVrAppIEMNIzphrUWok_cgALfIQ/s640/CSJ+graph-income.png" width="640" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Middle-income workers in Singapore don't have it better. According to a survey of conducted by the International Labor Organisation (ILO), Singaporean workers work the longest number of hours.<br /><br />And yet, the study reported that their real incomes have diminished. A UBS study done in 2011 used New York as the benchmark upon which workers' wages of 73 cities were compared. New York was given the score of 100. Zurich came out at the top at 144. Singapore? 35.8 – below that of Sao Paolo, Johannesburg and Moscow.<br /><br />These are not just numbers. They have a huge impact on the quality of life of Singaporeans. We are one of the most, if not the most, stressful places to live in Asia and one of the unhappiest peoples in the world. In a survey of 14 economies, Singaporean workers were found to enjoy going to work the least, are the least loyal to their employers and have the least supportive workplaces. Only 19 percent of those polled in Singapore look forward to their work each day, the global average is 30 percent. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b></b>It's not like we can vote out the ruling party. Former prime minister and strongman Mr Lee Kuan Yew, whom many still consider to wield ultimate power in Singapore said: "Please do not assume that you can change governments. Young people don’t understand this.”<br /><br />So what can Singaporeans do to make things easier for themselves? They leave the country – for good. More than half of Singaporeans say that given the chance they would emigrate. <br /><br />And an astounding number do. According to the World Bank, 10.1 percent of Singaporeans pack up and leave the island. Another survey found that more than a third of younger Singaporeans say that feel no loyalty to their country.<br /><br />And it isn't that the Singapore government is doing all this by itself. It has ample support from the West especially the neoliberals here in America.<br /><br />In 2003, prior to the signing of the US-Singapore FTA, the AFL-CIO wrote to the House of Representatives bringing its attention to the pitfalls of the agreement which, if enacted, would mean that Singapore's workers "are likely to face widening income inequality."<br /><br />The AFL-CIO letter continued: "Singapore's government has wide powers to limit citizens' rights and to handicap political opposition...The Government continued to significantly restrict freedom of speech and freedom of the press, as well as to limit other civil and political rights."<br /><br />So it wasn't that the US Government did not know of the problems the agreement would present. As it was, there was hardly a debate in Congress and the US Government promptly signed the FTA – the first in the world.</span><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b></b>To be sure, the love affair between the Singapore government and the neoliberals started a long time ago. In 1986, when a minister (the late Ong Teng Cheong) sanctioned a strike in the shipping industry he incurred the wrath of some of his cabinet colleagues.<br /><br />He said: "The minister for trade and industry was very angry, his officers were very upset. They had calls from America, asking what happened to Singapore? – we are non-strike. If I were to inform the cabinet or the government they would probably stop me from going ahead with the strike."<br /><br />Since then there have been no strikes. Until four days ago when a group of bus drivers recruited from China struck because of low wages and poor living conditions. The Singapore government has said that it has zero tolerance for such action and four workers have been arrested.<br /><br />So what has all this to do with Yale?<br /><br />When it was first announced that Yale would be setting up a campus with NUS in Singapore, I had my reservations but kept my own counsel. My colleagues and I in the Singapore Democratic Party cautiously welcomed the set up.<br /><br />We had hoped that given Yale's proud history that it would not allow the Singapore government – or any government – to dictate the kind of experience it provides for its students.<br /><br />But my worst fears were confirmed when it was declared that Yale-NUS would not allow certain political activities, including students forming party-affiliated organisations.<br /><br />It seems now that instead of Yale opening up the minds of Singaporeans through academic inquiry and scholarship, it is the Singaporean Government that will close the minds of the people running the College.<br /><br />I also understand that degrees will be awarded by NUS, and not Yale. If this is the case, then I have to question why this is so. Is Yale not proud of the students if produces in Singapore?<br /><br />I fear – and I sincerely hope that I will be proven wrong on this – that the Yale leadership does not, like American multinational corporations that have come before it, cynically looking to make that quick and easy dollar from Singaporeans while completely disregarding what such actions would do to our society.<br /><br />My experience with foreign academic institutions lead me to be very skeptical of their claims to want to provide Singaporeans with the best that academia can muster.<br /><br />Will I be unwelcome again at an academic institution in my own country? What kind of message will Yale be sending to Singaporeans when you call security to stop me when I visit the campus to talk to students about their rights and civil liberties.<br /><br />I don't presume to lecture the US, and even Yale administration, on how to conduct its business but I will say this: Where you come to make your profits is where I bring up my children. Like you, I want them to grow up enjoying the quality of life that you want for your own children. Where you come to advance your interests is where my fellow Singaporeans and I live in the hope of freeing our country and knowing what it's like to be free. Like you, we want a say in how our country is run and be able to elect our own government.<br /><br />Don't get me wrong – I am not asking you to change our country, Singaporeans are more than capable of doing that ourselves. What I am asking is for the US and its institutions like Yale not to be complicit in helping the ruling Peoples' Action Party to oppress and exploit Singaporeans.<br /><br />But when an institution, despite knowing the repression that goes on in a country chooses to take advantage of the lack of freedom to install extractive and exploitative economic policies for its own benefit, when you seek to advance your interests at the expense of ours, then I question if you are friends at all.<br /><br />If all America is interested in is to make money regardless of the damage that profit-making venture is, then we are all going to be poorer for it. If we continue to choose the beggar-thy-neighbour approach to globalisation, the global community will fail.<br /><br />I fear, despite all the assurances, and because of what I have seen of what corporate America together with the Singapore state has done to my country, that making money is the be-all and end-all of all that is collaborated. I hope you can see why the Yale-NUS venture leaves me suspicious of Yale's motives –whether you are there to educate or simply to line your own pockets. I have never yearned so much to be proven wrong.<br /><br />Asian values under the guise of Confucianism, have been used by the Singapore government to steer the people away from democracy which, it argues, will hamper economic progress. I argue the opposite – and data that I have presented bear me out – that openness and accountability, in other words democracy, is essential for the economic advancement of a people.<br /><br />But that's not the point.<br /><br />Others argue that democracy is a Western concept not suited to an Eastern culture like Singapore. The irony is that it was the West which subjugated and oppressed Singapore, together with much of Asia, for much of the 19th and 20th centuries. Freedom from colonialism was not given but won; the rebellion was instinctual. In short, the longing for freedom is not Asian or Western – it is primordial.<br /><br />But that's not the point either.<br /><br />Humankind must not live in a world where the poor and the elderly live off the crumbs that fall off the rich man's table; where Westerners, with the help of autocratic governments, exploit the locals in the countries that they invest in. Instead, we must work out a way to live in peace and on the premise that human equals human.<br /><br /><i>That's</i> the point.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b></b>If you come to Singapore to visit, you will see a conspicuous display of opulence. But hidden away in the unseen corners are pitiful figures of poverty.<br /><br />I don't care if this bent and gnarled figure is an American or Singaporean and neither, I suspect, do you (see photo below).</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxzCzKZ6tBQ9TeB86VT5-FFjis2OcPi-_0LAi45uE8iv7leKyoaQ9MZUd9uCKL1I6w_o28FiERLDwhvMqKib5s9NS9v8CnlZ8msU-vktOcTATpCN-faKVFznOru-Z8VMDuQqGtwiYJug/s1600/CSJ+elderlywoman.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="496" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxzCzKZ6tBQ9TeB86VT5-FFjis2OcPi-_0LAi45uE8iv7leKyoaQ9MZUd9uCKL1I6w_o28FiERLDwhvMqKib5s9NS9v8CnlZ8msU-vktOcTATpCN-faKVFznOru-Z8VMDuQqGtwiYJug/s640/CSJ+elderlywoman.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<br /><br />For a struggling American worker is not different from a struggling Singaporean worker. We're first and foremost human beings: when oppressed, we long to be free; when exploited, we seek to break that yoke.<br /><br />And if you care enough that education at this revered institution will prepare you for a life that not just enables you to get ahead but to also improve the lot of those around you, of humanity, then you will also care that Yale University not yield on the principles of higher education on which it is founded.<br />
<br />
</span><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b></b>You will want this proud arena of intellection to care that it upholds its reputation of <span style="background-color: yellow;">imparting not just knowledge but wisdom, the wisdom that invites an individual to enter the door of his conscience.</span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: yellow; font-family: Arial;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: yellow;"></span><br />Such wisdom cannot be found in textbooks, you can't score a correct answer on it in your multiple-choice test. It can only be approximated when you have the <span style="background-color: yellow;">freedom to challenge authority, to question the status quo and push the limits of convention</span>, a freedom that Yale so boldly and nobly embodies, a freedom that we have lost in Singapore.<br /><br />Teachers and students, if you will not accept anything less for yourselves here in New Haven, why then do you acquiesce to a demand that will deny your counterparts at Yale-NUS that same, rich experience?<br /><br />I can only hope that as we progress into the future, as the global community becomes more intertwined and our interests become increasingly linked, that our values – the values that people come before profit, rights before riches and wisdom before wealth – will also become inextricably bound.<br /><br />I have been censored and censured, ridiculed and mocked, I have been sued and made bankrupt, and I have been jailed over and over. But that only makes me more determined to speak truth to power and to you, my friends, here at Yale.<br /><br />Thank you.<br /><br /><br />**************************************************</span><br />
<br />
<br />
<strong><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Singaporean opposition leaders challenge Yale-NUS</span></strong><br />
<strong></strong><br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
Aleksandra Gjorgievska </div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<em></em> </div>
<em>Yale Daily News,</em> Dec 3, 2012 (<a href="http://yoursdp.org/news/singaporean_opposition_leaders_challenge_yale_nus/2012-12-04-5478" target="_blank">source</a>)<br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Singaporean opposition leaders challenged the establishment of Yale-NUS at a panel discussion in Sheffield-Sterling-Strathcona Hall Friday afternoon.<br /><br />Secretary-General of the Singapore Democratic Party Chee Soon Juan and Secretary-General of the Reform Party of Singapore Kenneth Jeyaretnam called for a re-evaluation of Yale’s motives in partnering with the National University of Singapore in the creation of Yale-NUS, condemning Yale’s alleged compliance with restrictions enforced by the People’s Action Party — the party currently in charge of Singapore’s government. <br /><br />Roughly 100 members of the Yale community attended the panel, which was co-sponsored by the Yale International Relations Association and the Council on Southeast Asia Studies at Yale and also included Meredith Weiss, associate professor of political science at the State University of New York at Albany.<br /><br />"When you seek to advance your interest at the expense of ours, I wonder if you are our friends at all,” Chee said. "Teachers and students, if you will not accept anything less for yourselves here in New Haven, why do you deny it in Singapore?”<br /><br />Chee, whose speech elicited a prolonged applause from the audience, said his worst fears were realized when he found out the Singaporean government would restrict political activity on the Yale-NUS campus, and urged Yale not to be complicit with the ruling party’s oppressive policies toward the Singaporean people. <br /><br />In October, Yale-NUS administrators announced that branches of existing political parties in Singapore as well as organizations "promoting racial or religious strife” would be prohibited on the college’s campus in accordance with the nation’s laws.<br /><br />Jeyaretnam said he thinks healthy political debate cannot exist in a society that is not free. In Singapore, he said, all national media and bloggers who attempt to circumvent state control are frequently threatened with defamation suits by the government, which he added are facts that Yale-NUS President Pericles Lewis has overlooked. <br /><br />By the time they enroll in a university, he added, young Singaporeans are conditioned to self-censorship, as most live in government-owned flats.<br /><br />But Bryan Garsten, a political science professor and member of the social sciences faculty search committee for Yale-NUS, said in a question and answer session following the panel that intellectual liberty has been fundamental in the college’s planning process.<br /><br />"It is hard to sit and hear the generalizations about Yale and Yale-NUS [being made here],” Garsten said. "I want to state that intellectual freedom has been essential and assumed in all of the conversations about the Yale-NUS curriculum."<br /><br />Yale-NUS President Pericles Lewis said that the college’s charter is available on the college’s website. No one involved in the venture is trying to hide any specifics, he said, adding that Yale-NUS administrators welcome advice on how to proceed with the venture.<br /><br />Keith Darden, a political science professor at Yale until last semester and an associate professor of social sciences at Yale-NUS, said during the event that since Yale is a not-for-profit corporation, it cannot legally profit from the Singaporean liberal arts college. The Yale-NUS community is made up of top scholars who are not controlled by anyone, he added.<br /><br />Because channels that would allow Singaporean citizens to express themselves freely remain absent or blocked, Weiss said, most Singaporeans raised under the rule of the People’s Action Party do not expect to have a major voice in the government’s decision-making process. Still, Weiss said she thinks Singaporean civil society has "increasing space for engagement."<br /><br />Both Chee and Jeyaretnam questioned Yale’s financial reasons for establishing the new college, expressing concern that through Yale-NUS, the University will "simply line [its] own pockets” and disregard its established academic goals to maintain a presence in Singapore.<br /><br />"For [President Levin], this is purely a business transaction,” Jeyaretnam said. "What happens to the citizens of my country is not his or Yale’s concern."<br /><br />Chee said the Yale-NUS degrees — which will be awarded by the National University of Singapore instead of Yale — are evidence that Yale’s engagement in Singapore might be superficial, though he added several times that he hopes his suspicions will be proven wrong.<br /><br />"Is Yale not proud of the students it produces in Singapore?" he asked.<br /><br />Chee and Jeyaretnam both said that since Yale-NUS is "a done deal,” Yale’s next steps will be crucial for the success of the venture.<br /><br />During the Q-and-A session following the panel, history professor Glenda Gilmore and classics professor Victor Bers said the Yale-NUS agreement formalizing the joint venture should be made public to clarify Yale’s role in the project.<br /><br />E-Ching Ng GRD ’13, a Singaporean graduate student, said she thinks several facts, such as that Singapore is 40 percent more expensive than New York, were misrepresented during the panel, but she was impressed by Chee’s sincerity during individual conversations with audience members. <br /><br />Rayner Teo ’14, co-president of the Malaysian and Singaporean Association, said after the event that he thought Jeyaretnam appeared "more interested in regurgitating his party’s platform than engaging in substantive dialogue."<br /><br />Marko Micic ’15 said he still believes Yale-NUS’ fundamental problem lies in the secrecy surrounding the project. "Nobody is really sure what the real motivation for creating it is, and so consequently people are free to speculate,” he said.<br /><br />The Yale-NUS campus is scheduled to open in August 2013.<br /><br />(<b>SDP's note</b>: This statistic of Singapore being 42 percent more expensive than New York City was reported by the Wall Street Journal </span><a href="http://blogs.wsj.com/searealtime/2012/02/14/singapore-among-worlds-most-expensive-cities/"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">here</span></a><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">.) </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
(<a href="http://yaledailynews.com/blog/2012/12/03/singaporean-opposition-leaders-challenge-yale-nus/" target="_blank"><i><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">source</span></i></a>)<br />
<i><br /><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Read also</span></i><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">: </span><a href="http://nhregister.com/articles/2012/11/30/news/new_haven/doc50b98693893cf480368866.txt?viewmode=fullstory" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Yale University's Singapore campus plan debated</span></a><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> (New Haven Register)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">**************************************</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<h1 style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: #cc3333; font-family: "Times New Roman", Times, Palatino, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 16px; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-top: 0px; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">
<span style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">An Open Letter from the AAUP to the Yale Community</span></span></span></h1>
<div style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: #cc3333; font-family: "Times New Roman", Times, Palatino, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 16px; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-top: 0px; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">American Association of University Professors (AAUP)</span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; color: black; font-family: Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 16px; margin-top: 0.5em; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">
<strong><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span></strong><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">December 4, 2012 (</span><a href="http://www.aaup.org/AAUP/newsroom/2012PRs/yalelet.htm" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">source</span></a><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">)</span><br />
<strong><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span></strong><br />
<strong><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span></strong><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong>Washington, DC-</strong>The American Association of University Professors (AAUP) today issued an<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span><a href="http://www.aaup.org/AAUP/newsroom/2012webhighlight/Yalelet.htm" style="color: #339999;" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">open letter<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></a><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">to the Yale University community expressing growing concern about the character and impact of the university’s collaboration with the Singaporean government in establishing Yale-National University of Singapore College.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span> </div>
<div style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; color: black; font-family: Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 16px; margin-top: 0.5em; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The letter raises questions about the possibility of true academic freedom in an authoritarian country, about the specific measures that Yale will take to protect the freedom of faculty, staff, and students, and about the lack of transparency that has characterized the planning process. It recommends that the Yale Corporation release documents and agreements related to the plan to establish the Yale-National University of Singapore campus and establish genuinely open forums in which plans can be reviewed, discussed, and modified as necessary.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span> </div>
<div style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; color: black; font-family: Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 16px; margin-top: 0.5em; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Among the many issues that might be reviewed are these:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span> </div>
<ul style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; color: black; font-family: Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 16px; list-style: square; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-top: 0.5em; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span>
<li style="margin-bottom: 0.3em;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">What risks do students and faculty face over campus speech that may be critical of the Singaporean government? What may be the impact on free speech on campus of any surveillance protocols put in place by Singapore authorities?</span></li>
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span>
<li style="margin-bottom: 0.3em;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Will all faculty, staff, and students of Yale-NUS (including Singaporean nationals) be guaranteed immunity from prosecution for writings or statements that would be protected under the provisions of the UNESCO<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><em>Recommendation concerning the Status of Higher Education Teaching Personnel</em>? Will the other protections called for in the UNESCO<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><em>Recommendation concerning the Status of Higher Education Teaching Personnel</em><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>be implemented on the Singapore campus?</span></li>
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span>
<li style="margin-bottom: 0.3em;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Will the libraries, faculty, staff, and students of Yale-NUS be exempt from restrictions on importation of publications or periodicals?</span></li>
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span></ul>
<ul style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; color: black; font-family: Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 16px; list-style: square; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-top: 0.5em; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span>
<li style="margin-bottom: 0.3em;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Will independent Internet access be guaranteed?</span></li>
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span>
<li style="margin-bottom: 0.3em;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Will the right to invite speakers to campus be compromised by restrictions on visitors to Singapore?</span></li>
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span>
<li style="margin-bottom: 0.3em;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">What risks to students, staff, and faculty with various sexual orientations are posed by Singapore’s laws?</span></li>
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span>
<li style="margin-bottom: 0.3em;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Do employees at Yale-NUS who are not American citizens face working conditions that would be unacceptable in the United States? How will working conditions for non-American citizens be monitored and reported to members of the Yale community?</span></li>
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span>
<li style="margin-bottom: 0.3em;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Will American faculty teaching at the Singapore campus be assured the protections for academic freedom and shared governance embodied in AAUP’s Policy Documents and Reports that faculty have in New Haven?</span></li>
</ul>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0.3em;">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span> </div>
<ul style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; color: black; font-family: Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 16px; list-style: square; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-top: 0.5em; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span></ul>
<div style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; color: black; font-family: Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 16px; margin-top: 0.5em; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The open letter is available on the AAUP website at </span><a href="http://www.aaup.org/AAUP/newsroom/2012webhighlight/Yalelet.htm" style="color: #339999;" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">http://www.aaup.org/AAUP/newsroom/2012webhighlight/Yalelet.htm</span></a><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span> </div>
<div style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; color: black; font-family: Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 16px; margin-top: 0.5em; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The American Association of University Professors is a nonprofit charitable and educational organization that promotes academic freedom by supporting tenure, academic due process, and standards of quality in higher education. The AAUP has approximately 47,000 members at colleges and universities throughout the United States.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">*************************************************</span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-395066009662473992.post-20801840825542681692012-12-03T09:18:00.001+08:002012-12-03T09:26:25.848+08:00Forbidden (by PAP) thoughts of Tan Wah Piow (Publichouse.sg's video interview)<strong><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tan_Wah_Piow" target="_blank">Tan Wah Piow</a>, </strong>the alleged mastermind behind the so called <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Spectrum" target="_blank">Marxist Conspiracy</a> (1987) in Singapore, speaks his forbidden thoughts (effectively suppressed in Singapore before the internet) on a range of topics.<br />
<br />
<br />
Source: <em>Tan Wah Piow - Exile with a cause</em>, publichouse.sg (<a href="http://publichouse.sg/categories/topstory/item/814-tan-wah-piow-exile-with-a-cause" target="_blank">here</a>)<br />
<br />
<br />
<iframe allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" frameborder="0" height="360" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/DtYXxlSKvcc?feature=player_embedded" width="640"></iframe>
<iframe allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" frameborder="0" height="360" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/OOai0VbcjnE?feature=player_detailpage" width="640"></iframe>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-395066009662473992.post-59608010480268950472012-12-03T06:24:00.000+08:002012-12-08T20:58:25.752+08:00Dr Vincent Wijeysingha on Singapore's first strike in 26 years<div>
<h2 class="uiHeaderTitle">
<div>
<span style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: small;">“You can resign and go to SBS,” the drivers were told</span></div>
<div>
</div>
</h2>
</div>
<div class="clearfix">
<div class="mbs uiHeaderSubTitle lfloat fsm fwn fcg">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">by </span><a aria-controls="js_5" aria-haspopup="true" aria-owns="js_5" data-hovercard="/ajax/hovercard/user.php?id=684182473" href="https://www.facebook.com/vwijeysingha" id="js_6" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Vincent Wijeysingha</span></a><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> on Sunday, 2 December 2012 at 19:52</span> (<a href="https://www.facebook.com/#!/notes/vincent-wijeysingha/you-can-resign-and-go-to-sbs-the-drivers-were-told/517597378258190" target="_blank">source</a>)<br />
</div>
<div class="mbs uiHeaderSubTitle lfloat fsm fwn fcg">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Dr Vincent Wijeysingha is Treasurer of the Singapore Democratic Party and a member of its Central Executive Committee. He also heads its Communications Unit.</span><br />
</div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivMOH64SL7LRSfgXNoaxbxm9dao9djBB_dkwkLAa7CfdB1E7yRq7maS5F8yEd-QBnvC6YojWLcwfnxnbJ-Uh8Pv3fTTaHhxPhT6dh7GIQRXIsyrmw_DpZjtJEnY3tlVkkWBwL2behrLA/s1600/vincent+wijey.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivMOH64SL7LRSfgXNoaxbxm9dao9djBB_dkwkLAa7CfdB1E7yRq7maS5F8yEd-QBnvC6YojWLcwfnxnbJ-Uh8Pv3fTTaHhxPhT6dh7GIQRXIsyrmw_DpZjtJEnY3tlVkkWBwL2behrLA/s640/vincent+wijey.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Dr Vincent Wijeysingha</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="mbs uiHeaderSubTitle lfloat fsm fwn fcg">
</div>
<div class="mbs uiHeaderSubTitle lfloat fsm fwn fcg">
</div>
<div class="mbs uiHeaderSubTitle lfloat fsm fwn fcg">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The government has acted in our name as is its duty. It purged an industrial action and returned the nation to business as usual. The bus drivers from SMRT recklessly involved themselves in an illegal strike after refusing to bring their grievances to management or their trade union or seek the assistance of the Manpower Ministry. Twenty-nine have been deported, one hundred and fifty more issued a police warning and the five ringleaders will be tried. Industrial harmony has been restored, the tripartite relationship upheld, and public disorder averted.</span><br />
</div>
<div class="mbs uiHeaderSubTitle lfloat fsm fwn fcg">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span></div>
<div class="mbs uiHeaderSubTitle lfloat fsm fwn fcg">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">As fortunate citizens of this prosperous and stable nation, we can heave a sigh of relief. Those refractory foreigners got what they deserved. How dare they come to our land - which our government built from a fishing village - and demand such indulgences as suitable accommodation and an equal wage. Nobody promised them any of that: if they aren’t happy here they can fuck off back home.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"></span> </div>
<div class="mbs uiHeaderSubTitle lfloat fsm fwn fcg">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span></div>
<div class="mbs uiHeaderSubTitle lfloat fsm fwn fcg">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">There are too many damn foreigners here as it is. The come here to steal our jobs, marry our women, clog the trains, explode housing prices, beat up taxi drivers, and drive Ferraris too fast. They dance outside Wisma Atria and jam the staircases at Lucky Plaza. Oh, and they smell. And talk too loudly. In strange accents.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"></span> </div>
<div class="mbs uiHeaderSubTitle lfloat fsm fwn fcg">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span></div>
<div class="mbs uiHeaderSubTitle lfloat fsm fwn fcg">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In short, they are audacious and unpleasant. Oh, and they smell. Did I mention that? They do. And they talk too loudly.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"></span> </div>
<div class="mbs uiHeaderSubTitle lfloat fsm fwn fcg">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span></div>
<div class="mbs uiHeaderSubTitle lfloat fsm fwn fcg">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Twenty-nine PRC workers deported means trains that are twenty-nine odoriferous bodies less crowded.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"></span> </div>
<div class="mbs uiHeaderSubTitle lfloat fsm fwn fcg">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span></div>
<div class="mbs uiHeaderSubTitle lfloat fsm fwn fcg">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Except that they mostly built the train stations in the last twenty years. And the condos. And the roads. And dug the drains. And sweep the streets and collect the garbage. And keep one million households clean, children fed, grandparents minded, dogs walked, and laundry washed.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"></span> </div>
<div class="mbs uiHeaderSubTitle lfloat fsm fwn fcg">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span></div>
<div class="mbs uiHeaderSubTitle lfloat fsm fwn fcg">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">All at a cost so miniscule that our taxes can be kept low. And investment can pour in. And we can go to work in comfort, walk clean streets, and come home to clean houses and clean children.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"></span> </div>
<div class="mbs uiHeaderSubTitle lfloat fsm fwn fcg">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span></div>
<div class="mbs uiHeaderSubTitle lfloat fsm fwn fcg">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">What price do we pay for these smelly philanthropists?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"></span> </div>
<div class="mbs uiHeaderSubTitle lfloat fsm fwn fcg">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span></div>
<div class="mbs uiHeaderSubTitle lfloat fsm fwn fcg">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">What price do they pay?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"></span> </div>
<div class="mbs uiHeaderSubTitle lfloat fsm fwn fcg">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span></div>
<div class="mbs uiHeaderSubTitle lfloat fsm fwn fcg">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Well, we found out this week. If we are to take a position on what could yet be the most divisive moment of the decade, we should know what we are talking about.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"></span> </div>
<div class="mbs uiHeaderSubTitle lfloat fsm fwn fcg">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span></div>
<div class="mbs uiHeaderSubTitle lfloat fsm fwn fcg">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The 25 November Baidu website post of one of the ringleaders soon to be tried for instigating the strike bespeaks a frustrated, despairing man. A man feeling the weight of the unfairness of treatment by a large government-controlled transit company.</span></div>
<div class="mbs uiHeaderSubTitle lfloat fsm fwn fcg">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"></span> </div>
<div class="mbs uiHeaderSubTitle lfloat fsm fwn fcg">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">“This is not just a labour dispute, it was an illegal strike,” intoned the responsible minister solemnly at his press conference on Saturday. But what if the law is unfair? What if the law makes it so difficult as to be impossible for a worker to claim fair treatment? What if the law masks an even greater injustice? What then?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"></span> </div>
<div class="mbs uiHeaderSubTitle lfloat fsm fwn fcg">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span></div>
<div class="mbs uiHeaderSubTitle lfloat fsm fwn fcg">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I exonerate the minister since he is acting within the constraints imposed upon him. Constraints built into the system over decades. Constraints precisely designed to neutralise anyone who dares to ask for respect and dignity. We are, after all, economic digits, and the minister played out the role that history and the PAP high command has laid out for him. He is, in many senses, an economic digit too.</span><br />
</div>
<div class="mbs uiHeaderSubTitle lfloat fsm fwn fcg">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span></div>
<div class="mbs uiHeaderSubTitle lfloat fsm fwn fcg">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But should we stand by as our fellow workers, whether born upon this soil or not, are given a wage increase of thirteen cents an hour? Are paid less for doing the same work? Are told to go and join another company if they are unhappy with their pay and conditions? Are made to sleep in overcrowded, bed bug-infested dormitories?</span><br />
</div>
<div class="mbs uiHeaderSubTitle lfloat fsm fwn fcg">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span></div>
<div class="mbs uiHeaderSubTitle lfloat fsm fwn fcg">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Let us examine the facts of the case as they have unfolded, not over this last week since the bus drivers struck, but over almost six months since their contracts were rewritten. For then we will learn that this was not a wildcat strike by a few unreasonable, demanding, ungrateful ringleaders but the last wretched act in a series of grievances which management and the trade union congress resolutely refused to address but which, if they had, might have averted the strike and prevented so many workers (and their families) from having to pay the ultimate price of losing their jobs.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"></span> </div>
<div class="mbs uiHeaderSubTitle lfloat fsm fwn fcg">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span></div>
<div class="mbs uiHeaderSubTitle lfloat fsm fwn fcg">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Some several weeks before July, the workers were informed that their contracts were to be varied effective July. Salaries were to be revised upwards. However, the working week was also to be lengthened from five to six days. Recalculating their raised wages against their longer working hours meant an actual drop in wages.</span><br />
</div>
<div class="mbs uiHeaderSubTitle lfloat fsm fwn fcg">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span></div>
<div class="mbs uiHeaderSubTitle lfloat fsm fwn fcg">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Additionally, their six day work week did not mean working Days 1 to 6 and then resting on the seventh. It meant being allocated a rest day at any time during each seven day period: Thus they could be off on Monday, work twelve days straight and then be off next on the Sunday of the second week.</span></div>
<div class="mbs uiHeaderSubTitle lfloat fsm fwn fcg">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"></span> </div>
<div class="mbs uiHeaderSubTitle lfloat fsm fwn fcg">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This did not include the already existing practice of not paying the drivers for the time it takes to prepare their vehicles prior to starting their first run of the day and servicing their vehicles after the end of each shift. Workers estimated that SMRT sucked at least one hour of unpaid work per shift from each driver. That’s six hours per week, or $150 per month. Which is 750 Renmimbi: a week’s wages in China.</span></div>
<div class="mbs uiHeaderSubTitle lfloat fsm fwn fcg">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"></span> </div>
<div class="mbs uiHeaderSubTitle lfloat fsm fwn fcg">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Now, bear in mind that these changes were not negotiated with the workers. They were simply announced. In fact, at some depots, management merely posted a note on the canteen notice board.</span></div>
<div class="mbs uiHeaderSubTitle lfloat fsm fwn fcg">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><br />
</div>
<div class="mbs uiHeaderSubTitle lfloat fsm fwn fcg">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The workers, both foreign and local, became unhappy, as necessarily they would. They spoke to their management. Some wrote a petition; some approached <em>The Online Citizen</em>; others came to the SDP for help.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"></span> </div>
<div class="mbs uiHeaderSubTitle lfloat fsm fwn fcg">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span></div>
<div class="mbs uiHeaderSubTitle lfloat fsm fwn fcg">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Nothing could be achieved in the face of corporate and government obduracy. As <em>The Online Citizen</em> wrote on 1 October, “All negotiations with SMRT’s HR have failed as well. In a closed door meeting with the SMRT drivers, the Senior Operations Manager of SMRT told the drivers, “You can resign and go to SBS”.”</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"></span> </div>
<div class="mbs uiHeaderSubTitle lfloat fsm fwn fcg">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span></div>
<div class="mbs uiHeaderSubTitle lfloat fsm fwn fcg">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The matter was delegated to Ong Ye Kung, the failed PAP parliamentary candidate for Aljuneid in 2011. He was in somewhat of a difficult position being, in addition to Deputy Secretary-General of the NTUC, also, in the tripartite format that has served the administration so well these last thirty years, a director of the Board of SMRT. Mr Ong resigned in September without disclosing his reasons: perhaps the conundrum was beyond his intellectual limits.</span><br />
</div>
<div class="mbs uiHeaderSubTitle lfloat fsm fwn fcg">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span></div>
<div class="mbs uiHeaderSubTitle lfloat fsm fwn fcg">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The matter of the SMRT drivers was pushed onto the back burner. The government ignored the reports in the online press. Frustrated drivers even approached a lawyer for legal advice. The workers eventually struck because even the trifling $25 pay increase wasn’t yet in their latest wage packet.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"></span> </div>
<div class="mbs uiHeaderSubTitle lfloat fsm fwn fcg">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span></div>
<div class="mbs uiHeaderSubTitle lfloat fsm fwn fcg">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The reason I am acquainted with this sequence of events, which SMRT and the Manpower Ministry has pretended didn’t come to pass and on which the mainstream press has dutifully kept silent, is because the SDP’s Community Service Unit was involved with some of the workers from before their new contracts came into force and had been liaising through a third party with the petition writers.</span><br />
</div>
<div class="mbs uiHeaderSubTitle lfloat fsm fwn fcg">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span></div>
<div class="mbs uiHeaderSubTitle lfloat fsm fwn fcg">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I am moved to write this note because in those frustrated Chinese bus drivers, I see my own fate. The powers that govern the allocation of resources, that is, governments and corporations, have never conceded better pay and conditions for workers without a fight, sometimes violent and bloody confrontations merely to exact such simple concessions as a living wage and safe working conditions. I have never believed that I can get on in life without a collective attitude to society. Each man and woman contributing their skills and time to make a nation hum. Capital and labour working together, to use the phraseology of a past age. So, in the fate of some workers who, in the intransigence of great power, had nowhere else to turn except to withdraw their labour, their only power against power, as it were, I see my own fate as a worker.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"></span> </div>
<div class="mbs uiHeaderSubTitle lfloat fsm fwn fcg">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span></div>
<div class="mbs uiHeaderSubTitle lfloat fsm fwn fcg">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">No doubt, there are some who will accuse me of politicking, of turning this into an opportunity to ‘bash’ the government. It is a convenient accusation and one which, ultimately, benefits no one but those who would prefer that we remain economic digits, rather than self-respecting citizens of a free society.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"></span> </div>
<div class="mbs uiHeaderSubTitle lfloat fsm fwn fcg">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span></div>
<div class="mbs uiHeaderSubTitle lfloat fsm fwn fcg">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">To use that time-honoured word so hallowed by the PAP, I will be accused by some of trying to “politicise” the issue. The first prime minister’s formulation, which writer Catherine Lim found to her cost, that to involve oneself in politics one must join a political party, is both self-serving and dishonest. All citizens, indeed all people, through the very fact of their existence, are responsible for the political structures, economic conditions and social framework of their community. The word politics stems from the Greek for ‘city’. Living in a city, a community, makes us all responsible for its functioning. In Athens, the cradle of democracy, it was not just a responsibility but a duty.</span><br />
</div>
<div class="mbs uiHeaderSubTitle lfloat fsm fwn fcg">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span></div>
<div class="mbs uiHeaderSubTitle lfloat fsm fwn fcg">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And so, as I have watched events unfold over the last week and heard utterance upon utterance from official sources whose proximity to the truth has been stretched beyond sight, I ask you to consider the key underlying issues inherent in this sorry affair.</span><br />
</div>
<div class="mbs uiHeaderSubTitle lfloat fsm fwn fcg">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span></div>
<div class="mbs uiHeaderSubTitle lfloat fsm fwn fcg">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I start first with the anti-foreigner sentiments which I think are important because they have thinly-veiled the debate this last week. The levels of xenophobia in our country have been rising exponentially over these last twenty years. I know what xenophobia is. I spent long years in the UK, itself facing a xenophobic assault by those threatened by the presence of foreigners. I spent much time in Australia and in Germany where I saw the same processes unfolding. And at home in Singapore the same trends are emerging.</span></div>
<div class="mbs uiHeaderSubTitle lfloat fsm fwn fcg">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"></span> </div>
<div class="mbs uiHeaderSubTitle lfloat fsm fwn fcg">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But have we stopped to consider from where our antipathy comes? Have we wondered why the Singaporean Chinese approach their mainland cousins in so hostile a manner? Why Singaporean Indians have become increasingly antipathetic to those from the subcontinent? Could we not, in our opposition and antagonism to the immigration and foreign labour policies, which we have never had a chance to debate adequately, be railing against the weakest elements in the enterprise, the migrants themselves? Could we not, in our powerlessness against government policy, be attacking he who is easiest to attack?</span><br />
</div>
<div class="mbs uiHeaderSubTitle lfloat fsm fwn fcg">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span></div>
<div class="mbs uiHeaderSubTitle lfloat fsm fwn fcg">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Every day in the online media, in social discourse, in face-to-face interaction we rail against foreigners. But organise a forum to discuss ways of communicating our displeasure to the government and exploring policy alternatives, and only a hundred people turn up. My view is that we feel powerless and can scarce believe that the government would listen to us. And why should it? Have we ever given them cause to recognise our views as significant and important? We cave in at every opportunity. We acquiesce in each new policy. We watch in silence as cabinet ministers tell us from on high that, despite our opposition to immigration policy, it will remain in place and that we will have to like it or lump it.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"></span> </div>
<div class="mbs uiHeaderSubTitle lfloat fsm fwn fcg">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span></div>
<div class="mbs uiHeaderSubTitle lfloat fsm fwn fcg">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In my view, the root of our xenophobia is not our hatred of foreigners. In a sense, all of us, with the exception of our Malay brothers and sisters, are foreigners on this island. Our ancestors all came here, much like the SMRT drivers, in search of a better life. We have grown up exposed to and sharing in cultures totally different to ours. How can we, so outward-looking and globalised, hate foreigners?</span></div>
<div class="mbs uiHeaderSubTitle lfloat fsm fwn fcg">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"></span> </div>
<div class="mbs uiHeaderSubTitle lfloat fsm fwn fcg">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Our Indians and Malays swear in Chinese languages! Our Chinese eat fish head curry at Race Course Road with their fingers, halal mooncakes and char kuay teow are freely available, and the Eurasian and Peranakan communities, in my view the best and most colourful elements of our community, are cultural deposits not found anywhere else in the world. In short, in our very beings we are internationalist, globalised and open to diverse cultural forms.</span><br />
</div>
<div class="mbs uiHeaderSubTitle lfloat fsm fwn fcg">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span></div>
<div class="mbs uiHeaderSubTitle lfloat fsm fwn fcg">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So, we must look elsewhere for the explanations. My view, which I ask you to consider, is that what we are really opposed to is the government’s immigration policy, not the beneficiaries of that policy. We are no more averse to peoples of other races flocking to our island now that our parents and grandparents were three and four generations ago. And if we cannot find some way to communicate our views to the government in such a way that it will listen, then our society is on a collision course with the political equivalent of the Andromeda Galaxy. Why? Because a society resting precariously upon such unhappiness, such alienation, cannot remain peaceful, stable and productive.</span><br />
</div>
<div class="mbs uiHeaderSubTitle lfloat fsm fwn fcg">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span></div>
<div class="mbs uiHeaderSubTitle lfloat fsm fwn fcg">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Many have expressed outright xenophobic views about the Chinese bus drivers. “Go home, Ah Tiong,” seems to be a popular sentiment. I ask you, in this note, to reflect with me on the wider reasons underlying their action and, so, to clarify what this is all about. Because if you do not, if we do not, we will have missed another opportunity to grow up and take our place in a democratic, free society, not languishing in the infancy of our nation, still content that Big Brother will do our thinking and our value setting for us.</span></div>
<div class="mbs uiHeaderSubTitle lfloat fsm fwn fcg">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><br />
</div>
<div class="mbs uiHeaderSubTitle lfloat fsm fwn fcg">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In the light of the inevitable accusations that I suspect may come my way, allow me to share my thoughts on this lamentable demonstration of state power which has attacked the system at its strongest potential point, that is, its labour force, and at its most vulnerable justification, the stability of our economy and its amenability to foreign investment. If I have at the very least got you to ask some questions we have yet left unasked, then I think I can withstand the accusation.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"></span> </div>
<div class="mbs uiHeaderSubTitle lfloat fsm fwn fcg">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span></div>
<div class="mbs uiHeaderSubTitle lfloat fsm fwn fcg">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">There are three issues to look at.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"></span> </div>
<div class="mbs uiHeaderSubTitle lfloat fsm fwn fcg">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span></div>
<div class="mbs uiHeaderSubTitle lfloat fsm fwn fcg">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">One is the ‘At All Costs’ argument. It is a rhetoric founded upon the crisis mentality that the government posited in the early years of its existence: that Singapore, bereft of even limited natural resources, lately shorn of its hinterland, and now finding itself in a hostile ‘Malay sea’, could little afford such fripperies as human dignity and joy. Oh no, oh no, it was said, if we let up on our eternal vigilance, if we cast doubts on the probity of our administration, if we slack for even a second, we would be mired in perdition, that favourite word of the apocalyptic Lee Kuan Yew.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"></span> </div>
<div class="mbs uiHeaderSubTitle lfloat fsm fwn fcg">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span></div>
<div class="mbs uiHeaderSubTitle lfloat fsm fwn fcg">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And unfortunately, we bought the rhetoric, ceding to our leaders more power than was appropriate to their offices and slumping into a state of intellectual inertia from which only our access to alternative media, books and journals is lately releasing us. So, our leaders consistently voted themselves the highest ministerial salaries in the world to afford mansion homes in Second Avenue and Binjai Park; second homes at Nassim Jade; foreign education for their children; overseas luxury flats in Cambridgeshire or the London Docklands. Meanwhile, the wages of our people flatlined at the middle and decayed at the lower levels and housing and healthcare prices skyrocketed while cabinet ministers consistently tell us to hang on just a little longer for that Golden Age that is just within sight. To our shame, we stomached the oratory, even as our leaders own lives showed a very different outcome. We became hostages to the very discourse of success.</span><br />
</div>
<div class="mbs uiHeaderSubTitle lfloat fsm fwn fcg">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span></div>
<div class="mbs uiHeaderSubTitle lfloat fsm fwn fcg">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The second issue to consider is the proposition, invented and propagated by the PAP, that Singapore has a fine administrative structure designed purposefully for the wellbeing of the people. We heard it this week when Tan Chuan Jin, acting Manpower Minister, assured us that legitimate processes exist for the settlement of labour concerns and disputes, and that if only the Chinese bus drivers had availed of them, they would have avoided the iron fist of the law that slammed upon their backs early Monday morning.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"></span> </div>
<div class="mbs uiHeaderSubTitle lfloat fsm fwn fcg">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span></div>
<div class="mbs uiHeaderSubTitle lfloat fsm fwn fcg">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This is a patent fiction. And the minister knows it, which makes his dishonest pronouncements, all the more shameful. He and his immediate predecessors have, for the last eight years been advised and informed of the structures of the Ministry of Manpower that militate against fair treatment of workers, particularly foreign workers, particularly low-waged foreign workers, particularly low-waged, less-educated foreign workers.</span><br />
</div>
<div class="mbs uiHeaderSubTitle lfloat fsm fwn fcg">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span></div>
<div class="mbs uiHeaderSubTitle lfloat fsm fwn fcg">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In these last eight years, the activist groups, HOME and TWC2, have <span style="background-color: yellow;">bombarded the Manpower Ministry with report upon report and, literally, countless complaints about labour processes that not only disadvantage foreign, low-waged workers but in some instances result in their being maimed or killed.</span></span><br />
</div>
<div class="mbs uiHeaderSubTitle lfloat fsm fwn fcg">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span></div>
<div class="mbs uiHeaderSubTitle lfloat fsm fwn fcg">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Tan Chuan Jin and his colleagues are comprehensively aware of this. His behaviour over this last week has shown him to be a man either systematically incapable of telling the truth or of grasping the realities of his department. I posit neither proposal: I merely offer them for public interrogation. (And perhaps a response from the minister himself.)</span></div>
<div class="mbs uiHeaderSubTitle lfloat fsm fwn fcg">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"></span> </div>
<div class="mbs uiHeaderSubTitle lfloat fsm fwn fcg">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"There are appropriate grievance handling processes in place, and workers are advised to speak to their HR and management to discuss and resolve any employment-related issues amicably, rather than take matters into their own hands," the ministry pronounced.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"></span> </div>
<div class="mbs uiHeaderSubTitle lfloat fsm fwn fcg">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span></div>
<div class="mbs uiHeaderSubTitle lfloat fsm fwn fcg">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In a scathing <a href="http://yawningbread.wordpress.com/2012/12/01/as-bus-drivers-strike-government-messaging-goes-into-overdrive/" target="_blank">article</a> on his blog, <em>Yawning Bread</em>, on 1 December, the incisive and, as usual, erudite Alex Au made just this point. He said, “The government pretends there is a process for labour justice, but there isn’t and its absence sows the seed for future instability.” My own stint at TWC2 as its Executive Director and my close dealings with HOME’s Jolovan Wham and other labour activists evidences this to be so.</span><br />
</div>
<div class="mbs uiHeaderSubTitle lfloat fsm fwn fcg">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span></div>
<div class="mbs uiHeaderSubTitle lfloat fsm fwn fcg">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And as I have narrated the six-month long duration of this deplorable saga, the workers did try every means at their disposal to resolve their concerns. <span style="background-color: yellow;">They were told to go and work for SBS. They did not have adequate processes as the minister claims</span>.</span><br />
</div>
<div class="mbs uiHeaderSubTitle lfloat fsm fwn fcg">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span></div>
<div class="mbs uiHeaderSubTitle lfloat fsm fwn fcg">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Another poorly-advised government placeman, Cedric Foo, Chairman of the Government Parliamentary Committee for Transport, piously said that workers should follow due process. "I think work stoppages are not the way to go, especially in the case of essential services, it shouldn't be the course of action since there are unintended consequences - commuters face disruptions and they are not even involved in the dispute," he said.</span></div>
<div class="mbs uiHeaderSubTitle lfloat fsm fwn fcg">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"></span> </div>
<div class="mbs uiHeaderSubTitle lfloat fsm fwn fcg">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Except that the workers did follow “due process”. But they all ended in a blind alley. For six months they tried to talk to anyone who would listen and the government ignored them. For Mr Foo to now pretend that they did not use the means available to them – and the concomitant, albeit silent accusation, that they were precipitate and reckless – is again, I ask you to speculate, either foolish, unintelligent, or just plain uninformed. Mr Foo will need to search his conscience and perhaps if his strength finally finds him, he may wish to respond.</span></div>
<div class="mbs uiHeaderSubTitle lfloat fsm fwn fcg">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"></span> </div>
<div class="mbs uiHeaderSubTitle lfloat fsm fwn fcg">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">“Workers should go through their unions if they have union representation, or go to the MOM or the Industrial Arbitration Court,” he added. In Sunday’s papers we read that the NTUC thoroughly supported the government’s position on the strikes. We also know, because that is not something that could be hidden, that the relevant Deputy Secretary-General of the NTUC deputised to deal with the workers’ grievances, faced a significant conflict of interest. Mr Foo may wish to explain how the workers might have been expected to obtain redress from such a shamelessly armlocked set-up. Again, I invite him to respond.</span></div>
<div class="mbs uiHeaderSubTitle lfloat fsm fwn fcg">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><br />
</div>
<div class="mbs uiHeaderSubTitle lfloat fsm fwn fcg">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"The MOM takes the workers' actions very seriously," said yet another spokesperson. From my adumbration above of the events that unfolded, not over five days, I remind you, but over almost six months, MOM only took their actions seriously when they had the potential to challenge the government in a very public way. When the workers were content to carry their concerns through Mr Foo’s ‘due process’, the government, the corporation and the trade union simply ignored them. For Mr Foo and General Tan to now pretend that they did not follow ‘due process’ is, at the very least, disingenuous.</span><br />
</div>
<div class="mbs uiHeaderSubTitle lfloat fsm fwn fcg">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span></div>
<div class="mbs uiHeaderSubTitle lfloat fsm fwn fcg">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The new SMRT CEO, Desmond Kuek, replacing Saw Paik Hwa, who left wealthy but in disgrace some months ago, returned from holiday and quickly got his script right. He joined his political masters in repeating <em>ad nauseam</em> that SMRT took a serious view of strikes and the drivers should have used the proper channels to raise their concerns and feedback. “There are open channels of communications with all our Service Leaders (SLs), such as regular townhall sessions and staff dialogues," he is quoted as saying.</span><br />
</div>
<div class="mbs uiHeaderSubTitle lfloat fsm fwn fcg">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span></div>
<div class="mbs uiHeaderSubTitle lfloat fsm fwn fcg">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I need not repeat to him that they did try all the channels open to them. None worked, as he well knows. <em>The Online Citizen</em> reported way back in September:</span></div>
<div class="mbs uiHeaderSubTitle lfloat fsm fwn fcg">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"></span> </div>
<blockquote class="mbs uiHeaderSubTitle lfloat fsm fwn fcg">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">On 8th August 2012, a group of SMRT drivers petitioned the Union Chief Lim Swee Say demanding reinstatement of their previous five day workweek and salary package. Their negotiations have reached a stalemate.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I spoke to three drivers from SMRT on the 25th of September and they tell the same story that they have taken a forced pay cut since May 2012. According to the drivers, the Secretary General and Executive Committee of NTUC agreed with SMRT Management to accept the unfavourable proposal. Under the new scheme, the drivers said that they have been taking home about $400 – $500 less each month. It is estimated that each driver will lose in excess of $3500 in earnings from May to December 2012.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">All their attempts to negotiate a fair wage have come to a naught. The drivers have also petitioned the Prime Minister, who then referred the drivers to the Ministry of Manpower (MOM). The MOM in turn referred them to the Land Transport Authority (LTA), only for LTA to bounce this matter back to MOM. After six weeks, they are back to where they started – MOM has referred this back to NTUC.</span></blockquote>
<div class="mbs uiHeaderSubTitle lfloat fsm fwn fcg">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"></span> </div>
<div class="mbs uiHeaderSubTitle lfloat fsm fwn fcg">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Now, the third issue we must address if we are going to make any sense of the matter is the methodology of the government when confronted with challenge or dispute.</span><br />
</div>
<div class="mbs uiHeaderSubTitle lfloat fsm fwn fcg">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span></div>
<div class="mbs uiHeaderSubTitle lfloat fsm fwn fcg">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">As I have established above, the processes that exist at the administrative level to respond to labour concerns are a chimera at best, a delusion or a lie at worst. So we can safely mark down General Tan, Mr Foo and their colleagues’ interpretation of things. They may never have taken a walk through their grievance processes but <span style="background-color: yellow;">I assure them that I have. And Jolovan Wham has. And Kenneth Soh of TWC2 has. And Alex Au has.</span> And they will all, to a man, tell you that they only crawl into seeming life when pushed and prodded against their will. Read the numerous reports and press statements and personal stories on their websites and you will know this too.</span></div>
<div class="mbs uiHeaderSubTitle lfloat fsm fwn fcg">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><br />
</div>
<div class="mbs uiHeaderSubTitle lfloat fsm fwn fcg">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">As Alex Au, who has become very familiar with labour processes through his involvement at TWC2 said in the same blog post I referred to above, “The government therefore is misleading the public by suggesting that it had processes to help. It does not. Our mainstream media do our public no service by not putting their brains to use before printing slavishly what the government says.” I have no option but to join Mr Au in his challenge to the authorities and I issue a new one: Justify the statements you have made in this last week or remain totally vulnerable to the accusation that you have been economical with the truth.</span></div>
<div class="mbs uiHeaderSubTitle lfloat fsm fwn fcg">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><br />
</div>
<div class="mbs uiHeaderSubTitle lfloat fsm fwn fcg">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Minister Tan Chuan Jin, pretended to a great deal of ignorance when he said at his press conference on Saturday,</span></div>
<div class="mbs uiHeaderSubTitle lfloat fsm fwn fcg">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"></span> </div>
<blockquote class="mbs uiHeaderSubTitle lfloat fsm fwn fcg">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">SMRT must take steps to ensure that such severe breakdowns in labour relations should not happen again. We all know that there are statutory requirements that companies need to fulfil and these are expected of all companies but there are also many non-statutory practices which frankly any good company should fulfil as well and this includes how you manage your staff, employees, how you engage them and how you look after them, looking after their welfare and this includes both local and foreign employees and frankly it is common sense, companies are expected to do that.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The issue is really why did this happen? Why was it allowed to fester? We do understand that the channels of communication are there. So the question is, did it filter upwards? Did it not filter upwards? And why not? And those are things we have to examine."</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"></span> </blockquote>
<div class="mbs uiHeaderSubTitle lfloat fsm fwn fcg">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I am afraid I have to tell him his protestations are mealy-mouthed. The nation, through the good offices of <em>The Online Citizen</em>, has known about this matter since September. Mr Tan cannot claim ignorance now: he comes across as either incompetent or not telling the whole truth. I invite him to clarify.</span></div>
<div class="mbs uiHeaderSubTitle lfloat fsm fwn fcg">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"></span> </div>
<div class="mbs uiHeaderSubTitle lfloat fsm fwn fcg">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Let us turn then to how the government does in fact deal with dispute? It locks people up as it did this week. It deports them or refuses to allow them back in, as Dr Ang Swee Chai found, or revokes their citizenship if that is possible, and Tan Wah Piow found this to his cost. It tortures people. It bankrupts people or silences them through the threat of defamation suits. It writes threatening letters as Ng Eng Hen did last week. .</span></div>
<div class="mbs uiHeaderSubTitle lfloat fsm fwn fcg">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><br />
</div>
<div class="mbs uiHeaderSubTitle lfloat fsm fwn fcg">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This is its modus operandi, refined over fifty years. If General Tan knows this not, he knows very little. As his party founder, Lee Kuan Yew, once said so shamefully, “repression is like making love: it’s always easier the second time round.” Indeed he should know.</span></div>
<div class="mbs uiHeaderSubTitle lfloat fsm fwn fcg">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><br />
</div>
<div class="mbs uiHeaderSubTitle lfloat fsm fwn fcg">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Now couple that climate of fear and retribution with the PAP’s remaking of itself as an institution synonymous and indistinguishable from the nation itself. Couple that with a media entirely controlled by the government as to function simply and solely as its mouthpiece. Couple that with a 100% success rate at its defamation suits. Couple that with a trade union movement so closely tucked up in bed with both the government and the corporate world as to be largely interchangeable one from the other; Mr Ong Ye Kung being the best example. Couple that with a Societies Act that has phenomenal power to regulate the extent and conduct of civil society. And couple that with the universities who are so anxious to walk the line laid for them by the government that they have not used their talents on even a single occasion to point out the flaws in the system and their damage to innocent, decent citizens.</span></div>
<div class="mbs uiHeaderSubTitle lfloat fsm fwn fcg">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><br />
</div>
<div class="mbs uiHeaderSubTitle lfloat fsm fwn fcg">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And crown the whole sorry theatre of absurdities with Whitley Road Detention Centre and the marks upon their psyche that Vincent Cheng and Teo Soh Lung and Chia Thye Poh and more than a thousand victims of the PAP still carry and you arrive at what, this week, Alex Au called a petitionary state and Chan Heng Chee once termed a “petitionary political culture”.</span></div>
<div class="mbs uiHeaderSubTitle lfloat fsm fwn fcg">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><br />
</div>
<div class="mbs uiHeaderSubTitle lfloat fsm fwn fcg">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It is not a culture of equals. It is a culture of supplicant and benefactor. The polity that the PAP has habituated us to is one where our just deserts can only come from a Cabinet in a good mood or facing a General Election.</span></div>
<div class="mbs uiHeaderSubTitle lfloat fsm fwn fcg">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><br />
</div>
<div class="mbs uiHeaderSubTitle lfloat fsm fwn fcg">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Again, if General Tan knows this not, he knows very little.</span><br />
</div>
<div class="mbs uiHeaderSubTitle lfloat fsm fwn fcg">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span></div>
<div class="mbs uiHeaderSubTitle lfloat fsm fwn fcg">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">If at this point in this limited essay, I have at least captured your attention, if not agreement, allow me to go further and examine the role of trade unions.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"></span> </div>
<div class="mbs uiHeaderSubTitle lfloat fsm fwn fcg">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span></div>
<div class="mbs uiHeaderSubTitle lfloat fsm fwn fcg">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The middle 1800s were a time like no other in the history of the mo</span><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">dern world. The widespread availability of new materials like steel; the rapid invention of machines; the discovery of electricity; the harnessing of steam and coal; and the expansion of raw material availability and markets in the colonial enterprise gave rise to what historians have come to call the Industrial Revolution.</span></div>
<div class="mbs uiHeaderSubTitle lfloat fsm fwn fcg">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"></span> </div>
<div class="mbs uiHeaderSubTitle lfloat fsm fwn fcg">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The new factories divided work processes into minute tasks such that the craftsmen of yesteryear disappeared and a new phenomenon arose, the factory worker, a deskilled, unlettered operative contributing only a small part of the whole production process. There were no more guilds of craftsmen but a huge mass of workers, divided one from the other by favours and bribes. Professionalisation and machinery gave rise to economies of scale in the primary goods market: the farms and ranches. The capital accumulated from these new industrial and farming ventures created great wealth. A new world of exploitation and estrangement, what Marx termed anomie, was born.</span><br />
</div>
<div class="mbs uiHeaderSubTitle lfloat fsm fwn fcg">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span></div>
<div class="mbs uiHeaderSubTitle lfloat fsm fwn fcg">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Gradually, as the exploitation of workers increased, so did the waking up of these workers, aided by social workers and political activists. Trade unions began to be formed to campaign and later negotiate better wages and healthier and safer working conditions.</span></div>
<div class="mbs uiHeaderSubTitle lfloat fsm fwn fcg">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"></span> </div>
<div class="mbs uiHeaderSubTitle lfloat fsm fwn fcg">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Pope Leo XIII became alarmed at what he saw as the increasing exploitation of the common people. With the assistance of Cardinal Manning, the English bishop who placed himself so closely on the side of the workers, the Pope penned a letter to the world entitled <em>Rerum Novarum, </em>where he said,</span></div>
<div class="mbs uiHeaderSubTitle lfloat fsm fwn fcg">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"></span> </div>
<blockquote class="mbs uiHeaderSubTitle lfloat fsm fwn fcg">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Let the working man and the employer make free agreements, and in particular let them agree freely as to the wages; nevertheless, there underlies a dictate of natural justice more imperious and ancient than any bargain between man and man, namely, that wages ought not to be insufficient to support a frugal and well-behaved wage-earner. If through necessity or fear of a worse evil the workman accept harder conditions because an employer or contractor will afford him no better, he is made the victim of force and injustice.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"></span> </blockquote>
<div class="mbs uiHeaderSubTitle lfloat fsm fwn fcg">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span></div>
<div class="mbs uiHeaderSubTitle lfloat fsm fwn fcg">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The trade union movement, drawing from the support of all right-thinking people gradually came to occupy a central place between capital and labour, ensuring that labour was disciplined and capital was inclusive and not given to cutting corners at the expense of the workers’ wellbeing.</span><br />
</div>
<div class="mbs uiHeaderSubTitle lfloat fsm fwn fcg">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span></div>
<div class="mbs uiHeaderSubTitle lfloat fsm fwn fcg">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The situation in Singapore in the post-Second World War period mirrored the situation earlier in the west. Trade unions rose up to safeguard workers against the caprice of colonial entrepreneurs and their Asian brothers-in-arms. Lee Kuan Yew, a young ambitious and, as history has shown, thoroughly unscrupulous lawyer, rode to prominence on the back of the beleaguered unions.</span><br />
</div>
<div class="mbs uiHeaderSubTitle lfloat fsm fwn fcg">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span></div>
<div class="mbs uiHeaderSubTitle lfloat fsm fwn fcg">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In office, as Michael Fernandez and Loh Kah Seng showed in a recent paper, Lee entirely destroyed the trade union movement and then remade it in the form in which we see today, a form propagated by puny plenipotentiaries like Lim Swee Say.</span><br />
</div>
<div class="mbs uiHeaderSubTitle lfloat fsm fwn fcg">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span></div>
<div class="mbs uiHeaderSubTitle lfloat fsm fwn fcg">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">What, fundamentally, does a trade union do? It does not exist to manage supermarkets and chalets, good though these amenities are in themselves. At its basic and best, trade unions protect workers precisely like the ones at the centre of this episode. Speaking on behalf of workers with one voice, they hold management to account, they prevent arbitrary use of management and state power to exploit and to cheat, they guard against exploitation.</span><br />
</div>
<div class="mbs uiHeaderSubTitle lfloat fsm fwn fcg">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span></div>
<div class="mbs uiHeaderSubTitle lfloat fsm fwn fcg">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The Singapore unions and their Congress reneged on their historical duty to these workers. Feeble, quisling functionaries, they betrayed their workers and sided with a corporation that sought to pay its workers less for working more and then joined in pounding them into the ground when they took matters into their own hands to do what Lim Swee Say and his lamentable deputies could not do.</span></div>
<div class="mbs uiHeaderSubTitle lfloat fsm fwn fcg">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"></span> </div>
<div class="mbs uiHeaderSubTitle lfloat fsm fwn fcg">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">There is another element which is equally alarming as the behaviour of Tan, Lim <em>et al</em> who, as I said, can be exonerated for they are only acting out their parts in return for handsome salaries, chauffeurs and status. They are frail administrators to whom the inducement of a generous monetary exchange is sufficient to buy their compliance.</span><br />
</div>
<div class="mbs uiHeaderSubTitle lfloat fsm fwn fcg">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span></div>
<div class="mbs uiHeaderSubTitle lfloat fsm fwn fcg">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It is the online behaviour of my fellow Singaporeans which saddens me equally. People have speculated whether the drivers’ claims were true or not or whether they were excessive and unreasonable. Should we or should we not allow strikes and particularly in the essential services which hold up and inconvenience our lives. We should get rid of these foreigners and employ more locals so that they can’t hold ‘us’ hostage. Surprisingly, some are even angry that their action resulted in rapid remedial action by the authorities. And of course, taking shelter in the safest of all propositions, some have cried that the law is the law and no one should break it.</span><br />
</div>
<div class="mbs uiHeaderSubTitle lfloat fsm fwn fcg">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span></div>
<div class="mbs uiHeaderSubTitle lfloat fsm fwn fcg">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Nowhere, except among our more gifted commentators such as Andrew Loh and Alex Au have I heard the harder questions asked and challenged laid. Nowhere did I hear anyone ask how their families were coping with a salary increase of thirteen cents an hour. Nowhere did I hear the cry raised that we should at least wait to hear the whole story before moving so decisively to charge these men and then imprison them awaiting trial even though they are no danger to society and will not, cannot, abscond if bailed.</span></div>
<div class="mbs uiHeaderSubTitle lfloat fsm fwn fcg">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"></span> </div>
<div class="mbs uiHeaderSubTitle lfloat fsm fwn fcg">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This is unbecoming of us. It is not worthy of us. Their wellbeing is our wellbeing; we cannot presume to enjoy life when the very enjoyments we take for granted have been afforded to us by the workers whom we are content to see paid so little and bullied so much when they, like Oliver Twist, ask for more. We owe them a bit more than that.</span></div>
<div class="mbs uiHeaderSubTitle lfloat fsm fwn fcg">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><br />
</div>
<div class="mbs uiHeaderSubTitle lfloat fsm fwn fcg">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Workers rights are indivisible. We cannot ask for concessions on our own behalf but ignore or deny them to others because they happen to come from a different country. To use another hackneyed phrase, we are in this together. I can’t drive my own bus to work powered by petrol I processed myself on a road I laid myself. I can’t build my own office building or office furniture. I don’t cook my own food in the canteen or wash up the tableware.</span></div>
<div class="mbs uiHeaderSubTitle lfloat fsm fwn fcg">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><br />
</div>
<div class="mbs uiHeaderSubTitle lfloat fsm fwn fcg">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">If, as fellow workers, joint participants in this enterprise we call society, we cannot see this elementary truth, we have a lot of learning yet to do. But do it we must, because make no mistake about it, our government will have on hesitation in dealing with us in the same way it has dealt with the Chinese bus drivers. None whatsoever. Do not rest content that the PAP carries a torch for the Singaporean worker; it does not.</span><br />
</div>
<div class="mbs uiHeaderSubTitle lfloat fsm fwn fcg">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span></div>
<div class="mbs uiHeaderSubTitle lfloat fsm fwn fcg">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We cannot let these Chinese workers take the rap for asking only for fair employment. And we cannot agree to their punishment when all the processes that exist in our name denied them the basic right to have their grievances heard. Throughout history, concessions have only been won against corporations and governments when they have been demanded. If you think that the right to an eight-hour day, a forty-hour week, a one hour lunch break, and basic safety and health standards were given to you on a platter proffered by Lim Swee Say and his friends, you are very severely mistaken. These Chinese workers, by doing what we have been cowed from doing ourselves so long, have in fact widened the democratic space for us. And in time to come, when we are less afraid to think for ourselves, we will come to thank them.</span></div>
<div class="mbs uiHeaderSubTitle lfloat fsm fwn fcg">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><br />
</div>
<div class="mbs uiHeaderSubTitle lfloat fsm fwn fcg">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The government’s final response on the matter, notwithstanding the trial of the five that is to take place imminently, inadvertently admitted that the workers’ grievances were all entirely well-founded. It acknowledged that communication channels are poor, grievance procedures are improper, management and HR policies are wanting, and the accommodation of the drivers is substandard. It also said the paltry wage increases and the differentials should be revisited.</span></div>
<div class="mbs uiHeaderSubTitle lfloat fsm fwn fcg">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"></span> </div>
<div class="mbs uiHeaderSubTitle lfloat fsm fwn fcg">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Desmond Quek, admitted, “It is unfortunate that this incident has happened. It shows that more needs to be done by Management to proactively manage and engage our Service Leaders (SLs)." Indeed</span></div>
<div class="mbs uiHeaderSubTitle lfloat fsm fwn fcg">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><br />
</div>
<div class="mbs uiHeaderSubTitle lfloat fsm fwn fcg">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And as my description of the six-month history of this affair above has shown, my accusation of inertia, documented by <em>The Online Citizen</em>, is equally well-founded. This being the case, the government position that the workers deserve to be expelled, warned or tried is misplaced and unfair. It has no right to do now that it has admitted itself that their grievances were real.</span></div>
<div class="mbs uiHeaderSubTitle lfloat fsm fwn fcg">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><br />
</div>
<div class="mbs uiHeaderSubTitle lfloat fsm fwn fcg">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Speaking for myself, as a citizen, as a worker, and not as a member of any organisation with which I am associated, I support the strike by the 184 Chinese SMRT bus drivers. They took to the picket line only because the union, the corporation and the government singularly ignored their pleas. If that means I contravene the provisions of the Criminal Law (Temporary Provisions) Act, then so be it. Someone has to tell the truth. These workers’ plight is not a situation I will pretend didn’t exist or should not have taken place or didn’t need to happen.</span></div>
</div>
<div class="mbs uiHeaderSubTitle lfloat fsm fwn fcg">
<br />
</div>
<div class="mbs uiHeaderSubTitle lfloat fsm fwn fcg">
*********************************</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-395066009662473992.post-48229176083039453472012-11-30T15:05:00.000+08:002012-11-30T15:15:23.744+08:00SingaPolitics' interview with Dr Chee Soon Juanby <strong>Andrea Ong</strong><br />
<br />
Nov 26, 2012 (<a href="http://www.singapolitics.sg/features/interview-chee-soon-juan-part-1" target="_blank">source</a>)<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6Zt1S4wcZNEKbanFjGF2KtHNqMzmpeuIMzppESOCPUPGeTET_7mu2pg6JQ1FpNCwEeMzyfdivCcMUQAS8DvL4O-Cna872E30wVX3uKDcLkwywPHnDkyDUWxnuzJ0kydS7dKSMs-AOOA/s1600/CSJ-Democraticallt-Speaking1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="361" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6Zt1S4wcZNEKbanFjGF2KtHNqMzmpeuIMzppESOCPUPGeTET_7mu2pg6JQ1FpNCwEeMzyfdivCcMUQAS8DvL4O-Cna872E30wVX3uKDcLkwywPHnDkyDUWxnuzJ0kydS7dKSMs-AOOA/s640/CSJ-Democraticallt-Speaking1.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In an interview on the day he was due to be discharged from bankruptcy, Singapore Democratic Party (SDP) chief Chee Soon Juan spoke on a wide range of topics including his plans for the party, his thoughts on opposition unity and why he made an offer to settle his bankruptcy.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Here are some highlights:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<strong><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">On his plans to contest the next General Election</span></strong><br />
<strong><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span></strong><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Q: Now that your bankruptcy has been annulled, what are your immediate priorities going forward?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Dr Chee: Well, there isn't a big shift in terms of my, the annulment of my bankruptcy. I will just continue to do what I've been doing. That is, really to build up the party in preparation for the next GE.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And by that, you know that we're working on some alternative policy papers. And that will continue for the foreseeable future in the coming months and years. And as a result, we've also seen more people coming on board and that really taps into the policymaking part, and then that brings in more people, that kind of thing.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And then, of course, the bread and butter of political parties, and that's going down on the ground making sure that (people) get to meet, see what we're up to. It's not a time when you start; it really is a progression and continuation of everything that we've been doing since the last GE.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So that will continue as I said and the annulment for bankruptcy, in the immediate future, it won't make a lot of difference. The difference, of course, will come in when I'm eligible for the next GE.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Q: Have you given any thought to where you will run, whether it will be a single seat or GRC?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Dr Chee: No, and it's only because right now things are so fluid in terms of the constituencies. And that's really the government's game, in the sense that they're going to keep us on tenterhooks and we'll never know which single seat then remains or which gets absorbed, and how then the GRCs are in fact redrawn. So, much as we'd like to be able to at least have a forecast, for us right now it really is impossible to do.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Q: Do you have a preference for any area, perhaps where people may know you best?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Dr Chee: Not exactly. Singapore is so homogenous; there are no regional rivalries in that sense, unlike, say, in Malaysia where there is a lot of rural and urban areas. So in that regard I still see things pretty much more our groundwork and that really is rather uniform throughout. So specific areas that we can see in terms of electoral support, no, we haven't really detected that kind of thing. Things seem pretty uniform right through.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Q: The party has been active on the ground, especially in areas like Tanjong Pagar.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Dr Chee: We have, that's because in the last GE nobody contested there. And we're looking to campaign in more areas because we do see our ranks growing as well. And I see the next elections, us campaigning and contesting more GRCs.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Q: But will you be going back to the areas the party contested previously?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Dr Chee; Yes, definitely. The ones that we contested in the last elections, we will continue, we have been continuing our campaign work there. And with the added constituency of Tanjong Pagar. But then as I said the boundaries change...so we do tend to just go on general vicinities rather than just hard demarcation of the constituencies.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Q: Will you be targeting more of the western part of Singapore?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Dr Chee: If we kept to the constituencies that we contested in the last elections, right now it looks as if we tend to be more focused on the central part of the island. But don't forget, last election also we've been working in Bishan-Toa Payoh GRC. And it was only because Mr Chiam (See Tong) wanted to contest in that constituency and because it was adjoining Potong Pasir and they wanted to use that as a geographical strategy. We thought that was a valid point as well so we didn't contest it. But the next election, depending on what happens, we still hope to be able to get back in there as well. So that would then cover more of the central part of Spore.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And then Tanjong Pagar comes right at the south. We haven't discounted going further to the west as well.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<strong><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">On settling his bankruptcy</span></strong><br />
<strong><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span></strong><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Q: On the point of your settlement, why did you make that offer to Mr Goh Chok Tong and Mr Lee Kuan Yew? How did you arrive at the amount of $30,000?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Dr Chee: The amount that I offered was something that I calculated I could afford because I was going to come up with this book. And if you look at projected sales, after I lop off for printing cost and so on and so forth and my own income, that's all that I could afford. That's what I offered. So there wasn't any magic to that.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Q: The offer surprised some because you said in the past that you wouldn't pay.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Dr Chee: Look, to me it makes very little difference in terms of the work that I do. Even if I were bankrupt, I'll continue to do what I did, which is what I did in the last elections as well. I could not stand for elections but you make sure that you organise the party, get in the candidates and then present it to the electorate. So in that sense I think it was because Singapore has changed. And I thought since I was going to come up with this book, I also wanted to see if there was any change in attitude. They came back and they said they accepted it.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Q: Were you surprised that they accepted your offer?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Dr Chee: Well, if you think about it in terms of… the mood of the electorate, I think there would have been a backlash if they didn't want to accept. I thought perhaps the calculations were look, let's move on. I'm hoping that, at least, is something that is more substantive, that there is a genuine interest in wanting to move politics in Singapore forward rather than cling on to what's been the practice of old. So in that sense, I thought politically it makes sense for them to want to not continue. Otherwise, my own sense is the electorate would have turned very sour.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<strong><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">On opposition unity</span></strong><br />
<strong><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span></strong><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Q: There's been a theory floated that your offer was accepted so that the opposition vote would be split in the next GE.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Dr Chee: I don't know where this theory came from. That to me is basically an overactive imagination. I've always maintained the fact that opposition needs to, even if we don't come together and amalgamate as one single political entity, we should at least have a platform whereby we have more in common than differences.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">That said, the reality is that there are still differences. I don't see it as so much policy platform differences, more I think personality. But I don't see that as impossible to overcome. I still believe that where there's a will, there's a way. We're going to work towards us cooperating more. What's the end result, what's the level of cooperation, I couldn't tell you right now. But I honestly believe that if we put in effort towards that end I think we can get somewhere.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Before the last elections and then just recently as well, we've always tried to organise activities whereby we can start talking about how we can work together just that little bit more. Before the elections, we had behind-the-scenes private meetings, that kind of thing. We've also been getting together. You know, we're not going to be able to achieve it in a short span of time but it's something that needs to be worked on. But I'm hopeful that… we'll be able to make progress.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Q: Recently, the SDP tried to do a national conversation event with other opposition parties…</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Dr Chee: Ya, they did respond but they declined the invitation. But, you know... (it) wasn't very surprising in the sense that we've had previously organised forums also. As I said, we'll continue to work at (it).</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Q: How optimistic are you that the opposition can work together?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Dr Chee: My own sense is that <span style="background-color: yellow;">as the electorate also begins to mature</span>, I think they are going to get <span style="background-color: yellow;">more and more impatient looking at what those differences</span> are between opposition parties. If they begin to feel that look, these are more superficial than anything else, I think the opposition parties will hear of it.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And if they continue to just brush it aside, we'll also pay a price. There's a lesson there that we have to learn as well. If the differences are fundamental, they are real, I think the electorate will say, look, that's ok.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But if you're talking more <span style="background-color: yellow;">personality differences</span>, I don't think Singaporeans <span style="background-color: yellow;">will tolerate that very much.</span> In the hopes that before we get to a point where we find out the hard way, we should sit down and try to really sort out and look at what are the differences, what are the commonalities, let's weigh it up. If we cannot agree, then let's agree to disagree.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But if we can, and there's room for us to cooperate, I think wiser heads will prevail. I'm still confident about that.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Q: Do you think the differences now more personality-based than on, say, political philosophy?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Dr Chee: I'm not going to commit now and say these are personality. I think that there are differences, but those differences are not entirely on political philosophy. It's also by default that PAP has been so entrenched in one position, so it's just de facto you get these other positions that almost write themselves. In that sense, I believe there is a lot more in common.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Q: As far as SDP is concerned, which party feels closest to it politically?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Dr Chee; You know, I don't mean to cop out of this but I honestly feel that none of the parties are that far away, seriously. For example, take one issue of, say, housing. You cannot, if you're in opposition, it's hard for you to argue that, well, HDB flats are really affordable, right?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">You can't make that argument. You then have differences in terms of approach, the finer points in those policy areas. But as I said in terms of the various parties, I don't think anybody is really that far away. So I think things are still very discussable, if I can use the word.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<strong><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">On whether the party is ready to take over government</span></strong><br />
<strong><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span></strong><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Q: Parties like the Workers' Party and the National Solidarity say that they are not yet ready to take over government. SDP seems to take a different approach...</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Dr Chee: I think if I may try to just read into what they're trying to say, the thing is looking at the situation now, they're probably saying that if nothing changes, if everything stays the same, then things may not be any different from the last elections, right?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But the way that I see it, if you've looked at what's happened in the last elections and look at history, change never comes about in a linear progression. Nothing happens for a long time and everything stays flat.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">One cataclysmic event comes, or a very significant event comes and changes - that change takes place very abruptly. I would not wager that that event will not happen between now and 2016. And when that happens, you will see, as I'm looking at it right now, there's a lot of discontentment, especially if you're talking about among <span style="background-color: yellow;">the professional groups</span>, people who analyse just a little more, think just a little bit more beyond the headlines, they're <span style="background-color: yellow;">extremely unhappy with the direction of this country.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">If they all decide to say, ok, fair enough, all right, we will put our money where our mouth is, we'll stand for the elections, you will see a distinct change. And then you're going to have to live up to the electorate already, isn't it? And by which time, we're not going to be sitting there and say, well, you know, we're still not ready.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It may be in the form of a coalition, I don't know.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Q: On the ability to attract talent, as it is today, does the party have everybody it needs to take over government?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Dr Chee: I think if you look at pre-2011 GE and right now, you know, I don't want to exaggerate but the difference is day and night. Whereas a lot of people would not touch us with a 10-foot pole before, they are coming round.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Q: Are you there yet?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Dr Chee: Oh no, certainly not. With the people still waiting in the wings that we have not talked to yet in terms of hard politics and will you stand for elections, that kind of thing. But I'm confident that as we go along you will get more of these professionals, candidate material, coming in bigger numbers. What the numbers are, I couldn't tell you right now. But I'm confident that it will be quantitatively, qualitatively, very significantly different from (the) election itself.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<strong><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">On whether the SDP has changed</span></strong><br />
<strong><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span></strong><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Q: People see SDP as being much more mainstream than it was before. What is your take on this?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Dr Chee: This one has got to come courtesy of the press, the media. I think I've said this often before. I cannot see how qualitatively what I have been doing is different.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Now I'll give you a concrete example. As early as 1994, I published Dare To Change and at that time I very consciously subtitled the book An Alternative Vision For Singapore. And in there, I wrote extensively, put in a chapter in on the economy, distribution of wealth, issues which we continue to be talking about today.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">If you look at it, healthcare was in there, housing was in there as well... Now the difference between then and now is that instead, you know, with the advent of social media and new media, it has allowed people to see that we talk a lot more about some of these, what you'd call the kitchen table issues, bread and butter situations, which we have never neglected before.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But because the press has never really come out and said: Look, this is what SDP (stands for). If you can recall 2001, we brought up these issues on immigration, on foreign talent. We campaigned on a Singaporeans first policy. We talked about minimum wage as well. That was never highlighted.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And so people get this impression, they think oh, SDP very, you know, rights-based kind of thing, very high-falutin kind of ideas, which is not true.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It was only after the coming of the Internet that people began to say, yeah, they do talk a lot about (bread and butter issues)... And so you find that then people think that we're actually a lot more mainstream.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But if you were me, you would be scratching your head and saying, what have I said and done differently then and now?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Q: In the past when the party makes the news, it tends to be because of an act of civil disobedience. But there appear sto be in the past few years nothing at all like that, there have been no more processions...</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Dr Chee: But don't forget, when we had those activities, the media actively censored the news, right? ... So I wouldn't attribute that to, you know, people who are reading it and therefore they came to know of SDP's activities because you guys were not reporting on those anyway.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But having said that and you come to this point about, you know, we're not doing it right now, as I said, conditions change, you know, and therefore your strategy changes. Why do I say that?</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">You know, we think back, the end of 1999 or that particular year when I went to Raffles Place to give a talk over there. I was prosecuted but shortly thereafter, there were calls for us to have a free speech venue, if you recall.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And then there was this discussion, and people started to talk, and they said, why can't we have this free speech venue, right? ... And then they said, okay, well, let us have a Speakers' Corner. But when it first started, you couldn't do what you were doing there today - no musical instruments, no voice enhancement instruments, we couldn't even hold our hands up and chant slogans.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I remember doing an event there with JB (Jeyaretnam) and Think Centre at that time where we said: Abolish ISA, Abolish ISA [raises fist]. The organisers were called up (and were told) you cannot, no gesticulation, no chanting of slogans, that kind of thing.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Well, as far as we're concerned, that's a joke, isn't it? So we pressed on. We pressed on and then those few protests then came about. And it was only in, if I'm not mistaken, was it 2008 or was it 2007 that the Government announced that it was going to relax the rules, allowing protests and so on. That was when conditions changed.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And so we adapted our strategy. It was not a gift from the Government, mind you, it was a hard-won concession. But when things like that happen, then you begin to recalibrate, you begin to evaluate what you need to do. And then of course with that came civil society, some of these non-political party groups started forming and coming up. That coincided with the Internet mushrooming and so on. So, you know, you evaluate your position again and from then we thought, look, let's try to encourage civil society to take up this kind of role and then SDP can then focus very much on winning the battle in elections.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Q: So there was a qualitative strategy change...</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Dr Chee: Yes, yes.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Q: That the SDP would not do as much civil disobedience?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Dr Chee: No. I really don't think it was more civil disobedience or not (as much) civil disobedience, I think that fundamental question of freedom of speech, freedom of assembly, freedom of association, those remain the cornerstone of a democratic society. Without those freedoms, political parties will find it tremendously difficult to gain any traction with the electorate.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Q: So what is the change?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Dr Chee: So right now we have already begun to establish at least the very fundamentals of it and we want to encourage right now civil society to continue with that line, that whole campaign. And then what we want to do is then make sure that we focus on winning the elections.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">One example that I can give you is the mandatory death penalty. You remember, a few years ago, we were at the forefront of making sure that the mandatory death penalty became more of an issue. Once, you know, I remember we conducted this forum and we had quite a good turnout, and then from there there were other people who really began to understand what was at stake in some of the issues at hand. And then they started organising their own activities.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We felt at that point perhaps they would be better placed to start actively organising in that area, so we took a step back and right now, I think we've got some of these activists that are very, very active in pushing that issue... And because those things change, you know, people then get more involved and we feel that okay, we can then move on to other things as well.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Q: But having built a base as far as freedom of speech, freedom of assembly, etc is concerned, now you are looking more at building up on policy. That is a change of focus, is it not?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Dr Chee: But how do you then account for the fact that we've been talking about policy countless times as well? You follow what I'm saying?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Q: You did not have the health policy paper and housing policy paper in the past?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Dr Chee: That was because, again, we didn't have the necessary human resources to do it. But how did we get those human resources? It was because people saw us on the Net as well as what we've been doing all this time. So in that sense it wasn't so much that focus is different right now. It's more an expansion of what we've been doing all along.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I don't know if you see that difference because I'm finding a tremendous difficulty in trying to figure out for myself: Now what did I do that was qualitatively different?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Q: So it's not that you left this behind but you added on.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Dr Chee: Yes. and that addition came because more people are coming on board and that's why we find that, look, we've got the people that can help take up some of these tasks right now.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Q: Because when we look at your website today, housing and health feels more prominent than issues like death penalty and freedom of speech.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Dr Chee: Well, if you've got a product that's good, you of course put it up more prominently. But then it also still begs the question, how does it become more prominent? That's where people then talk about it. You just can put it out there, nobody pays any attention to it, it dies a very natural death, isn't it? But when people start talking about it, then it gains that prominence and how do people talk about it? Again the Internet. So, you know, it's very much driven by the sense that things are changing because people have access to what the SDP is saying.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Q: Do you feel that your success is mainly among PMETs?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Dr Chee: Oh no, no, I hope I haven't given you that impression because if we hadn't kept up with some of the more grassroots work, it would have been difficult also to grow. We are not going to have just the people sitting around and making policy and then you don't have the arms and legs of the party. That has continued to be very important. But the professionals coming in and helping us do the work and so on is just one part of everything that goes on.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<strong><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">On a two-party democracy</span></strong><br />
<strong><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span></strong><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Q: There is a sense from the past election that we are headed towards what will look more like a two-party democracy, more so than a multi-party one.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Dr Chee: Well, look, come on. Politics in Singapore is still so unsophisticated. Why? Media is not anywhere close to what it should be in a proper democratic society. How do you make that conclusion is, I don't think that's very realistic in trying to say whether this is going to be a multi-party or two-party systems.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Q: But what is your own view of where Singapore's politics is headed?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Dr Chee: Again, that's hard to say. In the sense that, you know, it could very well turn out to be a two-party system. Which party fills up the other, that party, or whether PAP will really just fall off - you know, become so far extreme and archaic in its policy that it could fall off the political radar also - we don't know.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But I'm just saying right now, nothing is inconceivable. And frankly speaking, I think in that sense, not just a multi-party but a mixed, proportional, first-past-the-post system a la the German and I think Korea adopted it... still makes for a lot more sense and a more responsive government than this traditional two-party system.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Q: So you prefer the multi-party system?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Dr Chee: I think it works better if you have proportional representation in as well... The Germans for example, when they go in and they vote, they don't just cast the vote for that particular candidate in that constituency. There's a second vote that they can cast - and that is for the party itself. So you know, a proportion of Parliament, the Bundestag, is actually reserved for the party list and then another portion for the candidate who gets first-past-the-post. That, I think, works a lot more efficiently and effectively.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<strong><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">On the PAP since GE2011</span></strong><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Q: What do you think of the PAP since the election? Do you think they have changed?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Dr Chee: You couldn't hand-on-heart say that, substantively, they have changed. They may have just put in more effort if you will, to say, oh, you know, you have our ear, we would like to hear from you. The problem is, what they do with that after the feedback has been given to them is something else. If they really, really wanted to, and there was really a change of heart, as expressed by PM, then you would see them making more substantive changes in terms of the structure.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I mean, one good one would be national conversation. You pack your entire committee with, you know, it doesn't make sense, isn't it? And it's not that they don't know that we exist. We've been putting up policies... Look, talk with us, right? Engage us. If you don't agree with us, you know, let's have this honest debate. But again, this is more of the same that they've done before.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Q: If they invited you to a national conversation session, would you go?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Dr Chee: We have made it very clear that anytime they did something like this, we are there. The only thing is that they always do it in such a way that it's... You see, to me, they don't come across as sincere. It's always "Ok, we can't get out of this or we do it but let's see how we can tilt it in as much to our favour as we possibly can".</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And I come back to this again. When you look at the UK election, the last one, they had Nick Clegg, they had Gordon Brown, they had David Cameron. Even though one of them was Prime Minister but you know, they had a good, genuine debate. And the people are the better for it. Same thing with the last election between Obama and Romney. All we're doing is looking for that.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And I'm just not persuaded that if they invite us, it will be under a lot of conditions and so on and so forth.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">************************</span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-395066009662473992.post-73159582738892044522012-11-24T15:18:00.001+08:002012-11-24T15:35:53.567+08:00When will the government sue for defamation? Singapore's Law Minister explains<strong><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Religious, racial fault lines still exist: K Shanmugam</span></strong><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana;"><em>Yahoo!News</em></span><br />
<strong><span style="font-family: Verdana;"></span></strong><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana;">Nov 20, 2012 (<a href="http://sg.news.yahoo.com/religious--racial-fault-lines-still-exist--k-shanmugam-074716875.html" target="_blank">source</a>)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana;"></span><br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEioz9cTIr1iPuPXMcUjQiBZjjVMwpN8DZiXmowlP90sZh6RgUa6wiWoVjxFxBeoa1l1WnVEWXWGXhPlO2F6OLLrCiKDmZJA_ZNOL-SwXLivERKcoZI7TlkxOhMr1_V-ppZyFg3cCrng/s1600/KShanmugam-png_074536.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="406" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEioz9cTIr1iPuPXMcUjQiBZjjVMwpN8DZiXmowlP90sZh6RgUa6wiWoVjxFxBeoa1l1WnVEWXWGXhPlO2F6OLLrCiKDmZJA_ZNOL-SwXLivERKcoZI7TlkxOhMr1_V-ppZyFg3cCrng/s640/KShanmugam-png_074536.png" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">K Shanmugan, Singapore's Law Minister</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<div class="yom-mod yom-art-content " id="yui_3_5_1_1_1353740447219_1162">
<div class="bd">
<div class="first">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Singapore may have made great strides since racially-driven violence marred its early years, but its people have yet to be completely free of racism, says Law and Foreign Affairs Minister K Shanmugam.<br /><br />Speaking in a recent wide-ranging interview with Yahoo! Singapore, the minister shared his views on racism among Singaporeans, particularly in the aftermath of the incident involving former NTUC membership assistant director Amy Cheong early last month.<br /><br />“What I don’t accept is the thesis by some that our society has reached a point where race and religion and skin colour are completely irrelevant. I don’t accept that,” he said. “I say we have made a lot of progress, and maybe we have crossed beyond the 50 per cent mark... (but) I do believe those fault lines exist. How deep, how widespread is anybody’s guess, but they exist.”<br /><br />He stresses that the racism he speaks of is not pervasive and care must be taken to distinguish what may qualify as racist behaviour. <br /><br />“It is simply that you grew up in a cultural milieu and you know it better. That’s quite different from saying I am in this group and this group is superior, or that I don’t like people of another group,” he said. “We must distinguish between the two. Are there people who fall into the second category? I believe there are. Are they a majority? No. Are they a minority? Yes. But it is there.”<br /><br />Besides, Shanmugam points out, racism stems from man’s larger tendency to divide himself into small groups that are identified along various lines — be they tribal, religious, geographic or ethnic, for instance, and it is a problem not limited to Singapore.<br /><br />“It’s not unique to Singapore — it happens everywhere. And these differences are often exploited by people in positions of leadership for purposes of personal power,” he said. “That is the larger picture. I’m simply saying the same can happen here if we’re not careful. As human beings, we are not different from others in other countries.”<br /><br /><strong>‘Legislation won’t solve the problem’</strong><br /><br />Shanmugam accepts that Singapore’s adoption of English as its official language has helped “put us in schools together and emphasise the importance of multiracialism”, all while preserving each ethnicity’s mother tongues as requisite second languages.<br /><br />“All of (this) is good, and is why we’ve made the progress we have,” he said. “(But) my point is you cannot by legislation, and you cannot over 50 years, remove the deep-seated feelings along racial and religious lines. That will take a longer time.”<br /><br />Asked about the view from certain quarters that the presentation of academic performance by ethnic groupings of students has propagated racial sentiments and stereotyping, the minister responded that providing the broken-down information helps ethnic communities to assist students from their races.<br /><br />“If you don’t acknowledge the problem, then it is difficult to help. You have to look at the facts. As a result of looking at the facts, understanding where the weaker performance occurs... you’re able to form </span><a href="http://www.mendaki.org.sg/" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Mendaki</span></a><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> and </span><a href="http://www.sinda.org.sg/" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Sinda</span></a><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> and </span><a href="http://www.cdac.org.sg/cos/o.x?c=/cdac_corp/section" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">CDAC</span></a><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">, and target those students.”<br /><br />Since Singapore’s various race-specific interest groups were formed, academic performance has improved for children in racial minorities, he noted. “Many community leaders support giving the breakdown so that we can help their communities,” he said. “It is better to acknowledge these things and deal with them.”<br /><br />Shanmugam’s sentiments were more recently echoed by Senior Parliamentary Secretary for education Hawazi Daipi in Parliament this last week, responding to a question on the matter from Nominated Member of Parliament Eugene Tan.<br /><br />Breaking down exam performance by race, Hawazi said, allows communities to monitor the effectiveness of their existing educational programmes for children from their own race as well. <br /><br />Other suggestions, such as scrapping race classification in Singapore identity cards, have previously been pitched, but responding to these, Shanmugam maintained that it is preferable to examine the situation and tackle it head-on.<br /><br />“Some want quick solutions, but there is no quick solution which will immediately make us all non-racial and colour-blind,” he said. “It’s going to require a lot of hard work (and) time. It’s going to require effort from the different communities as well as the government.”</span></div>
<div class="first">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /><br /><strong>‘If you say the govt is made up of idiots...’</strong><br /><br />Turning to defamation, a decidedly sensitive topic in Singapore in particular, Shanmugam explained that, as a rule of thumb, the government doesn’t sue for defamation.<br /><br />“Individuals within government who are personally defamed can sue – for example when you say someone is corrupt. But if you say the government is made up of idiots no one can sue you because that will be considered an opinion, and <span style="background-color: yellow;">you are entitled to that opinion, based on your assessment of government policies.</span> If you say the policies are incompetent, anti-Singaporean, you can't be sued,” he explained.<br /><br />He noted that people do fiercely criticise government policies and that is a right everyone has. “No one can sue you. But if you make a factual allegation like saying a person stole something or has his hands in the till, then you can be sued,” he said.<br /><br />He also stressed the importance of understanding the impact of existing defamation laws on free speech here — the specifics of which many Singaporeans have for decades not been fully aware of.<br /><br />“I think you can differentiate between the substance of the law (What is it? Why do we have it?) and the process to make it effective,” he said. <br /><br />He spoke of the rationale behind defamation laws here, saying, “Should we protect reputation? We protect the right to property. If I steal your property, the Penal Code makes it an offence. If I hurt your body, that’s an offence. If I cheat you, that’s an offence. But if you have worked all your life to build up your reputation and I damage your reputation by saying untruths, why should there not be redress? <br /><br />“It’s a logical question. But if indeed you are corrupt, then you ought to be exposed and the defamation law does not prevent that.”<br /><br />The threat of costly defamation suits exacted by members of the government has loomed over the country for years, after opposition politicians such as Chee Soon Juan and J B Jeyaratnam were compelled into bankruptcy when they were unable to pay damages from being successfully sued by then-government leaders.<br /><br />Newspapers and magazines like </span><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><em>The Economist</em></span><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">, the </span><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><em>Far Eastern Economic Review</em></span><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> and the </span><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><em>Singapore Herald</em></span><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> have previously been sued and had their local publishing licences revoked for this reason as well, leaving in their wake a cloud under which journalists, editors and publishers work beneath.<br /><br />This long-standing fear has also driven many government critics online, posting their views under pseudonyms to avoid being associated with their comments.<br /><br />Despite these, Shanmugam maintained that defamation laws here allow for a wide berth of comments to be made in the public space — even unreasonable ones — that still fall within the acceptable boundary.<br /><br /><span style="background-color: yellow;">“You can say anything you like about people in public life, whether in government or in position or in the corporate world,” he said. “You can pretty much say anything you like about the way they have handled situations. You can call them incompetent</span>. You can critique and criticise fiercely any policy, and these (policies) have been fiercely debated.<br /><br />“Likewise corporate leaders, you know their handling of public companies’ affairs can be debated and you can attack it; they can’t sue you,” he continued. “But if you make a factual allegation which is untrue about them, then they can sue you.”<br /><br />With the knowledge that many comments made against public figures — including members of the government — online are written and posted anonymously on a near-daily basis, Shanmugam said he had not given much thought to the possibility of modifying existing defamation laws to suit the internet space, which the government is still figuring out how to work within.<br /><br />“(Right now) the law applies in the same way both in print media as well as internet media online,” he said. “If you can find the person, you can sue.”<br /><br />When all is said and done, however, if a person can prove what he or she says about an individual, he or she can say it publicly, he said.<br /><br />“If what you say is true, you just prove it. That’s what in essence the law of defamation is,” he noted. “There are many caveats and qualifications but in essence that’s the nub of it. It is useful to try and keep people honest in their criticisms and to try to make sure that public debate is focused on the real issues, without scurrilous, false allegations.”</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"></span><br />
</div>
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><strong><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Related stories:</span></strong><br />
<strong><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span></strong><br />
<a href="http://sg.news.yahoo.com/y--exclusive--law-minister-k-shanmugam-on-the-isa.html" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Y! Exclusive: Law Minister K Shanmugam on the ISA</span></a><br />
<br />
<a href="http://sg.news.yahoo.com/death-penalty-change-came-from-review--not-activists--shanmugam.html" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Death penalty change came from review, not activists: Shanmugam</span></a><br />
<br /></div>
</div>
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-395066009662473992.post-21929769721761646182012-11-18T15:23:00.001+08:002012-11-20T22:04:31.083+08:00How Israel shaped the Singapore Armed Forces<strong><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">A deep, dark, secret love affair</span></strong><br />
<br />
<h2>
<span style="color: blue;">
</span><span style="color: red; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: small;"><em>A team of IDF (Israel Defence Forces) officers, known as the `Mexicans,' helped Singapore establish an army. It was the start of a very special relationship.</em></span></h2>
<div class="authorBar">
<span class="writer"> By Amnon Barzilai</span><span class="date"> </span></div>
<div class="authorBar">
<span class="date"></span> </div>
<div class="authorBar">
<span class="date">Haaretz, Jul.16, 2004 (<a href="http://www.haaretz.com/a-deep-dark-secret-love-affair-1.128671" target="_blank">source</a>)</span></div>
<div class="authorBar">
<span class="date"></span> </div>
<div class="authorBar">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Christmas Eve, 1965, is the unofficial date of the start of the great and continuing love story between Israel and Singapore, a love affair that was kept a deep, dark secret. The international press, like the Israeli media, tried to bring the tale to light. Occasionally, scraps of information leaked out; some were published, some were denied, many were disregarded. The Israelis, as usual, wanted to rush to tell all their friends, but managed to overcome that desire. The fear that the ties would be terminated if they became public knowledge had its effect. Israel imposed a total blackout on the story and the secret was preserved. Until the other side could no longer contain itself. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In his book, "<em>From Third World to First: The Singapore Story 1965-2000</em>," published in 2000, Lee Kuan Yew, Singapore's founding father and its first prime minister, disclosed the secret that had been kept for almost 40 years: It was the Israel Defense Forces that established the Singaporean army. The Israeli military mission was headed by Yaakov (Jack) Elazari, then a colonel, who was later promoted to brigadier general. After leaving the army, he became a consultant to the Singaporean army. He died 15 years ago. "To disguise their presence, we called them `Mexicans.' They looked swarthy enough," Lee wrote. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Singapore's army is today considered the strongest and most advanced of the military forces in Southeast Asia. The alliance between the Israeli and Singaporean defense establishments intensified and expanded, and it now encompasses cooperation between the two countries' military industries, as well. The scope of the deals, according to foreign sources, indicates that the Singaporean army is one of the major clients of Israeli combat means and military technology. Singapore's aircraft industry is cooperating with its Israeli counterpart and with Elbit Systems in upgrading the F-5 warplanes of the Turkish Air Force. A few years ago, Singapore's defense minister revealed that the Gil antitank missile, which is manufactured by Raphael (Israel Armaments Development Authority), was developed in cooperation between the two countries. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><br />
<b><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Surrounded by Muslims</span></b><br />
<strong><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span></strong><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Lee explained the need to maintain secrecy to his close friend in the leadership, and the first defense minister in his government, Dr. Goh Keng Swee. "We have to ensure, as far as possible, that the arrival of the Israelis will not become public knowledge, in order not to arouse opposition among the Malay Muslims who live in Malaysia and Singapore," the prime minister summed up. That, in essence, is Singapore's problem. The residents of the small island, which has an area of about 670 square kilometers (Israel is 30 times as large), are mainly Chinese, and they live between the two Muslim countries of Malaysia and Indonesia. Life in the shadow of the large Muslim majority and fear of a Malaysian incursion are an integral part of the history of the two countries. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Singapore declared its independence from Malaysia on August 9, 1965. At the time of its creation, it had only two infantry regiments, which had been established and were commanded by British officers. Two-thirds of the soldiers were not residents of Singapore, and in any event the leaders of the nascent state had no faith in the strength of the minuscule army. The defense minister, Goh, contacted Mordechai Kidron, the former Israeli ambassador to Thailand, and asked for assistance. Kidron arrived in Singapore within days, along with Hezi Carmel of the Mossad. "Goh told us that they think that only Israel, a small country surrounded by Muslim countries, with a strong army, could help them build a small, dynamic army," Carmel says. The two Israelis met with Lee, who writes that he "told Keng Swee to put it on hold until Lal Bahadur Shastri, the prime minister of India, and President Nasser of Egypt replied to my letters seeking their urgent help to build up our armed forces." </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It's not clear whether Lee, in fact, believed India and Egypt were capable of, or interested in, building up Singapore's army. Many Israelis believe the two leaders were approached only for appearance's sake. After a few weeks of waiting, India and Egypt congratulated Singapore on its independence but did not offer military aid. Lee ordered Goh to push ahead in contacts with the Israelis. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">At the same time, in the wake of reports sent by Kidron and Carmel, the Israeli defense establishment deployed to supply military aid to Singapore. In discussions conducted by the chief of staff, Yitzhak Rabin, with the participation of the deputy chief of staff and head of the Operations Branch, Ezer Weizmann, it was decided to make Major General Rehavam Ze'evi, who was then deputy head of the Operations Branch, responsible for building the Singaporean army. Ze'evi (nicknamed "Gandhi" ) paid a secret visit to Singapore and the preparatory work began on his return. "Gandhi said he wanted to create an ideal army for Singapore, something we hadn't built here," Carmel says. "Instead of setting up a Defense Ministry and a General Staff, Gandhi suggested an integrated organization, a more economical structure. So there wouldn't be too many generals and too few soldiers." </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Ze'evi appointed Elazari, who worked under him in the Operations Branch, as head of the team he established. Lieutenant Colonel Yehuda Golan, then-commander of an armored division (he retired from the IDF with the rank of brigadier general), was subsequently added to the team. Some members of the team "concentrated on writing the chapters that dealt with building army bases. I wrote the chapters dealing with the establishment of an infantry," Golan says. Initially they produced the "Brown Book," dealing with combat doctrine, followed by the "Blue Book," dealing with the creation of the Defense Ministry and intelligence bodies. The Brown Book was translated into English and sent to Singapore's government for its perusal. In October 1965, a military delegation from Singapore arrived in Israel. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1LIlvJNg4SveObYo1mrrS10k0ZInjWAK7SAIrn5ms_1AitkYctMOGa9wfmzxskS5WbEV86KXzQ_hKsGeBUKNT0RK0847kETGrQO9ZPbkV5NbM5xr6moRvAbcn8i_RMWT-pT4gB9Enfg/s1600/yehuda_golan_small_2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1LIlvJNg4SveObYo1mrrS10k0ZInjWAK7SAIrn5ms_1AitkYctMOGa9wfmzxskS5WbEV86KXzQ_hKsGeBUKNT0RK0847kETGrQO9ZPbkV5NbM5xr6moRvAbcn8i_RMWT-pT4gB9Enfg/s400/yehuda_golan_small_2.jpg" width="353" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">BG Yehuda Golan of IDF (<a href="http://www.waronline.org/IDF/Articles/tango_magnolia.htm" target="_blank">source</a>)</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"The delegation arrived in order to tell us: `Well done, but to implement the book, you are invited to come to Singapore,'" Golan recalls. Prior to setting out, the members of the military mission were invited to the chief of staff's bureau. "Dear friends," Rabin said, "I want you to remember several things. One, we are not going to turn Singapore into an Israeli colony. Your task is to teach them the military profession, to put them on their legs so they can run their own army. Your success will be if at a certain stage they will be able to take the wheel and run the army by themselves. Second, you are not going there in order to command them but to advise them. And third, you are not arms merchants. When you recommend items to procure, use the purest professional military judgment. I want total disregard of their decision as to whether to buy here or elsewhere." </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><br />
<b><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Wake-up at 5:30</span></b><br />
<strong><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span></strong><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">On December 24, 1965, about five months after Singapore became an independent state, six IDF officers and their families set out on an unknown mission. "Elazari and two other officers dealt with the establishment of the Defense Ministry," Golan relates. "My task, along with three other officers, was to establish the army." </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Elazari operated according to a number of basic principles, from which the original Israeli team and those who followed did not deviate. The first was to build up a cadre of local commanders and instructors. The second was that the instructional material would be written by the cadets who would be trained as officers. And the third was that practical training would be conducted by Singaporean instructors. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"We wanted to recruit a group of 40-50 people who had some sort of military experience and would be ready to serve in a career army," Golan explains. "We organized things so that they would appoint one of their number to serve as commander. As head of the group, the cadets chose someone of Indian origin named Kirpa Ram Vij, who would eventually become chief of staff of the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF). For three months we gave an intensified officers course." (On Kirpa Ram Vij, see <em>In Command of His Life </em>below<em>.)</em></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"></span><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixCvp-7ye_Rl08HyA8HxcyeyK8iaWsvlESZjlSU-v5DH4hS3eBBKW512ehMoCPiWWxsMG8mko_HI328tHlpkGnPjVnmwA4TcDHYICTu4r8pkxU4kg0nvqScI3jBr25P_LtmW5W8O5Z8w/s1600/Vij+incommand.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixCvp-7ye_Rl08HyA8HxcyeyK8iaWsvlESZjlSU-v5DH4hS3eBBKW512ehMoCPiWWxsMG8mko_HI328tHlpkGnPjVnmwA4TcDHYICTu4r8pkxU4kg0nvqScI3jBr25P_LtmW5W8O5Z8w/s640/Vij+incommand.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">BG (retd) Kirpa Ram Vij (</span><a href="http://news.asiaone.com/News/AsiaOne%2BNews/Singapore/Story/A1Story20110107-257017.html" target="_blank"><span style="font-size: small;">source</span></a><span style="font-size: small;">)</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The first course had an IDF format: wake-up at 5:30 A.M., calisthenics, personal arrangements, parade. Training began at 7:30 A.M. and went until 1 A.M. "After a few days of training a group of cadets showed up and said, `Colonel Golan, the Arabs aren't sitting on our heads here. What do we need this madness for?' I called Elazari and explained the situation. He arrived a few days later with Defense Minister Dr. Goh, who told the cadets, `Do what Colonel Golan tells you to do, otherwise you will do double.'" </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Parallel to conducting the course, the Israeli team supervised the establishment of the first military base, based on plans of the Israeli Engineering Corps. Construction of the base was completed in three months. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In under a year, the Israeli team conducted a course for new recruits, a platoon commanders course and an officers course, on the basis of plans that were sent from Israel. All told, about 200 commanders were trained. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><br />
<b><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Jobless instead of soldiers</span></b><br />
<strong><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span></strong><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Once the staff of commanders was ready, it was possible to start creating the standing army on the basis of conscription. The Israelis prepared to establish two more infantry regiments, according to the IDF model, with each regiment consisting of three companies of riflemen, an auxiliary company and an administrative company - a total of 600 soldiers. Lieutenant Colonel Moshe Shefi, who was an instructor in a company commanders course, was sent as an adviser. "We discovered that there was psychological resistance to conscription in Singapore," he relates. "Of 10 professions, that of soldier was ranked last. In first place was the artist, followed by the philosopher, the teacher and the merchant, and the thief was in ninth place. Soldiering was considered a contemptible profession. In Singapore, conscription was considered a means to overcome unemployment." </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The Israelis faced a problem. To evade service, most of the young men of draft age (18-24) who were of Chinese origin furnished proof that they were employed. Some 70 percent of the inductees were unemployed and of Malaysian origin - the opposite of their proportion within the population. Elazari and Golan complained to Lee and Goh, but the prime minister was undeterred. "I want you to recruit the most primitive people in the country, the uneducated and the jobless," he told them. Stunned, the Israelis tried to persuade him to reconsider, but he was adamant: "In the Second World War, I saw the Japanese and the British. All the British soldiers were intelligent and educated. But as soldiers they were worthless. The most primitive Japanese soldier gets an order and executes it, and they were extraordinary soldiers. The fact is that the Japanese army defeated the British army." </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Golan says, "Yaakov and I tried to explain to him that it's not a question of education but of motivation. The Japanese soldier was motivated because he was fighting for his emperor, who for him was God. For him, he was ready to sacrifice his life. What motivation did the British soldier have, who fought thousands of kilometers from his home?" The explanations about the spirit of combat and about how to generate motivation persuaded Lee. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Along with the two tracks of compulsory service and career army, Singapore also adopted the IDF's model of reserve service. Every soldier who completed his regular service was obligated to serve another 13 years, until the age of 33. A system to mobilize the reserves was established and the Defense Ministry carried out surprise call-up exercises. Because of its small size and its lack of areas for live-fire training, Singapore had to establish training bases in friendly neighboring countries. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><br />
<b><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Surprise tanks</span></b><br />
<strong><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span></strong><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The unquiet in Singapore, and above all the fear of an invasion by Malay forces, together with the rapid development of the Singaporean army, generated additional needs. With the creation of the infantry, the Israeli team made an in-depth study of the battles fought by the Japanese in Southeast Asia during World War II and of how they succeeded in invading Malaysia and Singapore. Shefi was given the task of delivering a talk on the subject to Singapore's government. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">On the basis of the lessons the Israelis drew from the engagements fought by Japan and Britain, they created a naval force based on sampans. "The boats were made of wood and could carry 10 to 15 soldiers, and they were appropriate for the conditions of the sea and for the jungle rivers," Golan says. "On a stormy sea they can be operated with oars or a motor. We asked the Singaporeans to purchase 20 boats and we set up a small base where infantry companies trained in raids and navigation." </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Retired Colonel Asher Dar says, "The second team that arrived in Singapore applied what Yehuda Golan did in the form of combat doctrine. We trained in flanking maneuvers with small boats and in live fire using artillery. When the head of the training department, Yitzhak Hofi, visited Singapore, we carried out a model landing of an infantry brigade that set sail in boats at night at a distance of 12 kilometers with the aid of shore navigation only." </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The waiting period in Israel on the eve of the 1967 Six-Day War was a rough time for the Israeli team in Singapore. "We were relieved the Israelis were not defeated or our SAF [Singapore Armed Forces] would have lost confidence" in the Israeli instructors, Lee writes. In January 1968, Singapore decided to create an armored corps. In great secrecy, an agreement was signed for the purchase of 72 AMX-13 light tanks from IDF surplus. It was a bold decision: Malaysia, the country's large neighbor, didn't have tanks. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">On Independence Day, August 9, 1969, a major surprise awaited the invited guests, including the defense minister of Malaysia: 30 tanks rolled past the reviewing stand. "It had a dramatic effect," Lee writes. Malaysia had cause for concern. Its defense minister recommended to his guests that they take steps to persuade the Malaysian government that its intentions were not hostile. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In the wake of the Israeli victory in 1967, the veil of secrecy over the ties between the two countries was lifted a bit. The Singapore delegate at the United Nations abstained in a vote on a resolution condemning Israel that was sponsored by the Arab states. Contacts began to establish full diplomatic relations. In October 1968, Lee permitted Israel to establish a trade mission and in May 1969 authorization was given for the establishment of an Israeli embassy in Singapore. The status of the Israeli military mission to Singapore was also strengthened, and the mission heads who followed held brigadier general rank. The first Israeli military delegation laid the foundations for an extensive network of relations between Israel and Singapore. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><br />
<b><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Foundations of the air force</span></b><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The small Israeli team in Singapore was augmented by professional military advisers for the various corps. The chief armored corps officer, Major General Avraham Adan, arrived to give advice on procuring armored vehicles. In 1968, Adam Tzivoni, a retired colonel who had been head of the planning and weapons branch in the air force, was appointed adviser to the Singapore Armed Forces in regard to the creation of an air force. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"As compensation for the hasty departure of the British army, the British government gave Singapore a grant of 50 million pounds to acquire British-made aerial systems: planes, helicopters and surface-to-air missiles," Tzivoni relates. "The British didn't like me at all. My first task was to approve the deals. It turned out that the English tried to sell Singapore junk. Apart from a deal for Hunters, I vetoed all the deals." </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Under Tzivoni's supervision, a flight school was established in Singapore, as well as a technical school, a squadron of Alouette 3 helicopters was purchased and 40 mm anti-aircraft guns were acquired. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><br />
<b><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Uzis and Israeli marching songs</span></b><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">After the creation of the Singaporean army's infantry regiments, the question arose of what weapons the nascent armed forces would use. The commanding officers wanted the Uzi, the Israeli submachine gun. The Israeli team took an objective view and rejected the idea. True, the Uzi was considered a superb weapon in the 1960s, but only for short ranges. A regular army needs an assault rifle, the Israeli team asserted. Representatives of Israel Military Industries exerted pressure on the Defense Ministry to sell the new Galil assault rifle. However, the team decided that the rifle wasn't yet full ready and recommended the American M-16. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Another major headache for the Israelis concerned the decision about which mortars to procure for the new army. Infantry regiments are equipped with 60 - 52 mm and 18 mm mortars. The weapons, which were developed and manufactured by the Soltam company, based in the town of Yokne'am, were sold to the Israel Defense Forces and exported worldwide. "Even though we thought these were the best mortars, we decided not to recommend them but to make use of an independent source in order to reach a decision," says Yehuda Golan, a member of the team sent to Singapore. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The Israeli team asked a British firm that dealt in organization and consultation on military subjects to examine a series of mortars and recommend the best one. The report stated that the best of the lot was an 18 mm mortar manufactured in Britain. However, considering the price, the recommendation was to buy the Soltam product. The Singapore Armed Forces acquired the Israeli mortar. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"The Israelis emphasized military skills and high motivation. Smartness on parade and military tattoo, the SAF [Singapore Armed Forces] never learned from the `Mexicans.' Whatever smartness the SAF had" derived from the British officers who commanded the army's first two regiments, Lee writes. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"Our motto was that we would not stick our nose into what the Singaporeans could do themselves," Golan notes. "They wanted us to organize the Independence Day parade for them. We argued that a state military parade reflects the country's mentality and its history." The Singaporeans didn't make an issue of it. However, they had a problem that demanded an immediate solution - which marches to play as the soldiers marched in unison. The head of the Israeli mission, Yaakov Elazari, brought notes from Israel and the Singapore army strode to Israeli marching songs. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><br />
<b><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The jungle combat manual</span></b><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The Singaporeans took the Israelis by surprise when they insisted on getting a course on jungle combat. Singapore has a tiny natural jungle of no more than five or six square kilometers, but the neighboring states have larger jungles. Yehuda Golan: "I told them they were right but that I wasn't the right guy, because I knew nothing about jungles." Nevertheless, the Israeli team began to find out how to cope with the subject. It was decided to send two Singapore officers as guests of the Malaysian army for a course on jungle combat. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"Three months later, the two officers returned with the knowledge they acquired in Malaysia, and we decided to conduct a course in jungle combat," Golan continues. "Out of curiosity, I decided to join. It looked very bad - it was clear that they had taught them British methods from the Second World War period. I decided to take a group of 10 officers. We entered the jungle and started to engage in war games. We trained in navigation, deploying forces, search and assault. We went through the American training manuals on combat in Vietnam. We developed methods of night navigation. We learned how to function with a fighting company in the dense undergrowth. After a few weeks of training, I wrote the training manual of the Singapore Armed Forces for jungle combat." </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">******************************</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><strong>Tango "Mongolia"</strong> </span><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">(Танго "Магнолия")</span><br />
<strong><span style="font-family: Verdana;"></span></strong><br />
<strong><span style="font-family: Verdana;">The history of military cooperation between Israel and Singapore</span></strong><br />
<strong><span style="font-family: Verdana;"></span></strong><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana;">by David Gendelman (</span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">Давид Гендельман)</span><br />
<br />
War Online, 2005 (<a href="http://www.waronline.org/IDF/Articles/tango_magnolia.htm" target="_blank">source</a>)<br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">An imperfect Google translation from Russian</span><br />
<br />
<h3 closure_uid_fev7yw="715">
<span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1"><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="24" closure_uid_fev7yw="220">Prologue</span></span></h3>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2DfxA0XrZ42mBKAgpDyIkCPx7eA_X0XvIcueiNrDLlbravV9vD5xy9zIbrR58CpIlXzuQTNWQMaaLpUaJTgea381yEIRWiMlauonRe1_WdNX709LfVXhWMOllA5_LwWwR7LrIXdMuYg/s1600/z1+rabin_lee_kuan_yew.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2DfxA0XrZ42mBKAgpDyIkCPx7eA_X0XvIcueiNrDLlbravV9vD5xy9zIbrR58CpIlXzuQTNWQMaaLpUaJTgea381yEIRWiMlauonRe1_WdNX709LfVXhWMOllA5_LwWwR7LrIXdMuYg/s640/z1+rabin_lee_kuan_yew.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><em><span style="font-size: small;">In the photo: Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and "founding father" of
Singapore Lee Kuan Yew during his visit to Singapore Rabin, October 16,
1993.</span></em></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1"><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="25" closure_uid_fev7yw="221">February 6, 1819 the year Sir Stamford Raffles
signed a treaty with the Sultan of Johor and founded the port and trading base
the British East India Company on the island of Singapore, off the southern tip
of the Malay Peninsula. </span><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="26" closure_uid_fev7yw="222">At that time, lived on the island about two hundred
Malay fishermen. </span><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="27" closure_uid_fev7yw="223">Free port status immediately attracted traders and pushed the business
activity, and the population has grown rapidly due to mass immigration, mostly
Chinese and Malays, Indians and Europeans. </span><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="28" closure_uid_fev7yw="224">For several decades, Singapore has grown into the
most prosperous port city in South-East Asia. </span><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="29" closure_uid_fev7yw="225">In the 1867th, he became a
British Crown Colony in the Straits Settlements (Straits Settlements), and the
beginning of World War II was the bastion of the empire, "Gibraltar of the
East". </span><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="30" closure_uid_fev7yw="226">However, the bastion fell to the overwhelming pressure the Japanese army
early in the war, and the British returned to Singapore only in
1945.</span></span> <span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1"><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="31" closure_uid_fev7yw="227">For Empire nastavali new times, a gradual transition
of the former colonies to self-government. </span><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="32" closure_uid_fev7yw="228">In the 1948th was elected the first Legislative
Council, 1955th constitution was adopted and elections to the Legislative
Assembly. </span><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="33" closure_uid_fev7yw="229">Election victory won the leader of "Labor Front" David Marshall, a
successful lawyer from a family of Iraqi Jews. </span><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="34" closure_uid_fev7yw="230">He became the first "Chief
Minister» (Chief Minister) and continued to fight for the provision of full
self-government to Singapore. </span><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="35" closure_uid_fev7yw="231">Singapore's first contacts with Israel began in May
1956, with a conversation with Marshall adviser to the Israeli Embassy in London
Gershon Avner opening in Singapore Israeli consulate. </span><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="36" closure_uid_fev7yw="232">After a few months, the
voyage to Asia Singapore visited the former Prime Minister and Foreign Minister
Moshe Sharett. </span><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="37" closure_uid_fev7yw="233">Practical steps to open the consulate had been taken, but it was a step
towards cooperation in other spheres. </span><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="38" closure_uid_fev7yw="234">Moshe Sharett also emphasized in his travel notes
rising star of local politics, a young lawyer, Lee Kuan Yew, in particular, his
open-mindedness and interest in what is happening in Israel.</span></span>
<span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1"><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="39" closure_uid_fev7yw="235">Having failed to obtain from the British
administration full self-government, David Marshall in June 1956 in protest
resigned. </span><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="40" closure_uid_fev7yw="236">By
1959 self-mu was obtained for the UK remains the only defense and foreign
affairs. </span><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="41" closure_uid_fev7yw="237">In
the same year, won the elections IPA - "The People's Action» (People's Action
Party - PAP) led by Lee Kuan Yew, became prime minister. </span><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="42" closure_uid_fev7yw="238">Then a visit to Israel
finance minister of the new government of Dr. Ken Goh Swee. </span><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="43" closure_uid_fev7yw="239">Guest particularly
interested in issues of professional training and development of the cooperative
sector, and Israel sent experts to learn from the experience in these areas.
</span><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="44" closure_uid_fev7yw="240">Began a
collaboration in the field of medicine: in Singapore, Israeli doctors went for
the organization of various medical services and teaching.</span></span><br />
<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5O07yhPpcwdbhVy2CUFz8GSvUySmoRFTEVgkbH2Ilgvkpe1kMuZvv0gVZhKoIFpiiojIsVhlgk_-ed8FyT5e8MlZizgSGD0nx6_rDYVJ-mF7bRf3IY4RCq9vFNllJjW-Cq1Di8h5hyg/s1600/z2+EvenSing.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5O07yhPpcwdbhVy2CUFz8GSvUySmoRFTEVgkbH2Ilgvkpe1kMuZvv0gVZhKoIFpiiojIsVhlgk_-ed8FyT5e8MlZizgSGD0nx6_rDYVJ-mF7bRf3IY4RCq9vFNllJjW-Cq1Di8h5hyg/s640/z2+EvenSing.jpg" width="428" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><em><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1"><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="45" closure_uid_fev7yw="241" style="font-size: small;">Israeli Education Minister Abba Eban (right) and the Singapore delegates at the conference "Science in the development of new states", Rehovot, 14 August 1960.</span></span></em></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" class="pic" style="width: 1px;">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td class="cont"></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1"><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="46" closure_uid_fev7yw="242">Leaders of the ruling party, saw the future of
Singapore is closely related to Malaya, which gained independence in 1957 year,
it dictated the natural historical and economic ties, and so in 1961, they made
every effort supported the Prime Minister Tunku Abdul Rahman of Malaya to
establish the Federation of Malaysia, which was to include Malaya, Singapore and
the British territory on the island of Borneo, Brunei, Sarawak and Sabah.
</span><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="47" closure_uid_fev7yw="243">In 1963, it,
after a referendum among the local population, the British agreed to transfer to
Singapore, Sarawak and Sabah, Malaysia (Brunei resulting refused this option),
and Singapore became an autonomous state within the new federation, declared
September 16, 1963-year.</span></span>
<span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1"><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="48" closure_uid_fev7yw="244">The central authorities referred to Israel
restrained hostility, but Singapore has continued to cooperate with him:
Singaporean interns trained in Afro-Asian Institute and other Israeli
institutions, Israeli experts in Singapore, worked in the fields of hydroponics,
handicrafts, athletic organizations and research companies. </span><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="49" closure_uid_fev7yw="245">The important part is still
practicing medicine: Israeli doctors working in hospitals in Singapore and
taught at the local university, several Singaporean doctors trained in Israel,
particularly notable project was a bone marrow transplant for children with
cancer. </span><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="50" closure_uid_fev7yw="246">Cooperation has been diversified, so the conductor Shalom Ronli-Riklis
became an adviser to the Singapore Philharmonic Orchestra and instructor Arie
Levy in 1964, created by the ruling party MHP center for the training of youth
organizers.</span></span>
<span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1"><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="51" closure_uid_fev7yw="247">Despite the close ties between Singapore and the
rest of Malaysia, there was little opposition. </span><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="52" closure_uid_fev7yw="248">According to the
Constitution of Malaya, the Malays were granted exclusive privileges within the
government, the army, the economy and education as compared to the Chinese and
Indian minorities, which was at odds with the requirements of the Lee Kuan Yew
on the full equality of rights of all citizens of the Federation. </span><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="53" closure_uid_fev7yw="249">Malay nationalists feared
the large Chinese population of Singapore, change the overall demographic
balance, which is why Tunku Abdul Rahman, was an opponent of the combination
only with Singapore and twice rejected such proposals from David Marshall and
his successor Lim Yew Hock. </span><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="54" closure_uid_fev7yw="250">Populated predominantly by Malays Sarawak and Sabah
were ethnic counterweight and more equalized position. </span><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="55" closure_uid_fev7yw="251">Furthermore, there were
unfounded fears about contamination of the local Chinese Communist ideas that
was displayed during the uprising in Malaya in the 50s that was brutally
suppressed by the British. </span><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="56" closure_uid_fev7yw="252">The bulk of the rebels were pro-communist-minded
Chinese and Malay leadership did not want a repetition.</span></span>
<span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1"><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="57" closure_uid_fev7yw="253">On the other hand, get rid of this potentially
disruptive elements, excluding Singapore from the Federation, meant a loss of
control and the possible emergence of a base of Red China to the southern border
of Malaysia and the separation of Singapore from the Malay minority Malay common
homeland and discrimination in independent Singapore. </span><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="58" closure_uid_fev7yw="254">Conflicting interests led
to conflicts between the two nations, not only in the political but also in
everyday life, which often took the form of physical fighting, and the
government is widely applied curfew and severe police action to restore order.
</span><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="59" closure_uid_fev7yw="255">Constant
source of friction were also sharp differences over the allocation of the
federal budget and the tax burden.</span></span>
<span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1"><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="60" closure_uid_fev7yw="256">The already troubled situation exacerbated relations
with Indonesia. </span><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="61" closure_uid_fev7yw="257">Sukarno saw Malaysia, the entrance to the defense alliance with the
United Kingdom, and posted to their territory the British troops as a
"bridgehead of imperialism and colonialism," and kept against her subversive
activities, with a goal of the disintegration of the country and joining of
Sabah and Sarawak to Indonesia and the establishment there independent state.
</span><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="62" closure_uid_fev7yw="258">This conflict,
officially known as "confrontation", included Indonesian commando raids in
northern Malaya and Borneo, border skirmishes with Malaysian and British troops,
organizing guerrilla groups, the terrorist attacks against the civilian
population and infrastructure and provocation clashes between Malays and
Chinese. </span><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="63" closure_uid_fev7yw="259">"Confrontation" ended in 1966, after a military coup, to remove Sukarno
from power.</span></span>
<span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1"><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="64" closure_uid_fev7yw="260">Despite the active Lee Kuan Yew and IPA leadership
in building and strengthening a unified Malaysia, the contradiction between the
installation of "Malaysia for Malaysians" and "Malaysia for Malaysians" were too
high. </span><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="65" closure_uid_fev7yw="261">Personal
ambitions, Lee Kuan Yew, his methods of suppressing local opposition until his
arrest activists, the desire for power at the federal level and "too noisy", as
Tunku Abdul Rahman, a policy made it impossible any compromise on this issue.
</span><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="66" closure_uid_fev7yw="262">After setting
up, under the auspices of the IPA Convention Malaysian Solidarity bloc of
opposition parties, the situation threatened to escalate into civil war.
</span><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="67" closure_uid_fev7yw="263">Federal
minister openly called Lee Kuan Yew, "the most destructive force in the state"
and expressed the complete impossibility of further cooperation, "Outside, we
are threatened with Indonesia, and the inside - Mr. Lee and his policies."
</span><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="68" closure_uid_fev7yw="264">The right wing
of the United Malays National Organization (UMNO), the ruling party of Malaysia,
required security measures, review of the autonomous rights of Singapore and the
arrest of Lee Kuan Yew</span></span>
<span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1"><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="69" closure_uid_fev7yw="265">To avoid bloodshed, and seeing no other peaceful way
out, August 9, 1965, the Tunku Abdul Rahman announced to the Parliament of
Malaysia to expel Singapore from the Federation. </span><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="70" closure_uid_fev7yw="266">The same day, Lee Kuan Yew,
Singapore proclaimed an independent state. </span><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="71" closure_uid_fev7yw="267">"For me it is a painful moment. </span><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="72" closure_uid_fev7yw="268">All my life I have believed
in the unity of the two territories, "- he said at an emergency press
conference.</span></span>
<span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1"><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="73" closure_uid_fev7yw="269">This story begins on the Republic of Singapore and
one of its lesser-known: military cooperation with Israel.</span></span><br />
<br />
<br />
<h2>
<span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1"><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="74" closure_uid_fev7yw="270">"At the far edge of the companion
flies"</span></span></h2>
<br />
<h3>
<span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1"><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="75" closure_uid_fev7yw="271">"Mexicans" to create an army</span></span></h3>
<br />
<span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1"><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="76" closure_uid_fev7yw="272">The primary problem was the problem of the emerging
State Defense: relations with Malaysia and Indonesia have been strained, as
mentioned above, and all the Singapore army numbered a little more than a
thousand officers and men and is a two infantry battalions, staffed mostly
Malays, including the command staff. </span><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="77" closure_uid_fev7yw="273">In addition, the Singapore Malaysian team was
stationed. </span><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="78" closure_uid_fev7yw="274">Given its impact on the commander of the political leaders, as Said
Jaffar Albar, secretary general of UMNO and categorical opponent of independence
of Singapore, there was a danger that the independence will end before it began.
</span><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="79" closure_uid_fev7yw="275">To protect the
country had to be almost nothing to build a new efficient army.</span></span>
<span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1"><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="80" closure_uid_fev7yw="276">Ken Goh Swee, who became defense minister, appealed
to the former Israeli Ambassador to Thailand Mordechai Kidron, who came to
Singapore with the proposals for the organization of military training.
</span><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="81" closure_uid_fev7yw="277">Israel already
had at that time a wealth of experience in guiding forces of the young states of
Africa and Asia, he successfully resisted a numerically superior hostile
environment, so the appeal to him for help was quite natural. </span><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="82" closure_uid_fev7yw="278">According to Hezi Carmel, a
representative of the Mossad, who arrived in Singapore with Kidron, Ken Goh Swee
believed that only Israel can handle the job. </span></span><br />
<br />
<span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1"><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="83" closure_uid_fev7yw="279">However, Prime Minister Lee
Kuan Yew previously requested assistance to build the army in India and Egypt,
the leaders of the Non-Aligned Movement, but neither Lal Bahadur Shastri or
Gamal Abdel Nasser sent nothing but congratulations on the occasion of
Independence. </span><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="84" closure_uid_fev7yw="280">Switzerland, whose model is a model of acquisition "army reservists,"
said that Singapore is better to do without the military. </span><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="85" closure_uid_fev7yw="281">Former sovereign, Britain,
to be in time to help create a Malaysian Army, declined to the same assistance
to Singapore, so as not to damage their interests in the region. </span><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="86" closure_uid_fev7yw="282">After that, the proposals
were given the Kidron green light, but without publicity. </span><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="87" closure_uid_fev7yw="283">Further damage relations
with its own Muslim Malay minority, and even more with Muslim Malaysia and
Indonesia, no one wanted. </span><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="88" closure_uid_fev7yw="284">When looking at the map it is clear
why.</span></span><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxAlMCeO9sruU-3hN0p1Oyyt7NoPmdBiMobO0TRFFHV4zH7nbKXa6uG02UnDVsj7L7UMe8C_A_tLdflMsg53YWV31ocx64e-tSt6a7GWi7vfHthtOOMoWYQJHT_r2PX3mcB12T0OVPSA/s1600/z3+0c271757.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="388" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxAlMCeO9sruU-3hN0p1Oyyt7NoPmdBiMobO0TRFFHV4zH7nbKXa6uG02UnDVsj7L7UMe8C_A_tLdflMsg53YWV31ocx64e-tSt6a7GWi7vfHthtOOMoWYQJHT_r2PX3mcB12T0OVPSA/s640/z3+0c271757.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuRK7PkttL5FpK8P14Vfh-AVvVuCB1EeioGo-0t7NaiSQUex7eGKAQjjUz4sJs53SBpwe8TrfEKz1y50slMbCN0GUVZ5OyKrkk-A5w9s9CtosukYSLh-66b_fLk0EFoNYAc7K7Fh_xeg/s1600/z3a+singapore-map.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuRK7PkttL5FpK8P14Vfh-AVvVuCB1EeioGo-0t7NaiSQUex7eGKAQjjUz4sJs53SBpwe8TrfEKz1y50slMbCN0GUVZ5OyKrkk-A5w9s9CtosukYSLh-66b_fLk0EFoNYAc7K7Fh_xeg/s640/z3a+singapore-map.gif" width="594" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><em><span style="font-size: small;">Singapore - 692.7 km <sup><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1"><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="90" closure_uid_fev7yw="287">2</span></span></sup><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1"><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="90" closure_uid_fev7yw="288"> , including small islands, Malaysia - 329.750 km </span></span><sup><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1"><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="90" closure_uid_fev7yw="289">2</span></span></sup><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1"><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="90" closure_uid_fev7yw="290"> , Indonesia - 1,919,440 km </span></span><sup><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1"><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="90" closure_uid_fev7yw="291">2</span></span></sup><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1"><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="90" closure_uid_fev7yw="292"> . </span><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="91" closure_uid_fev7yw="293">The population at the time of declaration of independence, Singapore - 2 million (2005 - 4.4 million, of which about 900,000 foreigners, citizens of the ethnic composition: 77% Chinese, 14% Malays, Indians 8%), Malaysia - 9.3 million (2005 - 23.9 million), Indonesia - 105,000,000 (2005 - 242,000,000).</span></span></span></em> </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<br />
<span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1"><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="92" closure_uid_fev7yw="294">Despite this lag in area and population, the
Government of Singapore enthusiasts believe in the strength of the young
country, the same view was shared by both Israel and the ambitious plans began
to materialize. </span><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="93" closure_uid_fev7yw="295">IDF Chief of Staff Yitzhak Rabin was appointed curator of the Singapore
project Major General Rehavam Zeevi (Gandhi), who held the post of Deputy Chief
of Staff Operations Directorate. </span><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="94" closure_uid_fev7yw="296">Zeevi secretly visited Singapore, on his return was
carried out preparatory work for the development of military doctrine with the
Israeli experience and the realities of the new state, and the fall of 1965 in
Singapore received the first delegation of military advisers from eight
officers, divided into two working groups.</span></span>
<span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1"><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="95" closure_uid_fev7yw="297">The first group, led by Colonel James Elazar
operational management, dealing with creation of the Ministry of Defence and the
Army staff agencies. </span><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="96" closure_uid_fev7yw="298">They were conceived as a single Gandhi combined system, to avoid
inflating the command staff and duplication of civil and military authorities.
</span><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="97" closure_uid_fev7yw="299">Gandhi gave
the Singapore general project time and saw it as an opportunity to put their
ideas about the "ideal army", which for various reasons could not be created in
Israel. </span><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="98" closure_uid_fev7yw="300">The
second group, led by Lieutenant-Colonel Yehuda Golan, commander before the 13th
Battalion of the Golani Brigade and school squad, formed infantry and developed
guidelines, manuals and training programs KMB, commander and officer courses.
</span><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="99" closure_uid_fev7yw="301">For privacy
advisers called "Mexicans." </span><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="100" closure_uid_fev7yw="302">"When they arrived, dark and mustachioed, I decided
that it just fits its name, to avoid unnecessary noise" - explained Lee Kuan
Yew, a few years later in an interview with British
journalists.</span></span><br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijFWZ9-kp6Y4Pm2-MdkkFITs3mjw-0tt1BqniZDSBwxb2tXvTUSI6Hqec2Lelfk1kfPZ677aT70FSH6CSfEvc85aAe1nJwdwx5r1jNmZFCGJ89bxnFKXcHKDnSiyPTWgW2rzlBmU-Zug/s1600/z4+yehuda_golan_small_2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijFWZ9-kp6Y4Pm2-MdkkFITs3mjw-0tt1BqniZDSBwxb2tXvTUSI6Hqec2Lelfk1kfPZ677aT70FSH6CSfEvc85aAe1nJwdwx5r1jNmZFCGJ89bxnFKXcHKDnSiyPTWgW2rzlBmU-Zug/s400/z4+yehuda_golan_small_2.jpg" width="353" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><em><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1"><span style="font-size: small;"><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="101" closure_uid_fev7yw="303">Yehuda Golan at a later time. </span><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="102" closure_uid_fev7yw="304">What is not Mexican?</span></span></span></em> </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" class="pic" style="width: 1px;">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td class="cont"> </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1"><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="103" closure_uid_fev7yw="305">Number one priority was to "teacher training": the
creation of a sufficiently large body of instructor who could teach their own
soldiers and officers later appeals. </span><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="104" closure_uid_fev7yw="306">In February 1966 marked the first three-month
preparatory course instructors, held for lack of suitable accommodation in the
building of a primary school in Jurong. </span><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="105" closure_uid_fev7yw="307">Forty students were recruited from the police
personnel, the Singapore Volunteer Corps (militia led by the British colonial
administration), the available two army battalions, as well as from the Ministry
of Education. </span><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="106" closure_uid_fev7yw="308">In June, 300 cadets have been selected out of 2,500 volunteers, many of
whom were officials of the Civil Service, started the first officer's course in
SAFTI (Singapore Armed Forces Training Institute) - Training Centre of Singapore
Armed Forces (SAF), which was built in a few months in Pasir Laba . </span><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="107" closure_uid_fev7yw="309">For the year under
Lieutenant Colonel Golan they passed basic training, the course and the actual
squad officer course. </span><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="108" closure_uid_fev7yw="310">Israeli instructors remembered to this day remained in the folklore of
the Singapore army as democratic in personal relationships (especially compared
to the British officers), but tough and demanding professionally. </span><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="109" closure_uid_fev7yw="311">Until coveted epaulettes
got 117 out of 300 cadets, and the rest were eliminated as unsuitable for the
officer ranks. </span><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="110" closure_uid_fev7yw="312">Dropped out at the last stage of the sergeants were the backbone of new
units. </span><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="111" closure_uid_fev7yw="313">The
course was very intense, and when unused to drill the students tried to
complain, Defense Minister Goh Ken Swee fully supported instructors and cadets
promised a double load in the event of further complaints. </span><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="112" closure_uid_fev7yw="314">The complaints
stopped.</span></span><br />
<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeRxNLJc_zlPH9xwQPNMEls5lXnrGf95mFbFb4gUth0GMz5pdIMpJ40ZPgmuMdiHcN8d0wk6QB5cZIDPMM9ou8-7A4bcE68lxGYg4DAKD3J_xChTHKkBbTjtRIDEkM-60E3KhDHoerjQ/s1600/z5+6a5f8b1a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeRxNLJc_zlPH9xwQPNMEls5lXnrGf95mFbFb4gUth0GMz5pdIMpJ40ZPgmuMdiHcN8d0wk6QB5cZIDPMM9ou8-7A4bcE68lxGYg4DAKD3J_xChTHKkBbTjtRIDEkM-60E3KhDHoerjQ/s640/z5+6a5f8b1a.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><em><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1"><span style="font-size: small;"><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="113" closure_uid_fev7yw="315">The audience at the graduation parade squad, July 5, 1967. </span><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="114" closure_uid_fev7yw="316">The closest to us - Defense Minister Goh Ken Swee. </span><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="115" closure_uid_fev7yw="317">Behind him, second from the left in the second row - Lieutenant Colonel Yehuda Golan. </span><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="116" closure_uid_fev7yw="318">By the time the "Mexicans" it was possible to not masked.</span></span></span></em> <br />
</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1"><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="117" closure_uid_fev7yw="319">Ken Goh Swee, many years served as finance
minister, one of the fathers of Singapore's economic miracle has been the main
force promoting the idea of a strong national army in the government of
Singapore. </span><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="118" closure_uid_fev7yw="320">His own military "career" was in the service with the rank of corporal
in the Singapore Volunteer Corps, ignominiously capitulated to the Japanese in
February 1942. </span><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="119" closure_uid_fev7yw="321">But, despite the lack of military experience (or vice versa, because of
this), they are in the rest of his enthusiasm. </span><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="120" closure_uid_fev7yw="322">As recalled later Colonel
Elazar: "Even Lee Kuan Yew was not sure that Singapore will be able to stand on
their own feet in terms of defense. </span><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="121" closure_uid_fev7yw="323">Sure was only Dr. Ken Goh Swee. " </span><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="122" closure_uid_fev7yw="324">He was also the initiator
of the invitation of Israeli advisors, and considered it a success, as already
mentioned above. </span><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="123" closure_uid_fev7yw="325">July 16, 1967, the year the first graduating officers parade in SAFTI,
Ken Goh Swee said: "For the first time in Singapore was faced with a large
project of this kind, and the instructors and staff SAFTI overcome lack of
experience of diligence and hard work. </span><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="124" closure_uid_fev7yw="326">They were lucky that their services were the skill
and knowledge of the advisors of the IDF. </span><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="125" closure_uid_fev7yw="327">To all of them, trainers and advisers, I want to
express our respect for these remarkable achievements in such a short time.
"</span></span><br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOX05XmYMklx29L-_islHd3Qr4DMySdY7A5PpzF1KYtn9gJLEGRTz_k4bjdDihmiseJ97104gfpx9lgUI9q-aTIDnnC72TGYgjpt-l6-9PKXTDndMRrqFvnFS9bX6QZdWvlO47vajilQ/s1600/z6+a31e8d47.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOX05XmYMklx29L-_islHd3Qr4DMySdY7A5PpzF1KYtn9gJLEGRTz_k4bjdDihmiseJ97104gfpx9lgUI9q-aTIDnnC72TGYgjpt-l6-9PKXTDndMRrqFvnFS9bX6QZdWvlO47vajilQ/s640/z6+a31e8d47.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><em><span style="font-size: small;">Ken Goh Swee bypass the first officer's release SAFTI, July 16, 1967.</span></em></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" class="pic" style="width: 1px;">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td class="cont"> </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1"><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="127" closure_uid_fev7yw="329">One of the main principles, future officers drawn
from their Israeli teachers and remains the basis of the "philosophy of command"
ARIA and now, was the principle of "command example." </span><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="128" closure_uid_fev7yw="330">In a speech at the
graduation parade in 1970, Minister Lim Kim San succinctly expressed this
philosophy: "command - it is not only to give orders, but to lead. </span><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="129" closure_uid_fev7yw="331">To lead, by example, show
the way. </span><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="130" closure_uid_fev7yw="332">Being ahead of the soldiers. " </span><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="131" closure_uid_fev7yw="333">Another important principle of education was high
personal awareness and motivation of the employees, instead of blindly follow
orders from the sticks.</span></span>
<span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1"><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="132" closure_uid_fev7yw="334">It should be made of the important points made in
the memoirs of Lee Kuan Yew: "The Israelis were competent in the transfer of
military skills, they also taught us that military doctrine in which these
skills are based. </span><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="133" closure_uid_fev7yw="335">Their teaching methods were the complete opposite of the British.
</span><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="134" closure_uid_fev7yw="336">The British
created the first and second CPR (1st and 2nd battalions of the Singapore
Infantry Regiment - DG) gradually, starting with a training officer corps
platoon leaders, company commanders, and finally, after 15 - 20 years of service
- battalion commanders and lieutenant colonels. </span><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="135" closure_uid_fev7yw="337">Israelis from the start
insisted that our officers to learn from them and take over as instructors as
soon as possible. </span></span><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1"><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="136" closure_uid_fev7yw="338">Whatever they do, their actions have been studied and duplicated their
Singaporean counterparts, from platoon and company commanders to the Chief of
the General Staff. " </span><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="137" closure_uid_fev7yw="339">Methods Israelis really were amazing and even neglect of British
officers stationed on the island and watch from the sidelines for the learning
process. </span><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="138" closure_uid_fev7yw="340">Explanation of the difference between the two approaches can be found in
farewell Chief of Staff Yitzhak Rabin, the first group of advisers before
leaving for Singapore: "We are not going to transform Singapore into an Israeli
colony. </span><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="139" closure_uid_fev7yw="341">Your
task - to teach them the military profession, to put them on their feet, that
they managed their army. </span><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="140" closure_uid_fev7yw="342">Your success will be, if at some point they will be
able to take the wheel in your hands and manage their own army. " </span><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="141" closure_uid_fev7yw="343">Early on in the work of
advisers in 1966, Rabin visited Singapore and was pleased with the pace of
training local officers. </span><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="142" closure_uid_fev7yw="344">He was also impressed by the personality of Lee
Kuan Yew and his very positive attitude towards Israel.</span></span>
<span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1"><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="143" closure_uid_fev7yw="345">In accordance with this fast approach year after
the first release SAFTI opened SATO (School of Advanced Training for Officers) -
School of improved training for officers, commanders prepared the company and
battalion level. </span><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="144" closure_uid_fev7yw="346">The first eleven students started their studies in September 1968.
</span><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="145" closure_uid_fev7yw="347">The next step
was the opening in February 1970, Command and General Staff College (Singapore
Command and Staff College - SCSC), a higher education institution of the SAF.
</span><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="146" closure_uid_fev7yw="348">Its graduates
have studied both applied and theoretical aspects of military science, to hold
positions brigade commanders and work in the defense ministry and the
headquarters of various levels. </span><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="147" closure_uid_fev7yw="349">Since the second half of 1970 as senior instructor,
and then the actual commander of the college took Colonel Benjamin Ben-Eliezer
(Fuad), former commander of the Shaked unit, and future politician and minister
of defense of Israel. </span><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="148" closure_uid_fev7yw="350">He led the college to the middle of 1973, and under his leadership was
preparing the first generation of senior officers of the SAF.</span></span>
<span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1"><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="149" closure_uid_fev7yw="351">After training, the Israelis first sergeant and
officers started to create a conscript army on Israeli Pattern: 2 years military
service and 10 years of annual reservist duties, allowing to quickly deploy
large forces trained in small population. </span><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="150" closure_uid_fev7yw="352">"After the separation from Malaysia, we decided
that most of us are like Israel, Finland and Switzerland. </span><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="151" closure_uid_fev7yw="353">We chose the Israeli
example to make every boy in our country's defense unit, "- said Lee Kuan Yew at
the Congress of the Socialist International in Zurich in 1967, the year of.
</span><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="152" closure_uid_fev7yw="354">To achieve
this, in March 1967 the Singapore Parliament passed the "Law on the National
Service", and the government has conducted a broad propaganda campaign, as the
Chinese, being three quarters of Singapore's population, traditionally disliked
the army and military service, as opposed to the Malays. </span><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="153" closure_uid_fev7yw="355">"From a good steel nails
do, the good guy does not go into the army," - as the Chinese
proverb.</span></span>
<span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1"><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="154" closure_uid_fev7yw="356">In July 9000 called on first recruits, including
900 soldiers selected to serve for a full term of two years and staffed by two
new regular battalions, the other due to lack of time at the command staff have
been transferred to the reserve and auxiliary police forces - Special
Constabulary and Vigilante Corps performing the functions of national guard and
civil defense. </span><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="155" closure_uid_fev7yw="357">With the expansion of the army, the system was abolished, and all
recruits began their military service 2-2.5 years, depending on the specialty
and rank, followed by reserve duty. </span><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="156" closure_uid_fev7yw="358">The soldiers of the first set did not speak English
to a sufficient degree (initially considered Singaporean army leadership,
including as a means of employment and undereducated young people), so the
Israeli instructors had to use interpreters. </span><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="157" closure_uid_fev7yw="359">This is somewhat hindered
the learning process, but temporary difficulties were successfully overcome.
</span><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="158" closure_uid_fev7yw="360">New Army
needed professionals in different fields, in 1967-1968 schools were opened
artillery training, communications, military, military engineers and
medics.</span></span><br />
<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKH9sk34Kbs5mSAAtfUrFA6hOCEuSDw_Yau7CdczigvQmWjoYunUh1UblXj7fAAUuoFb2wbChQaxqIZAyYmvA88fC0KvX-Kky_Ts5JPUVB8l9Wu4d664sRkyFTkSd2h67NM8YJvB6BRg/s1600/z7+7d5b0278.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKH9sk34Kbs5mSAAtfUrFA6hOCEuSDw_Yau7CdczigvQmWjoYunUh1UblXj7fAAUuoFb2wbChQaxqIZAyYmvA88fC0KvX-Kky_Ts5JPUVB8l9Wu4d664sRkyFTkSd2h67NM8YJvB6BRg/s640/z7+7d5b0278.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><em><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1"><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="159" closure_uid_fev7yw="361">Defense Minister Goh Ken Swee and Major General Rehavam Zeevi (Gandhi) at the opening of school Corps, 22 July 1967. </span><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="160" closure_uid_fev7yw="362">Two founding fathers of SAF : Dr. Goh and General Gandhi.</span></span></em> </span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" class="pic" style="width: 1px;">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td class="cont"> </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggn12DeM93yheBvmVjWuyJqbBnfzsfTub187sGbtZEVcGfUkRZUWC25HtOvMCcmTdfDyGrInRuAOea3CVPzdidTg-Q-gIxp3-yyDKVsy_iZUdNVaV06KJ98_P08tg9HmJL9GXUz8QJyQ/s1600/z8+fa58ab41.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggn12DeM93yheBvmVjWuyJqbBnfzsfTub187sGbtZEVcGfUkRZUWC25HtOvMCcmTdfDyGrInRuAOea3CVPzdidTg-Q-gIxp3-yyDKVsy_iZUdNVaV06KJ98_P08tg9HmJL9GXUz8QJyQ/s640/z8+fa58ab41.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><em><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1"><span style="font-size: small;"><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="161" closure_uid_fev7yw="363">Ibid: "The Army makes you an officer. </span><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="162" closure_uid_fev7yw="364">Communication makes you commander. " </span><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="163" closure_uid_fev7yw="365">Major Corps IDF gives explanations defense minister.</span></span></span></em></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" class="pic" style="width: 1px;">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td class="cont"> </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1"><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="164" closure_uid_fev7yw="366">In January 1968, an event that radically affected
the construction of the SAF: cabinet of Harold Wilson announced the withdrawal
of British forces from Singapore by the end of 1971, as part of an overall
reduction of military presence "east of Suez". </span><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="165" closure_uid_fev7yw="367">Liquidation 35000th
garrison, which included naval and air bases, was not only a significant
economic impact (cost of maintaining British bases accounted for roughly 20% of
the gross domestic product of Singapore), and put the issue before the Singapore
self defense long before the calculated time: earlier British politicians
promised to preserve the "defense umbrella" over the former colony until the
mid-70s. </span><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="166" closure_uid_fev7yw="368">As a
result, high-speed pace of the army had to stir up even more, but the success of
the first stage gives hope that the British left Singapore will be able to
protect themselves. </span><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="167" closure_uid_fev7yw="369">An additional source of enthusiasm were the results of the Six Day War,
during which IDF army shattered the three neighboring countries, brilliantly
demonstrating Israel's military doctrine in practice. </span><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="168" closure_uid_fev7yw="370">"Otherwise, our military
could lose confidence in the Israeli instructors," - says Lee Kuan Yew in his
memoirs.</span></span>
<span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1"><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="169" closure_uid_fev7yw="371">In 1968 the main part of the first delegation of
advisors finished its work and returned to Israel, including Lieutenant Colonel
Yehuda Golan. </span><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="170" closure_uid_fev7yw="372">Arrived shift, in a much larger structure, started the second phase of
construction of ARIA: a sharp increase in the number of units and ground forces
and the creation of the air and naval forces.</span></span>
<span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1"><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="171" closure_uid_fev7yw="373">In 1969, Singapore's regular army numbered six
infantry battalions, summarized in two teams, went knocking together reservist
units. </span><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="172" closure_uid_fev7yw="374">In the
same year, under the leadership of Lieutenant Colonel Asher Dar, an infantry
battalion commander, received the medal "Ituri and Oz" for the battles in
Jerusalem during the Six Day War, held its first brigade-level exercises that
included the landing of infantry and light vessels on the coast. </span><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="173" closure_uid_fev7yw="375">In developing the plan
took into account the experience of Japanese and British forces in the Second
World War. </span><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="174" closure_uid_fev7yw="376">For this part of the preparation was responsible Colonel Moshe Shefi,
course instructor commanders. </span><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="175" closure_uid_fev7yw="377">As an observer attended the exercise, Major General
Yitzhak Hofi, Head of Training of Staff IDF.</span></span><br />
<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8HY5fzPHwW_7M5CTCBTeHZuujClUjc7ieXhk1TH5ajKvKw9QVLdaJeBrX1HZgyIll0SB5ef9GHxtPsZkJlcsoP_Pc7IbrKsSB2YjY2SNYgPaeybaJW4EkzpHltPs8CvHxXV5jjoQZdg/s1600/z9+9165189f.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8HY5fzPHwW_7M5CTCBTeHZuujClUjc7ieXhk1TH5ajKvKw9QVLdaJeBrX1HZgyIll0SB5ef9GHxtPsZkJlcsoP_Pc7IbrKsSB2YjY2SNYgPaeybaJW4EkzpHltPs8CvHxXV5jjoQZdg/s640/z9+9165189f.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><em><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1"><span style="font-size: small;"><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="176" closure_uid_fev7yw="378">Spectators at the parade, "Armed Forces Day", July 1, 1969. </span><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="177" closure_uid_fev7yw="379">Third from left in the front row - Commander of the Central Military District Rehavam Zeevi. </span><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="178" closure_uid_fev7yw="380">New post, new worries, chasing terrorists, but Gandhi did not forget his child and regularly visited Singapore. </span><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="179" closure_uid_fev7yw="381">Pay attention to the Israeli colonels and lieutenant colonels in the first and second row. </span><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="180" closure_uid_fev7yw="382">Israeli military mission in Singapore at that time has grown to 45 officers.</span></span></span></em> </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<table align="center" class="pic" style="width: 1px;">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td class="cont"> </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1"><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="181" closure_uid_fev7yw="383">Many of the Israeli advisers, especially among the
senior officers have had along with the combat and command experience a wealth
of experience in instructing, the educational process and command training
units. </span><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="182" closure_uid_fev7yw="384">This
initial experience was important, given the set to create a full-fledged combat
units SAF timing and rapid method of training. </span><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="183" closure_uid_fev7yw="385">The aforementioned Colonel
Asher Dar commanded during his career rate squad, base KMB Golani brigade, was
an officer-instructor in the school of infantry specialties, instructor and
deputy commander of the course the company commander and the chief instructor
IDF officer school. </span><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="184" closure_uid_fev7yw="386">From 1968 to 1970 he was responsible for the direction of the Singapore
Infantry project with Lieutenant Colonel Yitzhak Zayd, a former instructor of
the course the company commander, the commander of the central base of KMB and
teacher Command and Staff School IDF. </span><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="185" closure_uid_fev7yw="387">A clear result of their work was the creation by
the end of 1970, Singapore's first division.</span></span><br />
<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKNKOLAMMA4ZodSQYKBR4dRx-fgrmHqTwnekJXM17-oXDFZrxgcWKjPSvdeZIynsNxjV64u2I-yZvYG5bUhBqd5PjExE6kNVPbd0eB_Td3h0tkNZaR5xvgvyR0YtAV2KhGjFLVkIOFLw/s1600/z10+YitzhakZeid.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKNKOLAMMA4ZodSQYKBR4dRx-fgrmHqTwnekJXM17-oXDFZrxgcWKjPSvdeZIynsNxjV64u2I-yZvYG5bUhBqd5PjExE6kNVPbd0eB_Td3h0tkNZaR5xvgvyR0YtAV2KhGjFLVkIOFLw/s640/z10+YitzhakZeid.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><em><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1"><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="186" closure_uid_fev7yw="388">Minister Lim Kim San, talking with officers after the graduation parade at Taman Jurong Camp, March 2, 1968. </span><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="187" closure_uid_fev7yw="389">Right - Lt. Col. Yitzhak Zayd.</span></span></em> </span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" class="pic" style="width: 1px;">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td class="cont"><br />
</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1"><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="188" closure_uid_fev7yw="390">In addition to the SAF line infantry units required
and special purpose. </span><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="189" closure_uid_fev7yw="391">Advisor for their creation and training was Lieutenant Colonel Amos
Ne'eman, a paratrooper who participated in a sting operation and the landing at
Mitla Pass, commander amphibious reconnaissance, a specialist in special
operations and intelligence unit commander Haruv. </span><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="190" closure_uid_fev7yw="392">In addition, he served as
a military advisor in Ethiopia and the course instructor commanders.
</span><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="191" closure_uid_fev7yw="393">Neeman
arrived in Singapore in 1969, and in the same year, 20 officers and NCOs,
selected SAFTI (preliminary selection was conducted by local officers in
advance), began to course instructors in a separate "regular unit". </span><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="192" closure_uid_fev7yw="394">Upon completion of the
course, they were under the command of the 80 recruits, and in 1971, at the end
of a business trip Colonel Neeman, the unit was renamed the commando battalion.
</span><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="193" closure_uid_fev7yw="395">Then the
staff was traditional for paratroopers red berets. </span><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="194" closure_uid_fev7yw="396">The course included a
commando parachute, helicopter and amphibious assault forces, orienteering and
survival, intelligence and subversive activity, mine thing. </span><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="195" closure_uid_fev7yw="397">From 1971 to 1973, a
number of officers have advanced training in the schools of American Rangers and
British Marines. </span><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="196" closure_uid_fev7yw="398">In the second half of the 70th several infantry battalions was enhanced
commando officers and sergeants, and on this basis has been created Guards
Brigade, deployed by the end of the 90th Division in the quick response.
</span><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="197" closure_uid_fev7yw="399">To date, the
Commando is one regular and one reservist battalion and a company of special
operations, which is the basic profile of counterterrorism.</span></span>
<span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1"><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="198" closure_uid_fev7yw="400">Copying Israeli example touched the initial
military training. </span><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="199" closure_uid_fev7yw="401">Almost simultaneously with the introduction of mandatory military
service in 1967, the year in high school began lessons CWP according to Israeli
"Youth Battalions" GADNA (Gdud Noar), including visits to military units and
introduction to military life. </span><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="200" closure_uid_fev7yw="402">As the manuals used by educational brochures GADNA
specially translated into Chinese. </span><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="201" closure_uid_fev7yw="403">In 1969 the type GADNA based scouting organization
established the National Cadet Corps from land, sea and air compartments, where
students of secondary and high school students can more deeply acquainted with
the various branches of service in the future to select them for their military
service. </span><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="202" closure_uid_fev7yw="404">In
1975 was opened as the "School for Boys SAF» - Singapore Armed Forces Boys
`School (SAFBS), in which the young age of fourteen can be trained as a team,
and the technical direction, modeled on the Israeli military boarding schools
and college service weapons.</span></span>
<span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1"><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="203" closure_uid_fev7yw="405">Speaking of the Armed Forces of the Israeli model,
not to mention a well-known features of the Israeli army, as a mandatory service
in their women. </span><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="204" closure_uid_fev7yw="406">At the time of the SAF only proponent of this idea was the Prime
Minister Lee Kuan Yew, other ministers, including Ken Goh Swee not supported
this initiative, so women have served in the army only on a voluntary basis and
only for medical or administrative positions. </span><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="205" closure_uid_fev7yw="407">From 1971, the women began
to take the military police, and in 1972 held its first female officer's course,
and in 1986 it was decided to partially take over the Israeli experience and
open to women as an instructor of military specialties, and in 1988, were
discovered and technical occupations .</span></span>
<span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1"><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="206" closure_uid_fev7yw="408">In addition to purely military aspect, the army, as
well as in Israel, served an important social function: rallying a diverse
population into one nation. </span><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="207" closure_uid_fev7yw="409">In Israel, Jews from different countries speaking
different languages and had a very different cultural background, finding
similarities between them is often a problem. </span><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="208" closure_uid_fev7yw="410">Singapore is not only the
Chinese, Malays and Indians held their own religions, traditions and way of
life, lived apart and did not mix with each other, but even people from
different regions of China, settled in different neighborhoods and spoke
different dialects. </span><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="209" closure_uid_fev7yw="411">People are aware of themselves as part of their community, but not a
common state or nation. </span><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="210" closure_uid_fev7yw="412">The army was a tool with which Lee Kuan Yew and his
colleagues set out to create a single unified patriotism and Singapore
Singaporean nation, he served as an example of the IDF. </span><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="211" closure_uid_fev7yw="413">Of course, life is
adjusted in the good intentions, for example, Malay minority, despite the full
civil equality, discriminated against in the military in regard to a
particularly sensitive and strategic areas, such as the flight of the Air Force,
intelligence, senior command positions, and so etc. </span><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="212" closure_uid_fev7yw="414">Officially, this is due to
the reluctance to put Malay dilemma "dual loyalty." </span><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="213" closure_uid_fev7yw="415">In the early years of the
proportion of Malay SAF recruits deliberately understated relative to the
Chinese because of concerns over potential "fifth column." </span><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="214" closure_uid_fev7yw="416">But, by and large, the
founding fathers had their way and the Singapore army has indeed become a
powerful rallying point for a new "nation in formation."</span></span><br />
<br />
<br />
<h2>
<span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1"><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="215" closure_uid_fev7yw="417">"On the ground, in the air and on the
sea"</span></span></h2>
<br />
<h3>
<span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1"><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="216" closure_uid_fev7yw="418">Arms and the arms</span></span></h3>
<br />
<span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1"><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="217" closure_uid_fev7yw="419">As for the arms of the new army, despite the
enthusiasm of Singapore officers and their desire to learn from their
instructors at anything up to Israel parade marches to its (first parades were
held that way), counselors guided purely professional motives, therefore, offer
to equip Singapore soldier Uzi submachine guns were rejected by the Israelis, as
Uzi suitable only for close combat. </span><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="218" closure_uid_fev7yw="420">Later, the same were rejected by machines Galil, as
yet unfinished, and small arms SAF were American M16 (in 1970, the beginning of
their local production license). </span><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="219" closure_uid_fev7yw="421">However, as a means of fire support to infantry on
the best set of parameters were Israeli 60-mm and 81-mm mortars produced by
Salt, and they were taken by the army in Singapore. </span><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="220" closure_uid_fev7yw="422">In the future, the
Singapore industry arranged the production of mortars under
license.</span></span>
<span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1"><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="221" closure_uid_fev7yw="423">In early 1968, after the announcement of the
British government minimized the military presence, it was decided to make a
qualitative leap in strengthening the defense of Singapore and to create armor.
</span><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="222" closure_uid_fev7yw="424">In November
1968 it was formed unit VCU - Vehicle Commando Unit, which included 36 officers
infantry, signal corps, logistics and reserves have been pre-course driving,
communications, basic mechanics and maintenance of equipment. </span><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="223" closure_uid_fev7yw="425">The wife of one of the
Israeli advisers had for them as a basic course of Hebrew, and in December 1968,
the officers went to Israel to study light tank AMX-13, retired IDF after the
Six Day War, and the course of tank specialists. </span><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="224" closure_uid_fev7yw="426">The training took place in
unusual circumstances for Singaporeans winter desert and led notoriously
demanding instructors IDF armored forces (the phrase "Israeli instructors" is
rarely used in Singapore source without adjectives "demanding", "strong",
"harsh", etc.). </span><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="225" closure_uid_fev7yw="427">After four months of theoretical lessons, day and night driving, live
firing and tactical exercises, field repairs, sand storms and clashes with the
Bedouins, stealing scrap metal from captured tanks were the target, April 30,
1969 held a graduation ceremony. </span><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="226" closure_uid_fev7yw="428">In May, the officers' group subsequently for the
stories of his adventures nickname "Camels", returned to Singapore and made a
plan for education and training for future soldiers.</span></span><br />
<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_qWRXZbXyUVcQkjzYY3M4vyxDuVM3542-9kPHmt2L7ICOL0YaK_9yHXRzCFFN4p9k_ovTWtROh5AUp4YAVbTOx9mbuutwePevCYNcaq7HA-j4jhA4BoqY7bTbxUWvD7XRZ1FXKqTdaQ/s1600/z11+AMX-13-camels_israel-400.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="448" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_qWRXZbXyUVcQkjzYY3M4vyxDuVM3542-9kPHmt2L7ICOL0YaK_9yHXRzCFFN4p9k_ovTWtROh5AUp4YAVbTOx9mbuutwePevCYNcaq7HA-j4jhA4BoqY7bTbxUWvD7XRZ1FXKqTdaQ/s640/z11+AMX-13-camels_israel-400.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><em><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1"><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="227" closure_uid_fev7yw="429" style="font-size: small;">"Camels" study materiel, Israel, the beginning of 1969.</span></span></em> </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" class="pic" style="width: 1px;">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td class="cont"> </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1"><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="228" closure_uid_fev7yw="430">The same month, the Israeli-Singaporean relations
rose to the highest diplomatic level: Singapore opened Israeli embassy.
</span><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="229" closure_uid_fev7yw="431">Rank head of
the Israeli military mission has also increased, and Col. Jacob Elazar replaced
Brigadier General Uri Rum, served before a tank brigade commander and the
commander of the tank school (Jacob Elazar was appointed Chief of Staff of
Central District and after retirement in the rank of Brigadier-General again
became a military adviser to the Singapore, now in private). </span><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="230" closure_uid_fev7yw="432">Besides Uri Roma new
branch consultant arrived with a special visit, Major General Avraham Adan
(Bren), commander of the IDF tank troops.</span></span>
<span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1"><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="231" closure_uid_fev7yw="433">In July of 1969, Israel was the first party of the
AMX-13, in September - the second, only 72 were delivered to the tank.
</span><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="232" closure_uid_fev7yw="434">At the parade
on August 9, Independence Day and the 150th anniversary of the founding of
Singapore, the passage of the column of 18 AMX-13 was a big surprise for
Malaysia, which did not have at the time the tanks. </span><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="233" closure_uid_fev7yw="435">Display of military might
come in time and cool some hot heads, as in May 1969 in Malaysia clashes erupted
between the Chinese and Malays, and again there was a danger that the Malay
nationalists tried to force the military to return to Singapore the federation.
</span><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="234" closure_uid_fev7yw="436">As he said in
his report to the Defense Ken Goh Swee: "The only bright spot in the whole grim
story of the race riots in Kuala Lumpur, is the positive effect that made our
armored divisions on the Malaysian political circles." </span><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="235" closure_uid_fev7yw="437">Guests of honor at the
front podium were Israeli advisers.</span></span><br />
<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUUmhON8mJ528HxTZYWQkNgk9i9pd3oWhF3Sngj-IQjIjWKGRmFlMmg26S86IE_A3t14ztv1CCzjmbVto-oIWOpchQtzpk8Q898SGMguQbShyphenhyphenIApYTbhrE8EUr_6OBn-Vq7WOveMSLwA/s1600/z12+AMX-13_unload_1969-400.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="434" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUUmhON8mJ528HxTZYWQkNgk9i9pd3oWhF3Sngj-IQjIjWKGRmFlMmg26S86IE_A3t14ztv1CCzjmbVto-oIWOpchQtzpk8Q898SGMguQbShyphenhyphenIApYTbhrE8EUr_6OBn-Vq7WOveMSLwA/s640/z12+AMX-13_unload_1969-400.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><em><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1"><span style="font-size: small;"><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="236" closure_uid_fev7yw="438">Unloading the first AMX-13, July 1969. </span><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="237" closure_uid_fev7yw="439">Arrival tanks kept secret before Independence Day.</span></span></span></em> </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<table align="center" class="pic" style="width: 1px;">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td class="cont"><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIZef5ixiCIuktQSbQs_bw4VF-5sox_lisZthUI-1eRLniMdrQYuy1wJ3Zw1CQc7abF0lIx68qOWCO12lDNv3WNjLKz_xjM38IJKcM439XDW9DF8QYQvnnjTU-e-d64pzLecfy_Roc_Q/s1600/z13+AMX-parade.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="406" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIZef5ixiCIuktQSbQs_bw4VF-5sox_lisZthUI-1eRLniMdrQYuy1wJ3Zw1CQc7abF0lIx68qOWCO12lDNv3WNjLKz_xjM38IJKcM439XDW9DF8QYQvnnjTU-e-d64pzLecfy_Roc_Q/s640/z13+AMX-parade.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><em><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1"><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="238" closure_uid_fev7yw="440" style="font-size: small;">Column AMX-13 at the historic parade.</span></span></em> </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" class="pic" style="width: 1px;">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td class="cont"> </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1"><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="239" closure_uid_fev7yw="441">After graduation parades advisers helped the
"camel" conduct based on VCU additional training series to adapt the knowledge
to the specific local conditions, and in September opened a course of tank
commanders. </span><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="240" closure_uid_fev7yw="442">In July 1970, the two companies completed the course recruits tank
specialties, and created the first tank brigade, armed with AMX-13 wheeled
armored personnel carriers and V-200 Commando with infantry. </span><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="241" closure_uid_fev7yw="443">The following year saw the
first brigade maneuvers and tank school opened.</span></span><br />
<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiRdoNE18LNhXeqfGEKHLNDJgPxAYD4VU1lsRFAc5gXh4-2tWHvkHER6DdC0nX7yUec7Ia2ELhfSHUycVKc1byd6GtP1kFHWDrT0HGBit_06rj-5WRglCrCVajsdRCb_2gHSpUhAptig/s1600/z14+948cb8f4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiRdoNE18LNhXeqfGEKHLNDJgPxAYD4VU1lsRFAc5gXh4-2tWHvkHER6DdC0nX7yUec7Ia2ELhfSHUycVKc1byd6GtP1kFHWDrT0HGBit_06rj-5WRglCrCVajsdRCb_2gHSpUhAptig/s640/z14+948cb8f4.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><em><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1"><span style="font-size: small;"><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="242" closure_uid_fev7yw="444">Demonstration maneuvers armored forces SAF, 1974. </span><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="243" closure_uid_fev7yw="445">The system of tactical symbols copied from the Israeli.</span></span></span></em></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" class="pic" style="width: 1px;">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td class="cont"> </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1"><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="244" closure_uid_fev7yw="446">Singapore is still one of the biggest users of the
AMX-13 and is armed with about 350 vehicles purchased, except for Israel, India
and France. </span><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="245" closure_uid_fev7yw="447">Beginning in 1988, the entire fleet of AMX-13 was upgraded Singapore
Industry: AMX-13 SM1 were diesel engine, automatic transmission, hydropneumatic
suspension, improved fire control system, the new means of communication,
enhanced reservation.</span></span>
<span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1"><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="246" closure_uid_fev7yw="448">In addition, in 1975, India had purchased 63
Centurion Mk.3 and Mk.7, and in 1993-94 an additional batch of these tanks was
purchased in Israel, wrote off Centurions of regular units in 1992 to the year,
and their total number has grown to 80-100, according to various sources (some
of which indicates the total number as 60.) </span><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="247" closure_uid_fev7yw="449">In contrast to the AMX-13,
the presence of Centurions never officially recognized by Singapore, and
government sources of information about it is not. </span><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="248" closure_uid_fev7yw="450">Non-governmental sources
also say that with the help of Israeli experts all Centurions were upgraded to
Israeli standard, including the 105-mm gun L7, diesel engine, as well as,
presumably, and dynamic protection, were locally called «Tempest» and used in
the course of regular army exercises Singapore, Taiwan and Brunei (limited area
of Singapore makes conduct large-scale maneuvers in landfills friendly
countries, on request). </span><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="249" closure_uid_fev7yw="451">It is reported, in particular, the British explorer
Tim Huxley in his book «Defending the Lion City: The Armed Forces of Singapore».
</span><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="250" closure_uid_fev7yw="452">Official
confirmation of this information, as has been said, no.</span></span>
<span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1"><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="251" closure_uid_fev7yw="453">In parallel with developing tank troops and
artillery. </span><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="252" closure_uid_fev7yw="454">At
the time of independence in the Singapore army had only outdated British
25-pounder guns. </span><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="253" closure_uid_fev7yw="455">In 1967 he created the artillery school and the first Singaporean
artillery battalion, received on arms 120 mm mortars, the Israeli firm Soltam.
</span><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="254" closure_uid_fev7yw="456">Initially
mortars tolerated by calculation or towed on two-wheel speed; since 1971, with
the creation of self-propelled mortar battalion, they began to mount on the
V-200 armored personnel carriers, and since 1973 - the M113. </span><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="255" closure_uid_fev7yw="457">During the 70th conducted
a quantitative and qualitative increase power Singaporean artillery in 1973 was
purchased 45,155-mm field guns, howitzers, M-68 production of Salt, in 1976 -
about 20 U.S. 155-mm M114 howitzer, retired U.S. Army, in 1979 - from 40 to 50,
according to various sources, the gun-howitzer M-71, developed Soltamom based on
M-68, in 1980 - 12 heavy 160mm mortar M-66 of the same company. </span><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="256" closure_uid_fev7yw="458">155-mm howitzers were the
basis of Israeli-made artillery SAF to the early 90's, when based on the M-71
Singapore-based industry has launched production of its own howitzers FH-88, and
then FH-2000, with a barrel length of 52 calibres. </span><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="257" closure_uid_fev7yw="459">Despite enacting these
guns, as well as the latest 155-mm self-propelled guns «Primus» and French light
105mm Giat LG1 (Division for quick response), upgraded in 1993, the M-eat-71S
are still in service. </span><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="258" closure_uid_fev7yw="460">Also been deployed licensed production 120-mm mortars for infantry units
and self-propelled artillery.</span></span><br />
<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVTRm1O5qsQ8VCRm5U-z38cmqQU3vHPeuuVg9imNMhQAFLlCL7_fm80DsjAdqNljt19odV23Wnc1_82K34WW7kvaGEyEQ4jMetvAYEuq4OEKSEQNwQbuu0RmpXk1Jdcgvlh_px6Y6iwQ/s1600/z15+smallM-71.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="422" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVTRm1O5qsQ8VCRm5U-z38cmqQU3vHPeuuVg9imNMhQAFLlCL7_fm80DsjAdqNljt19odV23Wnc1_82K34WW7kvaGEyEQ4jMetvAYEuq4OEKSEQNwQbuu0RmpXk1Jdcgvlh_px6Y6iwQ/s640/z15+smallM-71.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><em><span style="font-size: small;">M-71 artillery SAF, 1981.</span></em> </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<br />
<table align="center" class="pic" style="width: 1px;">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td class="cont"> </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1"><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="260" closure_uid_fev7yw="462">Along with a strong land army Singapore needs a
strong aviation. </span><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="261" closure_uid_fev7yw="463">Aviation issues involved Tsivoni Colonel Adam, former head of the
technical department of Staff of the Israeli Air Force. </span><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="262" closure_uid_fev7yw="464">Under his leadership, in
1969, was acquired eight French helicopters "Alluet-3", formed the first
division of the Singapore Air Force pilots and technicians set up schools at the
airbase RAF Tengah. </span><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="263" closure_uid_fev7yw="465">The first training aircraft were eight aircraft "Cessna-172K."
</span><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="264" closure_uid_fev7yw="466">In 1970-1971
in the UK were purchased 20 fighters "Hunter", 16 training aircraft
"Straykmaster" as well as a 35 mm anti-aircraft guns and 28 SAM «Bloodhound».
</span><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="265" closure_uid_fev7yw="467">The first
pilots were trained in France and Britain and became an instructor for the
following drivers, under the Israeli leadership. </span><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="266" closure_uid_fev7yw="468">Additional assistance
provided retired senior officers RAF, hired on contract. </span><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="267" closure_uid_fev7yw="469">In 1972, Singapore's Air
Force received 27 more "Hunter" and Italian training SF260. </span><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="268" closure_uid_fev7yw="470">In the U.S. Navy was
purchased over 50 "Skyhawks" held upgrade to A-4S and composition in the
1974-1976 two new squadrons.</span></span><br />
<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhncRI7-KUkjuFp3UC3QXJBdBOUQN36Jg0Vk2-ra-B8J1g32NI6zrVO-xwlD5UTadwOSMQyglqLtPNS5wTM0GAkrgCCC9bSgGVg2u7figXzu-HPg-pqd3RYmQlUfpgpdOJeX0RPT3q4_w/s1600/z16+ea7f2fe9.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhncRI7-KUkjuFp3UC3QXJBdBOUQN36Jg0Vk2-ra-B8J1g32NI6zrVO-xwlD5UTadwOSMQyglqLtPNS5wTM0GAkrgCCC9bSgGVg2u7figXzu-HPg-pqd3RYmQlUfpgpdOJeX0RPT3q4_w/s640/z16+ea7f2fe9.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><em><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1"><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="269" closure_uid_fev7yw="471" style="font-size: small;">Opening of the summer school, August 1, 1969.</span></span></em> </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" class="pic" style="width: 1px;">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td class="cont"> </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1"><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="270" closure_uid_fev7yw="472">The third component of the armed forces, demanded
the creation from scratch, was the fleet. </span><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="271" closure_uid_fev7yw="473">In 1965, the Singapore Volunteer Navy (Singapore
Naval Volunteer Force) had three old ship: former Japanese minelayer "Vakataka"
and two armed vessel used for the protection of coastal waters from pirates and
smugglers. </span><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="272" closure_uid_fev7yw="474">New modern fleet was created to plan and under the direction of Captain
First Rank Zvi Tirosh, Deputy Chief of Naval Staff Operations Division of
Israel. </span><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="273" closure_uid_fev7yw="475">Tirosh, the future deputy commander of the Navy, was in the 60's, led
the commission that developed the ASM "Gabriel" and the Israeli missile and
patrol boats. </span><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="274" closure_uid_fev7yw="476">In 1969 began the first course in the Singaporean school sailors on the
island of Sentosa, which consisted of 160 cadets training was conducted in
conjunction with the New Zealand officers. </span><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="275" closure_uid_fev7yw="477">That same year, the water was launched the first of
six new high-speed patrol boats - «RSS Independence», British construction.
</span><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="276" closure_uid_fev7yw="478">The second
boat was also built in the UK, a series of other ships were built in Singapore.
</span><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="277" closure_uid_fev7yw="479">In the early
70's began to come into service missile boats of the type «Sea Wolf», the first
two were built in Germany, the next four - in Singapore. </span><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="278" closure_uid_fev7yw="480">Missile boats armed with
anti-ship missiles "Gabriel-I», Israeli navy used with 1969 and showed excellent
results in the naval battles of the Yom Kippur War, and 57-mm Bofors guns.
</span><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="279" closure_uid_fev7yw="481">In the 1980s,
in the process of upgrading to this added ASM "Harpoon" and SAM "Mistral".
</span><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="280" closure_uid_fev7yw="482">Boats of the
type «Sea Wolf» still are in service the 185th Squadron of Singapore and will be
retired with the end of the entry into service of new series of frigates type
«Formidable».</span></span>
<span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1"><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="281" closure_uid_fev7yw="483">By the end of 1971, the second phase of
construction was completed by the SAF. </span><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="282" closure_uid_fev7yw="484">Entered into force on 1 November 1971 five-sided
defense agreement (ANZUK), concluded between the United Kingdom, Australia, New
Zealand, Malaysia and Singapore, and having the official purpose "defense of
Malaysia and Singapore from external attack," to some extent replaced the
British garrison, but the Singapore government preferred do not rely on
contracts, especially as one of the possible opponents were Malaysia, a member
of the agreement. </span><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="283" closure_uid_fev7yw="485">Better protection against this threat to use his own army, and in late
1971 began the third phase of construction, which lasted until the beginning of
1974.</span></span>
<span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1"><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="284" closure_uid_fev7yw="486">The third stage was to create a combined arms,
further raising the level of officers and strengthening aviation, navy,
artillery and armored forces. </span><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="285" closure_uid_fev7yw="487">Of Israeli advisers serving in Singapore during
this period, apart from the above-mentioned Colonel Benjamin Ben-Eliezer, who
led the Command and Staff College, SAF, may be called the chief of Israeli
military mission Brigadier General Ephraim PORA (replaced Brigadier General Uri
Roma in early 1972) and Lieutenant Colonel Dan Vardi, supervised the tank area.
</span><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="286" closure_uid_fev7yw="488">Colonel Vardi
have to interrupt your trip and return immediately to Israel to start the Yom
Kippur War, to lead and to lead in the fight that was left of the brigade
"Barack" after a heavy loss in the Golan Heights and the death of
generalship.</span></span>
<span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1"><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="287" closure_uid_fev7yw="489">By 1974, the mission of Israeli advisers were
executed: they developed the concept of defense, laid the foundation of a new
modern army, air force and navy, and trained core team of instructors and
provided the basis for further professional and technical development of all
branches of service. </span><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="288" closure_uid_fev7yw="490">Singapore Armed Forces to stand firmly on their feet, they no longer
needed a mentor, and the Israeli military presence, which began in 1965 with
eight officers and reaches at its peak in 1969, forty-five, in April 1974, has
been reduced.</span></span>
<span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1"><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="289" closure_uid_fev7yw="491">"The Israelis have focused on training military
skills and the creation of a high motivation of personnel. </span><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="290" closure_uid_fev7yw="492">SAF have not learned from
the "Mexicans" parade uniforms and elegance "- says Lee Kuan
Yew</span></span><br />
<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjO_7OnMd59RP39lz1I6zYF8aFWHXawVWyrRQQUfSif4yiC1jwuItO1evnHg7dhIvKxGe8snkUWgxzbBEmqZ6W3sqRuhdel5Be6n9cJDMuD5wCvUUFq281Q1_f_Fn-99Uykdpvw5jdzbg/s1600/z17+singapore_soldier_small2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjO_7OnMd59RP39lz1I6zYF8aFWHXawVWyrRQQUfSif4yiC1jwuItO1evnHg7dhIvKxGe8snkUWgxzbBEmqZ6W3sqRuhdel5Be6n9cJDMuD5wCvUUFq281Q1_f_Fn-99Uykdpvw5jdzbg/s640/z17+singapore_soldier_small2.jpg" width="490" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><em><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1"><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="291" closure_uid_fev7yw="493" style="font-size: small;">Israeli reservists machines are about the same.</span></span></em> </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" class="pic" style="width: 1px;">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td class="cont"> </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1"><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="292" closure_uid_fev7yw="494">A small number of officers remained at the focal
positions at the Ministry of Defence and the General Staff of Singapore, but
most of the military cooperation between the two countries has shifted to
maintaining and building qualitative superiority over neighboring armies SAF
with Israeli technology output Israeli defense industry to Asian markets, and in
the future to joint technological developments in the military field.
</span><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="293" closure_uid_fev7yw="495">Over time,
Singapore has become one of the "intimate" friends of Israel and an important
strategic partner.</span></span><br />
<br />
<br />
<h2>
<span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1"><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="294" closure_uid_fev7yw="496">"How does a rocket, you will not need to know about
it"</span></span></h2>
<br />
<h3>
<span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1"><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="295" closure_uid_fev7yw="497">Israeli technology to guard
Singapore</span></span></h3>
<br />
<span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1"><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="296" closure_uid_fev7yw="498">The main interest for the Army of Singapore are the
technological areas in which Israel has traditionally been a leader in the
world: Electro, systems with remote-controlled missiles, avionics systems,
electronic intelligence and electronic warfare, control and communications
systems, the modernization of ground and air platforms, simulators. </span></span><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1"><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="296" closure_uid_fev7yw="498">
</span></span>
<span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1"><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="297" closure_uid_fev7yw="499">A significant part of the Israeli technology
"presence" refers to the air component of the armed forces. </span><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="298" closure_uid_fev7yw="500">Thus, in the 80th
Singapore has adopted a UAV «Scout», in 1998, the year they were replaced by 40
UAV «Searcher Mk2» production IAI. </span><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="299" closure_uid_fev7yw="501">Then, based on the acquired Israeli technology
(firm EMIT Aviation Consultancy) company Singapore Technologies began developing
its own vehicles «Sparrow», «Blue Horizon» and «Firefly», the latter may be the
basis for a cruise missile and sea-based. </span><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="300" closure_uid_fev7yw="502">Also been a joint Israeli specialists to develop
UAV «Golden Eagle». </span><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="301" closure_uid_fev7yw="503">There is evidence of the use of the Singapore Air Force Israeli missiles
"air-to-air» «Python-3" and «Python-4."</span></span>
<span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1"><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="302" closure_uid_fev7yw="504">During the 90th fleet was upgraded F-5 fighter jets
in service with the Air Force of Singapore from the 70's, including the
installation of a new radar and navigation system. </span><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="303" closure_uid_fev7yw="505">Most of the work on the
integration of the Israeli company Elbit performed. </span><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="304" closure_uid_fev7yw="506">In collaboration with the
same firm, as well as IAI, Singapore ST Aero has developed a package of upgrades
for F-5 Turkish and Brazilian Air Force. </span><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="305" closure_uid_fev7yw="507">Singapore on 10 F-16D Block 52 in the course of
their production in the U.S. was installed additional Israeli equipment,
including electronic warfare equipment, presumably SPS-3000 company Elisra.
</span><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="306" closure_uid_fev7yw="508">The latest
F-16D Block 52 + are equipped with one of the variants of the complex EW ASPS of
the same firm, as well as sighting and navigation system container production
Rafael Litening. </span><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="307" closure_uid_fev7yw="509">Maritime patrol aircraft «Fokker 50 Maritime Enforcer» were also
equipped with the Israeli electronic warfare system. </span><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="308" closure_uid_fev7yw="510">Israel supplied night
vision equipment for helicopters, radar warning devices and tactical data
terminals. </span><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="309" closure_uid_fev7yw="511">In
addition, Singapore has bought the Israeli Air Force training systems, such as
tactical simulator «Hotshot» and mining system aviamanevrov and debriefing in
real time «EHUD» company BVR Systems, as well as equipment for the landfill air
battles in SIAB, Indonesia, which is used by Singapore pilots. </span><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="310" closure_uid_fev7yw="512">, Israeli specialists was
being developed spy satellite technology-based Israeli series of satellites
"Ofek".</span></span><br />
<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQsbizee3XFewgJYh2yyf9bwyBELLpnkoXkxpXjskIJpd1R0AZj0hVk49Mbab3vI39BrqGZ9pzF8bQbsGWI7h706wqxd96ehfy1__eLddwWkLfTJkNn6AHYPlTP1bqIe0hkqyYzxsTDA/s1600/z18+c42247db.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="440" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQsbizee3XFewgJYh2yyf9bwyBELLpnkoXkxpXjskIJpd1R0AZj0hVk49Mbab3vI39BrqGZ9pzF8bQbsGWI7h706wqxd96ehfy1__eLddwWkLfTJkNn6AHYPlTP1bqIe0hkqyYzxsTDA/s640/z18+c42247db.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><em><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1"><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="311" closure_uid_fev7yw="513" style="font-size: small;">F-16D Block 52 with the Israeli Air Force of Singapore facilities.</span></span></em> </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" class="pic" style="width: 1px;">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td class="cont"> </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1"><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="312" closure_uid_fev7yw="514">The Navy Singapore are ASM "Gabriel-I» and
«Gabriel-II» production IAI, SAM "Barack-I» joint development IAI and Rafael,
patrol boats with mini remote control "Protector" of production Rafael,
artillery and machine-gun stabilized installation "Typhoon" and "Mini-Typhoon"
by the same company, and a large number of Israeli-made electronic systems,
including electronic surveillance system NS-9010C, NS-9003A and EW system
NS-9005 company Elisra, electro-optics system (optronic director) MSIS firm
El-Op, the combat information system company Elbit, electronic surveillance
system C-PEARL-M, EW system SHARK/RAN-1101, a combined system of electronic
intelligence and electronic warfare SEWS/RAN-1110, multi electrooptical system
«TOPLITE» and staging system of passive Rafael noise production, search radar
and fire control radar EL/M-2228 SGRS, EL/M-2238 STAR and EL/M-2221 STGR company
Elta.</span></span><br />
<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhA1YmYC0fMXw5QSaslYfLPYCobvdJcVh3s-xGwBaXDVtRown9IKvLlAxG5d6IPnh6svYtmfqNMVTHVWa26_QbqBePC4b1A9hZMr22aONYN3ZzJ9zUY1BVM0G_vQho5pw-IRdB-C0oxeg/s1600/z19+9d10bd67.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="418" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhA1YmYC0fMXw5QSaslYfLPYCobvdJcVh3s-xGwBaXDVtRown9IKvLlAxG5d6IPnh6svYtmfqNMVTHVWa26_QbqBePC4b1A9hZMr22aONYN3ZzJ9zUY1BVM0G_vQho5pw-IRdB-C0oxeg/s640/z19+9d10bd67.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><em><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1"><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="313" closure_uid_fev7yw="515">Guided missile corvette «RSS Victory». </span><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="314" closure_uid_fev7yw="516">Israeli electronics and SAM "Barack."</span></span></em> </span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" class="pic" style="width: 1px;">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td class="cont"> </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1"><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="315" closure_uid_fev7yw="517">Land Army uses Israeli mortars and artillery, as
detailed above, the ATGM "Spike" Israel (Raphael) and further local production,
remotely controlled turrets weapons (Overhead Weapon Stations - OWS) Rafael
production, control, communications, and command, control, orientation and
targeting, electronic surveillance. </span><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="316" closure_uid_fev7yw="518">Conducted joint development of integrated systems
of C4ISR (Command, Control, Communication, Computers, Intelligence, Surveillance
and Reconnaissance) systems and tactical communications.</span></span><br />
<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiisBqpFNJZy6uwKxVLepomvgZeUTXrdzM3TJO_A05JMnVdoS65yR-1TohxJ0NhHWcTw3VFbzMPEymKNXSxFzw4Hgf8n4IYJHNeT5eAI_vvEL04BaRS6hZIWYs7aL80pHlSRwtO0gumHA/s1600/z20+smallUpgradedM113oftheSingaporeArme.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="466" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiisBqpFNJZy6uwKxVLepomvgZeUTXrdzM3TJO_A05JMnVdoS65yR-1TohxJ0NhHWcTw3VFbzMPEymKNXSxFzw4Hgf8n4IYJHNeT5eAI_vvEL04BaRS6hZIWYs7aL80pHlSRwtO0gumHA/s640/z20+smallUpgradedM113oftheSingaporeArme.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><em><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1"><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="317" closure_uid_fev7yw="519" style="font-size: small;">Upgraded M113 Ultra with a 25 mm Bushmaster cannon on OWS Rafael.</span></span></em> </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" class="pic" style="width: 1px;">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td class="cont"> </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1"><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="318" closure_uid_fev7yw="520">Separately, it should be said about electronic
intelligence in general, which is one of the most important tools of modern
warfare. </span><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="319" closure_uid_fev7yw="521">Speaking about the systems of air, land and sea-based, Australian
military analyst Desmond Ball says: "Singapore opportunities in electronic
surveillance, especially the systems acquired from Israel over the last decade
(1985-1995), as well as some of its own design, are some of the the most
advanced in the world and give Singapore the largest in Southeast Asia fighting
capacity in electronic warfare. " </span><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="320" closure_uid_fev7yw="522">For since then another decade possibility of
Singapore in this area is increased, largely due to technical cooperation with
Israel.</span></span>
<span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1"><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="321" closure_uid_fev7yw="523">It should be noted that much of the Israeli defense
exports to Singapore is classified, and many deliveries and joint projects
(particularly those of the military technological departments of the two
countries) are not observed even MONITORING unofficial sources. </span><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="322" closure_uid_fev7yw="524">Some Israeli defense firms
"Singapore" is a separate area, along with the relevant departments, and
information about his work is usually not advertised. </span><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="323" closure_uid_fev7yw="525">As for the total volume,
then the year 2000 the amount of signed contracts is more than two billion
dollars. </span><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="324" closure_uid_fev7yw="526">In
terms «Trend Indicator Value» International Institute SIPRI, noted a change in
the world arms exports and build on comparative technical characteristics of
weapons, not the financial volumes, Singapore is ranked first in the Israeli
defense exports for the period 1994-2004, overtaking the United States, India
and China.</span></span>
<span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1"><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="325" closure_uid_fev7yw="527">Throughout the 90th Israel, according to military
experts, ranked third in importance among the suppliers of military equipment to
Singapore. </span><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="326" closure_uid_fev7yw="528">This place is even more weight when you consider that in the first
places are providers of such platforms, the production of which Israel is not a
competitor: U.S. - military aircraft and helicopters, and Sweden - submarines.
</span><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="327" closure_uid_fev7yw="529">It is noted
that an additional advantage in the competitive Israeli systems is to provide
the source code of software, as opposed to the American practice, which
facilitates further modifications under the emerging changes and new
requirements.</span></span>
<span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1"><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="328" closure_uid_fev7yw="530">In 1997 he was created an Israeli-Singaporean fund
SIIRDF (Singapore-Israel Industrial R & D Foundation) to promote joint
projects in the field of high technologies. </span><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="329" closure_uid_fev7yw="531">During its existence, the
fund has financed projects totaling $ 50 million. </span><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="330" closure_uid_fev7yw="532">Singaporean investment in
Israeli high-tech companies through venture since 2000, is estimated at $ 100
million annually. </span><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="331" closure_uid_fev7yw="533">Financed not only by design, with military applications, but also
projects in the field of biotechnology, semiconductor, printing, agriculture,
etc., but most of the funds invested in the technology of "dual use".
</span><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="332" closure_uid_fev7yw="534">Many joint
defense productions are operating under the "Israeli technology - Singapore
funding." </span><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="333" closure_uid_fev7yw="535">Besides those already mentioned above directions, the Israeli and
Singaporean experts are working together in the areas of computer security and
cryptography, the Singapore Army provides advice in various fields, such as
aviation psychology, night operations, counterterrorism, etc. </span><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="334" closure_uid_fev7yw="536">Between the intelligence
agencies of the two countries held a regular exchange of
information.</span></span>
<span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1"><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="335" closure_uid_fev7yw="537">Indirect evidence of the importance attached to the
defense structures of Singapore Israel, is the fact that the post of military
attaché in the country has traditionally been considered the generals.
</span><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="336" closure_uid_fev7yw="538">The current
officer in Singapore, Rear Admiral Eli Merom, a former chief of staff of the
Israeli Navy and the applicant for the post of the commander, can serve as a
good illustration of the "intimate" relations between the two countries in the
military sphere.</span></span><br />
<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUkjkvIBpTUh8v_ivQ4MFnGJLl-2qyQsJa2ww1_t3-zHLOnU3RLpNX-hTREYQjr216zyFx5beLV4RMt80bVRkCuun4H_qmR9d_HzF5BzqvZXSmoMXf_6VGozt8VmVA9J5xtbart57eWw/s1600/z21+marom_eli.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUkjkvIBpTUh8v_ivQ4MFnGJLl-2qyQsJa2ww1_t3-zHLOnU3RLpNX-hTREYQjr216zyFx5beLV4RMt80bVRkCuun4H_qmR9d_HzF5BzqvZXSmoMXf_6VGozt8VmVA9J5xtbart57eWw/s640/z21+marom_eli.jpg" width="580" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><em><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1"><span style="font-size: small;"><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="337" closure_uid_fev7yw="539">Rear Admiral Eli Merom, nicknamed "China." </span><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="338" closure_uid_fev7yw="540">(The Israeli navy made the rank of Army, but here is given a traditional Russian equivalents).</span></span></span></em> </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" class="pic" style="width: 1px;">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td class="cont"> </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1"><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="339" closure_uid_fev7yw="541">The nickname is not given in vain, looks really
Chinese. </span><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="340" closure_uid_fev7yw="542">His
parents, Chinese and Jewish refugee from Germany, met in China during the Second
World War. </span><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="341" closure_uid_fev7yw="543">The general public, he became known in January 2002, after he commands
the operation to seize the Palestinian ship «Karine A» with cargo smuggled
weapons on board. </span><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="342" closure_uid_fev7yw="544">As a military officer Eli Merom coordinates joint military projects
developers, represents the interests of Israeli defense firms, and is a visual
aid on the "Chinese face, and the Israeli filling", which largely reflects the
educational past and present technological army Singapore. </span><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="343" closure_uid_fev7yw="545">As already mentioned, the
occupation of this post generals and admirals indicates the priority in relation
to other countries: the post of military attache in China and India, the largest
customer of Israeli defense industry, is currently occupied by colonels.
</span><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="344" closure_uid_fev7yw="546">We note
parenthetically that this is not a strict rule, for example, the older brother
Eli Miriam, Moses served as attache in China, also being a rear
admiral.</span></span>
<span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1"><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="345" closure_uid_fev7yw="547">Besides the fact that Singapore - one of the most
important customers and partners Israeli defense industry, it is also a bridge
for its publication in the Asian markets and robust Arms "third party" for
transactions with countries that are not able to open and trade directly with
Israel on various political reasons. </span><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="346" closure_uid_fev7yw="548">Strategic location in Southeast Asia makes
Singapore a natural center for the founding of the "outposts" and missions, and
the world's largest by annual tonnage passing Singapore's port is a great
opportunity to redirect the goods are not intended for prying eyes. </span><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="347" closure_uid_fev7yw="549">Thus, the first defense
contacts with China began just after Singapore, he also is a conduit for
supplies. </span><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="348" closure_uid_fev7yw="550">According to various sources, the sale of arms to the Government of
Myanmar and the other modes are not approved by the world community and subject
to various embargo on military supplies, also occurs through the mediation of
Singapore. </span><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="349" closure_uid_fev7yw="551">Through it also forged ties with traditionally hostile to Israel,
countries like Indonesia.</span></span><br />
<br />
<br />
<h2>
<span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1"><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="350" closure_uid_fev7yw="552">"Far East - support strong"</span></span></h2>
<br />
<h3>
<span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1"><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="351" closure_uid_fev7yw="553">Singapore Army today</span></span></h3>
<br />
<span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1"><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="352" closure_uid_fev7yw="554">The influence of Israel, but rather a natural
consequence of the same reasons as that of Israel (a small area with a small
population, lack of minerals, bet on themselves), it is seen not only in the
structure and the military doctrine of the Singaporean army, but in the place
SAF occupy in the social life of Singapore. </span><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="353" closure_uid_fev7yw="555">SAF - is not only a
melting pot for a unified nation and patriotic education of youth, but also
source of manpower for the managerial elite of the state. </span><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="354" closure_uid_fev7yw="556">End-of officers,
especially scholars, received by the army education in the best universities in
the U.S. and the UK, following the resignation of starting a second career in
politics, in administrative and managerial positions. </span><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="355" closure_uid_fev7yw="557">As a result, as in Israel,
despite the differences in political practice between the two countries, this
leads to the fact that the top positions are increasingly occupied by "Junta"
retirees. </span><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="356" closure_uid_fev7yw="558">In
the present government of Singapore three generals: the Prime Minister and
Finance Minister Lee Hsien Loong (son of Lee Kuan Yew), Defense Teo Chee Hian and
Foreign Minister George Yeo.</span></span>
<span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1"><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="357" closure_uid_fev7yw="559">Besides the fact that officers are prepared in
advance to be leaders not only in the army, but also in the state, the army
itself is the cornerstone of Singapore's doctrine «Total defence»: military,
civil, economic, social and psychological defense - "five fingers of one hand."
</span><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="358" closure_uid_fev7yw="560">Patriotism
and pride in their country, constant professional improvement and a willingness
to re-training, maintaining harmony among nationalities living in Singapore,
teaching knowledge needed in emergency situations - all this serves to
strengthen Singapore as a whole, according to the theory and practice of the
corporate state. </span><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="359" closure_uid_fev7yw="561">"Everyone involved in the defense of Singapore" - as the slogan says
propaganda campaigns of the «Total defence».</span></span><br />
<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgI3MqNVyjvoa2-79qMi2jJCHpFpQ2rCdA-bgFW2VMxTDmK9X1qNpjcx19VIqZZQSg1h9oIdWORoOWZEANYlym4fCGKRNFSE_48Ci8jbotdgIoEKt4Dl-F0fzwZVVD0ad7daa06ndf90w/s1600/z22+smallTotaldefense1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgI3MqNVyjvoa2-79qMi2jJCHpFpQ2rCdA-bgFW2VMxTDmK9X1qNpjcx19VIqZZQSg1h9oIdWORoOWZEANYlym4fCGKRNFSE_48Ci8jbotdgIoEKt4Dl-F0fzwZVVD0ad7daa06ndf90w/s640/z22+smallTotaldefense1.jpg" width="452" /></a></div>
<br />
<table align="center" class="pic" style="width: 1px;">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td class="cont"> </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1"><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="361" closure_uid_fev7yw="563">Everyone - but especially the army. </span><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="362" closure_uid_fev7yw="564">Annual defense spending is
about $ 5 billion - a record figure for South-East Asia (total costs in
Indonesia and Malaysia - about 3 billion) and 23rd place in the overall world
ranking (by the year 2005). </span><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="363" closure_uid_fev7yw="565">By comparison, Israel ranks 17th. </span><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="364" closure_uid_fev7yw="566">Just as in Israel, the
emphasis is on the qualitative superiority over potential enemy: technological
excellence, research and development, continuous improvement and modernization,
education personnel and constant readiness. </span><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="365" closure_uid_fev7yw="567">The lack of strategic
depth and resources for long-term hostilities led Singaporean doctrine of
"poisonous mushroom": deterring possible aggression by diplomatic and political
means and the creation of an army powerful enough to inflict serious, it is
desirable to unacceptable losses. </span><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="366" closure_uid_fev7yw="568">Lee Kuan Yew, in an interview with «New Straits
Times» in the year 2000 explained the concept as follows: "We have no one to
want to fight. </span><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="367" closure_uid_fev7yw="569">Why? </span><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="368" closure_uid_fev7yw="570">But we should be able to get a very high price to pay ... </span><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="369" closure_uid_fev7yw="571">and then go to the UN.
"</span></span>
<span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1"><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="370" closure_uid_fev7yw="572">Besides defensive scenarios, the doctrine includes
offensive: a preemptive strike in case of a sharp deterioration of the
situation, the transfer of war to the enemy with shock highly mobile parts, the
failure of his plans and the completion of the conflict in the short term.
</span><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="371" closure_uid_fev7yw="573">Under the
doctrine, as a casus belli covers not only direct military action, but also
interfering with the strategic interests of Singapore, for example, blocking
shipping lanes or supply of water (most of its fresh water gets Singapore from
Malaysia), which could not only undermine the economic base and normal
functioning of the state in general. </span><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="372" closure_uid_fev7yw="574">As in many other realities of Singapore, here we
also see similarities to the Israeli situation, when the IDF entered the battle
because of the blockade the Straits of Tiran, Egypt, in 1956 and 1967, Israeli
and Syrian interference in water 1964-1965 ("Battle of the water") .
</span><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="373" closure_uid_fev7yw="575">In the words
of Tim Huxley, "Singapore - is not Israel Southeast Asia, but he makes it clear
that dare to become one, if there is an urgent need."</span></span>
<span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1"><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="374" closure_uid_fev7yw="576">An important part of the defense of Singapore is
military cooperation with other countries, while maintaining an independent
political course. </span><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="375" closure_uid_fev7yw="577">The technological aspect of this collaboration includes local defense
industry cooperation with MIC Israel, Sweden, France, Australia, USA, UK and
diversification purchased military equipment, training aspect - the training of
officers in the American, British and Australian military academies, quartering
ongoing training and Air Force units Singapore Army on military bases in the
United States, Australia, France, Brunei and regular independent and joint
exercises SCD in those countries, as well as in Taiwan, the Philippines, New
Zealand and Thailand. </span><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="376" closure_uid_fev7yw="578">Lack of space for their own landfills makes "overseas teaching" vital to
maintaining combat readiness. </span><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="377" closure_uid_fev7yw="579">In addition, these exercises provide an opportunity
to evaluate the SAF and compare their skills to the level of the armies of
Western countries and the Asia-Pacific region.</span></span>
<span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1"><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="378" closure_uid_fev7yw="580">Political and international aspect is the
participation of SAF in peacekeeping and humanitarian operations in the army and
the UN mission in East Timor, Bangladesh, Cambodia, Ethiopia, Saudi Arabia,
Guatemala, etc., and providing military bases in Singapore to use the armed
forces of the United States. </span><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="379" closure_uid_fev7yw="581">In Singapore, the headquarters of the supply
management of the 7th Fleet of the U.S., the Singapore government for its own
account revolutionized naval base at Changi to receive U.S. aircraft carriers at
Paya Lebar Air Base located Training Squadron U.S. Air Force. </span><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="380" closure_uid_fev7yw="582">Of course, Singapore is
one of the world's financial, transportation and industrial centers can count on
the fact that the "big players" and no alliance will not allow its power to
remove or a sharp blow to its security and the economy, as it will affect their
own interests. </span><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="381" closure_uid_fev7yw="583">But such a strong ally of the U.S., has a strong deterrent effect on
potential enemies of Singapore. </span><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="382" closure_uid_fev7yw="584">On the other hand, Singapore is important not to be
anyone's satellite and pursue an independent foreign policy. </span><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="383" closure_uid_fev7yw="585">Therefore, the key to the
integrity of the island is its own strong army that can discourage potential
aggressor and to fight back on their own or, in extreme cases, to be held prior
to the entry to the cause of the "big players".</span></span>
<span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1"><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="384" closure_uid_fev7yw="586">Since the beginning of the 80th there has been a
thaw in relations with Singapore's neighbors, including joint exercises with the
armies of the SAF Malaysia and Indonesia, and the use of training facilities and
Baturayya aviapoligona SIAB in Sumatra Singaporean pilots, but it did not change
the views of Singapore's leadership on the need to maintain and strengthen the
combat readiness Armed Forces of Singapore. </span><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="385" closure_uid_fev7yw="587">Conversely, followed by
the official statements of the transition from the doctrine of "poisonous
mushroom" to the doctrine of the "hedgehog", including strengthening the
offensive component. </span><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="386" closure_uid_fev7yw="588">However, the views of the neighbors to the need to have a strong army
warming also has not changed, as evidenced by the general arms race in the
region, to the great joy of the MIC of different countries. </span><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="387" closure_uid_fev7yw="589">Periodically hold
"demonstrations of muscles", a prime example of which are the joint maneuvers of
the armies of Malaysia and Indonesia with the dropping of paratroopers in the
border areas, held on 9 August 1991, the day of the anniversary of the
independence of Singapore. </span><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="388" closure_uid_fev7yw="590">If we consider that this stage of the exercises
carried the code name "Wipeout", the allusion is made more transparent, and it
is possible to understand why Singapore is not considered political generals
warming occasion to relax.</span></span><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhR9_7RQQ-vn9Z0fEtAH2LqOezI_uqKs2fLZcOaVDolrXM-egVn6-oIideWKKlv0_NjPilv1UUPo4j-n-PHYJMftphPx2qY8it-MDf6oUqyudvPc1wAtZksgvha-_-Az1kBr8NZrmSyJg/s1600/z23+smallSAF2-small.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="330" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhR9_7RQQ-vn9Z0fEtAH2LqOezI_uqKs2fLZcOaVDolrXM-egVn6-oIideWKKlv0_NjPilv1UUPo4j-n-PHYJMftphPx2qY8it-MDf6oUqyudvPc1wAtZksgvha-_-Az1kBr8NZrmSyJg/s640/z23+smallSAF2-small.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
<table align="center" class="pic" style="width: 1px;">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td class="cont"> </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1"><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="390" closure_uid_fev7yw="592">An additional factor, because of which the SAF
prefer to keep their powder dry, is the general political instability in
South-East Asia, in particular the work of Islamic extremists in Malaysia, rebel
and secessionist movements in Indonesia, Thailand, the Philippines and ethnic
conflict, sometimes results in a bloody collisions, such as the massive Chinese
riots in Indonesia after the financial crisis of 1998. </span></span>
<span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1"><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="391" closure_uid_fev7yw="593">Long-term efforts for the military doctrine of the
life led to what today is recognized Singapore army experts the most efficient
in Southeast Asia, due to the large number of trained reservists (about 300
thousand soldiers and officers, the regular army of about 60,000), a high the
degree of information of all echelons of the armed forces and the availability
of modern military technology: F-16, Apache Longbow, missile frigates and
corvettes, artillery and small arms and ammunition to its own production,
precision weapons and military electronics world level. </span><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="392" closure_uid_fev7yw="594">Building on the foundation
of a developed economy, research and technological capacity, an educated
population, a balanced internal and foreign policy of the government, and
strategic relations in the world and the region, the SAF is a reliable guarantor
of the sovereignty and security of the island city-state. </span><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="393" closure_uid_fev7yw="595">Yes, this is only
theoretical calculations, the Army of Singapore has not had to show himself in
the case, but this is Singapore's concept of deterrence in action: the army must
be so strong that the enemy did not dare to aggression. </span><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="394" closure_uid_fev7yw="596">Much credit for the fact
that the SAF over forty years of existence, went from zero to this level,
belongs to Israel. </span><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="395" closure_uid_fev7yw="597">And in Singapore, do not forget, as evidenced by constant references to
the contribution of Israeli advisers in army building in the past and the
continuous cooperation between the two countries in the
present.</span></span><br />
<br />
<br />
<h2>
<span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1"><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="396" closure_uid_fev7yw="598">"We just drink and drink two"</span></span></h2>
<br />
<h3>
<span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1"><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="397" closure_uid_fev7yw="599">Epilogue</span></span></h3>
<br />
<span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1"><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="398" closure_uid_fev7yw="600">Finish the story of the military cooperation
between Israel and Singapore can quote from a speech by the Minister of
Information, George Yeo (now foreign minister), delivered in 1996 to the year at
the seminar "Temasek" on defense issues, held in SAFTI: «Many years ago, the
commander of the Israeli Air Force General Major-General David Ivry gave a
speech to the community Temasek. </span><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="399" closure_uid_fev7yw="601">I was in the audience. </span><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="400" closure_uid_fev7yw="602">Just as I am today, he
spoke of the challenges facing small states. </span><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="401" closure_uid_fev7yw="603">He used the metaphor that
I will remember forever. </span><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="402" closure_uid_fev7yw="604">He said that if you opened a bottle of whiskey and
throw her into the pool, then gradually whiskey mixed with water, and as a
result, both inside and outside is the same. </span><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="403" closure_uid_fev7yw="605">Whiskey, might have
changed the taste of the water in the pool, but lost its uniqueness and
therefore has lost its meaning. </span><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="404" closure_uid_fev7yw="606">You want to keep what's inside the bottle, other
than the fact that in the pool. </span><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="405" closure_uid_fev7yw="607">We can easily do this if we do not uncork the
bottle. </span><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="406" closure_uid_fev7yw="608">Then,
if the bottle is broken, the whiskey will be whiskey. </span><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="407" closure_uid_fev7yw="609">But if the bottle tightly
closed, it does not affect the pool. </span><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="408" closure_uid_fev7yw="610">It has no value to the world outside. </span><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="409" closure_uid_fev7yw="611">It has value only if it is
open to the world. "</span></span>
<span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1"><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="410" closure_uid_fev7yw="612">Two small states, Israel and Singapore, have found
something to share with each other in the defense of its unique bottle in a
large global pool.</span></span><br />
<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6vhI2OxnyaXUVFmyofw500OEbyBoAVDwgqh-oNudurJSiQL4sebitC3Or_vKzFD2fk09Q4bdlMV2BTkHSwL3a_vsxCN5_80yeTTvXH94m87a6cmFTV8sUJ1SWsQYaTet6fzbzwjMmrw/s1600/z24+Dayan2-small.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6vhI2OxnyaXUVFmyofw500OEbyBoAVDwgqh-oNudurJSiQL4sebitC3Or_vKzFD2fk09Q4bdlMV2BTkHSwL3a_vsxCN5_80yeTTvXH94m87a6cmFTV8sUJ1SWsQYaTet6fzbzwjMmrw/s640/z24+Dayan2-small.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><em><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1"><span style="font-size: small;"><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="411" closure_uid_fev7yw="613">Moshe Dayan and Ken Goh Swee at a diplomatic reception, Singapore, May 5, 1979. </span><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="412" closure_uid_fev7yw="614">A toast to friendship.</span></span></span></em></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<table align="center" class="pic" style="width: 1px;">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td class="cont"></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1"><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="413" closure_uid_fev7yw="615"><strong>Sources</strong>:</span></span><br />
<br />
<ol closure_uid_fev7yw="718">
<li><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1"><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="414" closure_uid_fev7yw="616">Lee Kuan Yew, "The Singapore Story: From Third
World - in the first (1965 - 2000)." </span></span>
<li><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1"><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="415" closure_uid_fev7yw="617">Tim Huxley, «Defending the Lion City: The Armed
Forces of Singapore». </span></span>
<li><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1"><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="416" closure_uid_fev7yw="618">"So Israel has created an army of defense of
Singapore," Amnon Barzilai, "Haaretz", 07/16/2004 ("Kah ikima Israel et CVA and
AGANA-le-Singapore"). </span></span>
<li><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1"><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="417" closure_uid_fev7yw="619">Eitan Haber, Ze'ev Schiff, "Dictionary of the Yom
Kippur War" ("Lexicon milhemet Yom Kippur"). </span></span>
<li><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1"><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="418" closure_uid_fev7yw="620">Eitan Haber, Ze'ev Schiff, "Dictionary of the
security of Israel" ("Lexicon bitahon le-Yisrael"). </span></span>
<li><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1"><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="419" closure_uid_fev7yw="621">Encyclopedia "by IDF combat arms" ("IDF beyul
Kheilo"). </span></span>
<li><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1"><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="420" closure_uid_fev7yw="622">Anniversary album "Safety 50", editor Nachman Shai
("Bitahon 50"). </span></span>
<li><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1"><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="421" closure_uid_fev7yw="623">«The Singapore Armed Forces Commemorative Book
1981», Ministry of Defence, Singapore. </span></span>
<li><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1"><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="422" closure_uid_fev7yw="624">Moshe Yegar, "For a long trip to Asia - a chapter
on the history of diplomacy in Israel" ("A-a-Masa Aroha le Assia - Perek
BE-a-Toldos diplomacy Shel Israel"). </span></span>
<li><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1"><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="423" closure_uid_fev7yw="625">Arik Henig, "Fuad - against all odds" ("Fuad -
keneged kol-blackjack"). </span></span>
<li><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1"><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="424" closure_uid_fev7yw="626">Moshe Sharett, "Sailing to Asia" ("wave-Asiya
blah"). </span></span>
<li><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1"><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="425" closure_uid_fev7yw="627">Yitzhak Rabin, "Service Record" ("Pinkas Sherut").
</span></span>
<li><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1"><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="426" closure_uid_fev7yw="628">Materials Jane's Information Group. </span></span>
<li><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1"><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="427" closure_uid_fev7yw="629">Directory «Jane's Fighting Ships 2004-2005».
</span></span>
<li><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1"><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="428" closure_uid_fev7yw="630">Tim Huxley, «Singapore and the Revolution in
Military Affairs». </span></span>
<li><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1"><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="429" closure_uid_fev7yw="631">Desmond Ball, «Signals intelligence (SIGINT) in
Singapore», unpublished paper quoted in Huxley, «Singapore and the RMA».
</span></span>
<li><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1"><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="430" closure_uid_fev7yw="632">LTC Chan Kim Yin, COL Sukhmohinder Singh, MAJ
Regena Ramaya, Lim Kwee Hoon, «Spirit and System: Leadership Development for a
Third Generation SAF». </span></span>
<li><a href="http://www.waronline.org/IDF/Articles/www.mindef.gov.sg" target="_blank"><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1"><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="431" closure_uid_fev7yw="633">www.mindef.gov.sg</span></span></a><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1"><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="431" closure_uid_fev7yw="634"> - Ministry of Defence of
Singapore.</span></span>
<li><a href="http://www.waronline.org/IDF/Articles/www.cia.gov" target="_blank"><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1"><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="432" closure_uid_fev7yw="635">www.cia.gov</span></span></a>
<li><a href="http://www.geocities.com/CapeCanaveral/9932/index.html" target="_blank"><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1"><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="433" closure_uid_fev7yw="636">http://www.geocities.com/CapeCanaveral/9932/index.html</span></span></a><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1"><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="433" closure_uid_fev7yw="637"> - The Unofficial Homepage SAF Armour.</span></span>
<li><a href="http://www.geocities.com/mindef123/index.html" target="_blank"><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1"><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="434" closure_uid_fev7yw="638">http://www.geocities.com/mindef123/index.html</span></span></a><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1"><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="434" closure_uid_fev7yw="639"> - Structure & Units of SAF.</span></span>
<li><a href="http://www.moe.gov.sg/" target="_blank"><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1"><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="435" closure_uid_fev7yw="640">http://www.moe.gov.sg/</span></span></a><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1"><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="435" closure_uid_fev7yw="641"> - Ministry of Education
of Singapore.</span></span>
<li><a href="http://lcweb2.loc.gov/frd/cs/sgtoc.html" target="_blank"><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1"><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="436" closure_uid_fev7yw="642">http://lcweb2.loc.gov/frd/cs/sgtoc.html</span></span></a><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1"><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="436" closure_uid_fev7yw="643"> - Library of Congress Country Studies.</span></span>
<li><a href="http://www.nhb.gov.sg/" target="_blank"><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1"><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="437" closure_uid_fev7yw="644">http://www.nhb.gov.sg/</span></span></a><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1"><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="437" closure_uid_fev7yw="645"> - National Heritage
Board.</span></span>
<li><a href="http://www.sipri.org/" target="_blank"><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1"><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="438" closure_uid_fev7yw="646">http://www.sipri.org/</span></span></a><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1"><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="438" closure_uid_fev7yw="647"> - Stockholm International
Peace Research Institute.</span></span>
<li><a href="http://www.tau.ac.il/jcss/" target="_blank"><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1"><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="439" closure_uid_fev7yw="648">http://www.tau.ac.il/jcss/</span></span></a><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1"><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="439" closure_uid_fev7yw="649"> - The Jaffee Centre for Strategic Studies.</span></span>
<li><a href="http://openacademy.mindef.gov.sg/OpenAcademy/SAFTI%20MI/" target="_blank"><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1"><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="440" closure_uid_fev7yw="650">http://openacademy.mindef.gov.sg/OpenAcademy/SAFTI% 20MI /</span></span></a><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1"><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="440" closure_uid_fev7yw="651"> - SAFTI Military Institute.</span></span>
<li><a href="http://www.naval-technology.com/" target="_blank"><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1"><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="441" closure_uid_fev7yw="652">http://www.naval-technology.com/</span></span></a><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1"><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="441" closure_uid_fev7yw="653"> http://www.naval-technology.com/</span></span>
<li><a href="http://www.mti.gov.sg/" target="_blank"><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1"><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="442" closure_uid_fev7yw="654">http://www.mti.gov.sg/</span></span></a><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1"><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="442" closure_uid_fev7yw="655"> - Ministry of Trade and
Industry of Singapore.</span></span>
<li><a href="http://www.singapore-window.org/" target="_blank"><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1"><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="443" closure_uid_fev7yw="656">http://www.singapore-window.org/</span></span></a>
<li><a href="http://ourstory.asia1.com.sg/" target="_blank"><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1"><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="444" closure_uid_fev7yw="657">http://ourstory.asia1.com.sg/</span></span></a>
<li><a href="http://www.mindef.gov.sg/safti/pointer/" target="_blank"><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1"><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="445" closure_uid_fev7yw="658">http://www.mindef.gov.sg/safti/pointer/</span></span></a><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1"><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="445" closure_uid_fev7yw="659"> - "Pointer" - Journal of the Singapore Armed Forces.</span></span>
<li><a href="http://www.burmalibrary.org/" target="_blank"><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1"><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="446" closure_uid_fev7yw="660">http://www.burmalibrary.org/</span></span></a>
<li><a href="http://meria.idc.ac.il/" target="_blank"><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1"><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="447" closure_uid_fev7yw="661">http://meria.idc.ac.il/</span></span></a><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1"><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="447" closure_uid_fev7yw="662"> - The Middle East Review of International Affairs.</span></span>
<li><a href="http://www.weltpolitik.net/" target="_blank"><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1"><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="448" closure_uid_fev7yw="663">http://www.weltpolitik.net/</span></span></a>
<li><a href="http://www.arcuk.org/" target="_blank"><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1"><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="449" closure_uid_fev7yw="664">http://www.arcuk.org/</span></span></a><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1"><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="449" closure_uid_fev7yw="665"> - Arms Reduction
Coalition.</span></span>
<li><a href="http://www.caat.org.uk/" target="_blank"><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1"><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="450" closure_uid_fev7yw="666">http://www.caat.org.uk/</span></span></a><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1"><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="450" closure_uid_fev7yw="667"> - Campaign Against Arms Trade.</span></span>
<li><a href="http://www.f-16.net/" target="_blank"><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1"><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="451" closure_uid_fev7yw="668">http://www.f-16.net/</span></span></a>
<li><a href="http://www.airforce-technology.com/" target="_blank"><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1"><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="452" closure_uid_fev7yw="669">http://www.airforce-technology.com/</span></span></a>
<li><a href="http://www.israeli-weapons.com/" target="_blank"><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1"><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="453" closure_uid_fev7yw="670">http://www.israeli-weapons.com/</span></span></a>
<li><a href="http://rspas.anu.edu.au/sdsc/"><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1"><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="454" closure_uid_fev7yw="671">http://rspas.anu.edu.au/sdsc/</span></span></a><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1"><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="454" closure_uid_fev7yw="672"> - The Strategic and Defence Studies Centre, The Australian National
University.</span></span>
<li><a href="http://www.globalsecurity.org/" target="_blank"><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1"><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="455" closure_uid_fev7yw="673">http://www.globalsecurity.org/</span></span></a>
<li><a href="http://www.siirdf.com/" target="_blank"><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1"><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="456" closure_uid_fev7yw="674">http://www.siirdf.com/</span></span></a><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1"><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="456" closure_uid_fev7yw="675"> - Singapore-Israel
Industrial R & D Foundation.</span></span>
<li closure_uid_fev7yw="719"><a href="http://www.totaldefence.org.sg/" target="_blank"><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1"><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="457" closure_uid_fev7yw="676">http://www.totaldefence.org.sg/</span></span></a>
<li><a href="http://www.mfa.gov.il/" target="_blank"><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1"><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="458" closure_uid_fev7yw="677">http://www.mfa.gov.il/</span></span></a><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1"><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="458" closure_uid_fev7yw="678"> - Israeli Foreign
Ministry.</span></span>
<li><a href="http://www.defence.gov.au/" target="_blank"><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1"><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="459" closure_uid_fev7yw="679">http://www.defence.gov.au/</span></span></a>
<li closure_uid_fev7yw="717"><a href="http://www.itnarchive.com/" target="_blank"><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1"><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="460" closure_uid_fev7yw="680">http://www.itnarchive.com/</span></span></a>
<li><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1"><span _gt_74knb4ryyfhw="1" b="461" closure_uid_fev7yw="681">Newspaper "Yediot Ahronot", "Haaretz", "Maariv",
"Globes", "Jerusalem Post". </span></span></li>
</li>
</li>
</li>
</li>
</li>
</li>
</li>
</li>
</li>
</li>
</li>
</li>
</li>
</li>
</li>
</li>
</li>
</li>
</li>
</li>
</li>
</li>
</li>
</li>
</li>
</li>
</li>
</li>
</li>
</li>
</li>
</li>
</li>
</li>
</li>
</li>
</li>
</li>
</li>
</li>
</li>
</li>
</li>
</li>
</li>
</li>
</li>
</ol>
<br />
**********************************<br />
<br />
<strong><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Israel develops Iron Dome for Singapore</span></strong><br />
<br />
<br />
<em><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Singapore is reported to be acquiring Israel's new Iron Dome anti-missile air-defense system under a once-secret military cooperation pact with the Jewish state that dates back to the 1960s.</span></em><br />
<em><span style="font-family: Arial;"></span></em><br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjh9TqsGdqb3u3fc-wE8b7swWshbEKjrizXimkoxKCEBFE5eOqDW7NZaboyvhNouZcAfIb52bAibluzgutJhvqhGGWVDUjFSeMYlkeDaj6-Fdm_lUI19DEF1g_suacbOUQlMFCBvW2r2w/s1600/iron+dome.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjh9TqsGdqb3u3fc-wE8b7swWshbEKjrizXimkoxKCEBFE5eOqDW7NZaboyvhNouZcAfIb52bAibluzgutJhvqhGGWVDUjFSeMYlkeDaj6-Fdm_lUI19DEF1g_suacbOUQlMFCBvW2r2w/s1600/iron+dome.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Iron Dome</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoxMZxPrk0OwTeHj1NsJ4DhdSeHXSTAwd2jrG87xNXekXayOODgQyj6RJT7NqXP2UZ0-c4wZRjA6zCneRbWIUKxZ-Xj3E-EXMJRLkqRui3Tg9rkJVk4s9yT9GeUsteSbYm6i6bkwiQog/s1600/ironDome2.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="384" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoxMZxPrk0OwTeHj1NsJ4DhdSeHXSTAwd2jrG87xNXekXayOODgQyj6RJT7NqXP2UZ0-c4wZRjA6zCneRbWIUKxZ-Xj3E-EXMJRLkqRui3Tg9rkJVk4s9yT9GeUsteSbYm6i6bkwiQog/s640/ironDome2.jpeg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Iron Dome</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"></span> </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<em><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
<iframe allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" frameborder="0" height="360" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/PDj9u8eJoUU?feature=player_detailpage" width="640"></iframe>
</span></em><br />
<em><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span></em><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Iron Dome in action<em>, Al Jazeera, Nov 19, 2012</em></span></div>
</div>
<div class="authorBar">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">(<a href="http://www.upi.com/Business_News/Security-Industry/2010/04/02/Singapore-to-get-Israels-Iron-Dome/UPI-11461270226828/" target="_blank">source</a>)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="story_dl">TEL AVIV, Israel, April 2, 2010 (UPI) -- </span>Singapore is reported to be acquiring Israel's new <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iron_Dome" target="_blank">Iron Dome</a> anti-missile air-defense system under a once-secret military cooperation pact with the Jewish state that dates to the 1960s.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Indeed, according to the Paris Intelligence Online Web site, Singapore helped finance the development of the system by Rafael Advanced Defense Systems.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It says that Iron Dome was always intended for the island, a key Asian shipping hub and one of the richest per capita states in the world, because of its strategic location as a trading center.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The Israeli air force, which runs the Jewish state's air defense network, completed test-firings of the system in January and the first battery is currently becoming operational.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Israeli media reports say the missiles, designed to shoot down hostile missiles with ranges of up to 25 miles, are being deployed along Israel's northern border with Lebanon.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">There are growing fears of a new Middle Eastern war and Hezbollah, the Iranian-backed Shiite movement in Lebanon, has an arsenal of up to 45,000 rockets and missiles, Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak has claimed.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Israel's defense links with largely Chinese Singapore go back to 1965, shortly after the island city-state, a former British colony off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, split from the Federation of Malaysia.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Singapore's founding father, Lee Kuan Yew, wanted to establish a military to defend Singapore, which has a landmass of only 274 square miles, since it was ringed by Muslim nations -- as is Israel.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">He turned to the Jewish state, through the Israeli ambassador in Thailand, for help. Israel sent a military mission led by Maj. Gen. Rehavam Ze'evi, then deputy head of the military's operations branch. (Ze'evi was assassinated in Jerusalem by Palestinian gunmen in October 2001.)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Lee insisted on secrecy because he didn't want to antagonize his Muslim neighbors, Malaysia and Indonesia. The team of Israeli instructors arrived in October 1965. Lee wrote in his 2000 autobiography: "To disguise their presence, we called them 'Mexicans.' They looked swarthy enough."</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Today, Singapore's armed forces, 72,500-strong, are considered one of the most advanced militaries in Southeast Asia.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Iron Dome will be a crucial element in Singapore's drive to build a defensive shield around one of the world's biggest and most important ports.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Israel is determining how many batteries of Iron Dome and two other systems that will make up its planned multi-layered missile shield, will be required. Each battery, which costs $50 million, can cover an area of around 60 square miles, which means 13 of them would be needed to cover all of Israel.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The Arrow-2 high-altitude anti-missile system, the only tier to be fully tested and established, cost some $2 billion to develop, largely with U.S. funds.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Israel shunned buying already developed U.S. systems, which would be cheaper. So far, the Defense Ministry has budgeted for one Iron Dome battery but will clearly need several more.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"So why develop such an expensive system, instead of acquiring Raytheon's cheaper Centurion system?" Intelligence Online asked.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"Some Israeli arms programs are too costly for the local market and are developed principally for export. Iron Dome is a typical example.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"From the outset, Iron Dome was always intended for Singapore, which helped finance its development," Intelligence Online explained. "Iron Dome will be battle-tested in Israel ahead of export to Singapore at a late date."</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Singapore has bought Israeli weapons systems extensively over the years and Israeli defense companies regularly participate at the annual Singapore Air Show.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Israeli Aerospace Industries, state-owned flagship of Israel's defense industry, has sold Singapore the Barak-1 naval anti-aircraft system. Rafael's electronic warfare systems are widely deployed with the Singapore navy.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">IAI upgraded the Singapore air force's old 1960s-era Northrop F-5 Tiger fighters, and with Elbit Systems and Singapore Aerospace won a contract in 1997 to modernize Turkey's fleet of F-5A/B and NF-5A/B aircraft fighter jets.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Singapore has also acquired unmanned aerial vehicles from Elbit and Rafael for surveillance to enhance maritime security in the Malacca Strait and the South China Sea.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">********************************************</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<strong><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In Command of His Life: Kirpa Ram Vij</span></strong><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Patrick Jonas</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">AsiaOne, Jan 7, 2011 (</span><a href="http://news.asiaone.com/News/AsiaOne%2BNews/Singapore/Story/A1Story20110107-257017.html" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">source</span></a><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A LITTLE below his right wrist, Brigadier-General (retd) Kirpa Ram Vij sports a tattoo of the Hindu sacred symbol Om. If ever he wants to recall his childhood, all he has to do is take a look at this tattoo.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">His mind would race back to the time of India's partition and the horrors associated with it. Mr Vij was about 12 years old when he and his family were driven out of their village in Hazara district, in what is now Pakistan.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">His family was one of the few Hindus living there and as India's independence loomed large in 1947 they had to flee.</span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">That May, they sought refuge in one of the camps on the Indian side of Punjab. By the time India gained independence and Pakistan was created in August, the flood of refugees had increased and his family had to spend nights on a railway platform.</span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">His aged grandfather died while they were there and later, when the young Vij and his father took his ashes to be immersed in the Ganges, a Hindu priest persuaded him to get the tattoo.</span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The tattoo was nearly removed when he met with a motorcycle accident during his university days and a bone had to be fixed. In some ways, it can be called a lucky charm. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Looking back at his later year successes - in the Singapore administrative service, army, foreign service and the national shipping company - he admits that he has been lucky to be at the right place at the right time.</span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But the early years for the man who went on to become Singapore's first army chief were tough. </span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">He and his family found their way to Singapore in October 1947 with the help of his father's older brother who had moved here in 1928. It was only two years later that he started attending school: Rangoon Road Primary. His father earned a living by buying items like singlets and shoes from wholesalers and selling them in a pushcart in the Arab Street area. "But he was thrifty," says Mr Vij, "and he wanted me to continue with my studies even as I helped him during my free time."</span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">An important point in his life came about when he finished his high school at Raffles Institution where he was a prefect and a quarter master in the cadet corps.</span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">He wanted to become a teacher. As the oldest of eight children he felt he could help ease his father's burden. But fate intervened in the form of his teacher. "Mr Philip Liau told me: 'You have good grades, you are good in extra-curricular activities. You will get a teaching bursary and you can become a teacher after becoming a graduate.' He turned my attention to university and I took up geography," recalls Mr Vij, sitting in his home that has been tastefully decorated by his wife Nirmal - they met and got married when she came to visit her brother here in 1962.</span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Serving me a cup of tea, Mr Vij went on to narrate his life journey.</span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In 1960, after he graduated, he joined the administrative service - the Land Office and Ministry of Finance. But all along he had not given up his love for the uniform.</span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">As a member of the Singapore Volunteer Artillery, he would take leave from his work to attend military courses conducted by the British army and excelled to the extent that he was honoured with a sword of honour. He was mobilised twice - during the confrontation with Indonesia and the racial riots in the 1960s.</span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">When Singapore separated from Malaysia, Dr Goh Keng Swee who was the Minister for the Interior and Defence tasked him with setting up a training centre for the armed forces. He went to Israel to check out their training methods and interact with Israeli officers who eventually came to Singapore as training advisers.</span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Mr Vij, 75, admits that his proudest moment was when the first batch of officers graduated from the newly-established Singapore Armed Forces Training Institute. His rise in the army since then had been meteoric.</span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">He was appointed Commander of the first National Service Brigade in 1969 and nine months later became the first director of the Command and Staff College. The following year, he became Director General Staff (head of army), a post in which he continued for four years. On his return to the administrative service, he worked as deputy secretary in the Ministry of National Development for a year before being sent as ambassador to Egypt in time for the reopening of the Suez Canal. It was a memorable period. He was also given charge of Lebanon, Yugoslavia and Pakistan.</span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"Covering Pakistan was a special bonus for me because I had come from Pakistan. Initially I thought the Egyptians wouldn't accept me because I had worked with the Israelis but they were very broadminded," he recalls of the days in Cairo. During those four years his three children picked up French which they had to learn as a second language and this helped the eldest daughter Archana enrol at a Canadian university. She now works for Microsoft in Seattle.</span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">His son Aravind, currently based in Mumbai, is the legal head of JP Morgan for the Philippines and India. Youngest daughter Anjna did her MBA in hospitality and works for Suntec. All are married with children.</span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">His wife Nirmal runs a boutique shop in Holland Village which sells items like cushion covers and table and bed linen, most of it designed by her.</span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">That does not mean Mr Vij hung up his boots and stretched out his feet after his return from Cairo. He moved to Neptune Orient Lines as general manager administration. When the firm prepared to go for an IPO, it engaged consultancy firm Mckinsey to revamp the company and asked Mr Vij to be the liaison officer.</span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"That was the best thing that could have happened. I learnt shipping. I was working with the Mckinsey people for six months and after that I could talk shipping," he says on how he got into the shipping business.</span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">He retired from NOL in 1995 after serving as country manager for Indonesia and Malaysia and started his own shipping consultancy firm. Soon after, a group which included Parameswara Holdings and Windmill International asked him to head Gateway Distriparks in India - a container freight station business for which he had earlier provided consultancy.</span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">However, working in the private sector in India was an entirely new experience. After "some initial heartaches", the project took off successfully. Mr Vij, who served as adviser for the Hindu Endowment Board and Executive Committee member of SINDA for several years, is still a director on the board of Gateway and keeps himself busy with numerous social activities, one of them being vice-president of the Indian Education Trust.</span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">That is when he does not accompany Nirmal on short holidays to India which they combine with her work - sourcing for material for her business. In fact, holiday is a word that often crops up in their conversations. It was after all her Singapore holiday which brought them together.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> ****************************</span></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-395066009662473992.post-85285025705535561392012-11-17T06:35:00.001+08:002012-11-18T09:27:43.356+08:00The banning of satire and the death of Tisch Asia <span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">New York University's Tisch School of the Arts Asia (Tisch Asia), including its film school, fails to survive in Singapore, where a repressive and pathetic film censorship regime controlled by pusillanimous mandarins and craven philistines lacks the discernment to distinguish satire from earnest propaganda. (See <em>Bitter Pill</em> below on the banning of a local satirical film directed by Ken Kwek, who holds a MFA (Master of Fine Arts) from Tisch Asia.) The school's failure to attract local students attests to the aridity of the artistic soil here.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">If Singapore intends to attract top film talents of the world (such as Oliver Stone) here and nurture local creative artists, its government must liberalize its repressive and puerile film censorship regime.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<strong><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"></span></strong><br />
<strong><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">US branch campus demise is a cautionary tale for Asian ambitions</span></strong><br />
<strong><span style="font-family: Verdana;"></span></strong><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana;">by Yojana Sharma</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana;"><strong>University World News</strong></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Nov 16, 2012 (</span><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20121116104624469" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">source</span></a><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">)</span><br />
<strong><span style="font-family: Verdana;"></span></strong><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtCXjt_RRKSa0oORxMD0qxvmlQdisnZEjVpIZ2BGp94dj8BOiq3VmExikMZ0bc8PekyDbBONlpJmK8NsSViZsamNRmDhWTmk4sqLcHIT4L1T7X1Wcw8TfAgbSlKeRtOkBKaMziaVVGdA/s1600/tisch-asia.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="167" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtCXjt_RRKSa0oORxMD0qxvmlQdisnZEjVpIZ2BGp94dj8BOiq3VmExikMZ0bc8PekyDbBONlpJmK8NsSViZsamNRmDhWTmk4sqLcHIT4L1T7X1Wcw8TfAgbSlKeRtOkBKaMziaVVGdA/s400/tisch-asia.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Tisch Asia, a graduate film and creative arts school in Singapore that is a branch of New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts, this month announced that it would close, possibly in 2014.<br />__________________</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">[Tisch's film school is the 4th (<a href="http://blogs.indiewire.com/shadowandact/the_top_25_film_schools_in_the_world_lists" target="_blank">2011</a>) and 5th (<a href="http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/gallery/thrs-top-25-film-schools-354506#5" target="_blank">2012</a>) best film school in the world, as ranked by <em>The Hollywood Reporter</em>, and the best (<a href="http://www.d.umn.edu/~tisbell/Courses/FilmSchools.html" target="_blank">2001</a>) US film school, as ranked by <em>US News & World Report.</em> ]</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><em>__________________</em></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><em></em> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">There are important implications for Western-style fine arts education’s transferability to Asia, and more specifically the viability of branch campuses in Singapore. <br /><br />Singapore hosts nearly a dozen foreign branch campuses, and a similar number of partnerships offering joint Singaporean and international degrees.<br /><br />Experts said Singapore officials were deeply embarrassed by the distressed high-profile institution and were examining the reasons for its failure, hoping to refine their strategy for inviting and retaining top international institutions.<br /><br />Under the Global School House programme, Singapore invited prestigious institutions from around the world to establish branch campuses, part of its aim to turn the city-state into a regional education hub and attract foreign students. <br /><br />Singapore specifically turned to institutions, such as Tisch, with a reputation in industries Singapore was keen to attract to its own shores.<br /><br />However, after years of financial problems since it opened in 2007, Tisch School of the Arts Asia said in a memo from Dean Mary Schmidt Campbell that it would close, despite attempts to keep it afloat with injections of millions of dollars in grants and loans from Singapore’s Economic Development Board (EDB).</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong>Closure announcement</strong></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">“Tisch Asia has been a model of artistic and academic excellence, but it has also faced significant financial challenges that have required increasingly unsustainable subsidies totalling millions of dollars per year,” Campbell said in the memo, having flown from New York to Singapore for emergency meetings with the EDB this month. <br /><br />“Even as we worked on various options to financial sustainability for the graduate programme, we were also discussing an expansion of Tisch’s presence in Singapore through additional programmes at the undergraduate level that would have made Singapore a part of NYU’s global network.<br /><br />“Despite everyone’s best efforts, we have now reluctantly come to the conclusion that it is not possible to maintain Tisch Asia without, in fact, increasing the annual subsidy beyond what is an already unsustainable level,” said Campbell in the memo, a copy of which was made available to <i>University World News</i> by parent institution New York University.<br /><br />Tisch Asia had some 28 full-time faculty members when the announcement to withdraw from Singapore was made on 8 November. <br /><br />Around 158 students were enrolled in the two-year master of fine arts degrees in animation and digital arts, dramatic writing and international media production, and a three-year programme in film.<br /><br />Up to five hours of briefings of students were held on campus the next day, although students said it was not clear what their future would be; many may opt to complete their courses in New York. <br /><br />“We are developing plans for keeping the campus open over the next couple of years. Detailed planning will be developed with input from the Tisch Asia community and in cooperation with the Singapore government, on whose support we will continue to rely,” said the memo, designed to allay the concerns of staff and students.<br /><br />But students in Singapore said they were concerned about their future and how employers will view their degrees.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong>Flawed model</strong></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The losses at Tisch Asia were reportedly huge – a cautionary tale for others thinking of setting up in Singapore to mint money and enhance their international reputation.<br /><br />The latest annual returns filed by Tisch Asia in Singapore showed a S$7.27 million (US$6 million) deficit for the 2009 financial year, up from S$6 million (US$5 million) the previous year.<br /><br />Experts in Singapore said the problem lay with a flawed business model, based on offering the same as what it offered students in New York, at New York prices. <br /><br />“It is important to note that the cost of Tisch in Singapore was not cheap – it is almost the same as New York. But given that Singapore is not New York, any parent would prefer to send their children to New York to experience the vibrancy of a global arts city,” said Kirpal Singh, an associate professor of English literature and creative thinking at Singapore Management University. <br /><br />Singh noted that the high fees for Tisch Asia were “to pay for Tisch academics in Singapore”, rather than hiring within the region, and that was unsustainable. <br /><br />Big Hollywood names, such as director <span style="background-color: yellow;">Oliver Stone</span>, who was appointed <span style="background-color: yellow;">artistic director</span> of the Singapore campus, were flown in from the US once or twice a year to teach students. But it was not enough to create a ‘Hollywood of the East’.<br /><br />With tuition fees close to S$55,000 (US$45,000), Tisch Asia has for some time <span style="background-color: yellow;">had difficulty attracting local students</span>, with most of its student body from overseas looking to experience Asia.<br /><br />According to one report,<span style="background-color: yellow;"> more than 90% of current students are non-Singaporean</span>. “What complicates this is that Tisch Asia is a graduate institution and did not have an undergraduate pool [in Singapore] to choose from,” a spokesperson for Tisch in New York told <i>University World News</i>. While students were certainly enrolling, “the issue was budgetary; not enough were willing to come”.<br /><br />Some observers point to a </span><a class="bluelink" href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20101113055333709" target="_new"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">cultural propensity against arts and humanities</span></a><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> and in favour of the sciences in Singapore. However, Singh says Singapore is beginning to change.<br /><br />“In Singapore, there is a growing interest in studying film and other related arts so the issue is not centred merely around the reluctance to do such courses,” Singh told <i>University World News</i>. Like others, he said the problems were financial.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong>Lack of a creative hub</strong></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Another problem is a lack of creative industries in Singapore itself.<br /><br />“The arts are still struggling to gain a real presence in Singapore,” Singh said, adding that the kind of work placements and internships common in New York were simply not available in Asia, so the institution could not provide a comparable experience for students as a ‘Hollywood of the East’.<br /><br />And there is a view that at postgraduate level, there is a need for a more academic element to attract students in Asia.<br /><br />Local arts institutions such as La Salle College of the Arts in Singapore may not provide the same level of intensity or specialisation as Tisch Asia, but have been successful in recruiting students, experts noted.<br /><br />It provides degrees in collaboration with overseas institutions such as London University’s Goldsmiths College, and includes a film school named for David Puttnam, a renowned British filmmaker. <br /><br />Singapore’s main universities also provide fine arts degrees, though with more theoretical content than the Tisch model, which turns out practitioners.<br /><br />According to Singh, an alliance with a local university with an academic reputation “would have calmed parents” about the merits of a fine arts education and led to higher enrolment. It would also have reduced set-up costs and financial risk.<br /><br />Approaches were made to the National University of Singapore, but at a later stage and after Tisch Asia had incurred huge costs – a reported US$9.2 million alone for renovating its Singapore campus, most of it provided by Singapore’s EDB in the form of a loan.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong>Murky financial picture</strong></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The murky financial picture was complicated by the controversial firing 12 months ago of Tisch Asia’s former president Pari Sara Shirazi. Students said they had already become aware of Tisch Asia’s seemingly intractable financial problems, but found their questions to the university’s management remained unanswered.<br /><br />This May charges were filed in a New York court alleging that Shirazi and three other executives improperly transferred US$7 million to US$8 million in funds over several years to Tisch Asia from Tisch School of the Arts in New York.<br /><br />Shirazi countered last month with a lawsuit filed in New York alleging wrongful dismissal and defamation. In claims described by NYU as “baseless”, Shirazi said that while president of Tisch Asia she had initiated talks with the National University of Singapore for an undergraduate programme together with Tisch Asia.<br /><br />However, she alleged NYU wanted to gain control of those negotiations “thereby securing for the central university [NYU] the anticipated future profits from the establishment of a joint undergraduate programme [with NUS]”, according to court documents.<br /><br />The documents further revealed that Singapore’s EDB in 2011 was willing to forgive outstanding loans worth US$9.6 million and would consider further grants if Tisch Asia offered its programmes exclusively in Singapore and also started an undergraduate programme. <br /><br />According to court documents cited by Singapore’s <i>Business Times</i> newspaper, EDB had provided another US$6.13 million to offset Singapore tuition tax through to 2016 as well as providing loans for construction costs.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong>Implications for internationalisation</strong></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In an email response to <i>University World News</i> John Beckman, NYU vice-president of public affairs, said: “We expect to prevail in court.” <br /><br />“As to any anticipated ‘profits’: given that we just announced the closing of Tisch Asia due to financial considerations – namely the unsustainable degree of subsidy required to keep it open over these past years and into the future – I would think the illogic of such a claim would speak for itself.<br /><br />“To be clear, the discussions with possible partners in Singapore regarding an undergraduate degree programme were academically motivated; had such a programme been instituted, no ‘profit’ was due NYU for its participation.” <br /><br />While wrangles over financial details will be difficult to unravel, the saga may have repercussions both in Singapore and New York regarding how branch campuses are handled. <br /><br />The Tisch Asia student newspaper <i>The Cobra</i> noted in an article by Olivia Briggs that “with the NYU brand recently expanding its satellite locations all over the world, including </span><a class="bluelink" href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=2010062518064648" target="_new"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Abu Dhabi</span></a><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">, Tel Aviv, numerous European countries and </span><a class="bluelink" href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20110218224513470" target="_new"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Shanghai</span></a><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">, Tisch Asia remained the only school that was not part of [NYU president] John Sexton’s ‘global university’” – a reference to NYU’s plans for international campuses.<br /><br />“Tisch Asia preceded the university’s global network, and was not a part of it,” confirmed NYU’s Beckman. However, Tisch Asia was the first of the NYU degree-granting programmes outside the US. <br /><br />“What the student body was informed of, however, was that our tuition was no longer going directly to Tisch School of the Arts but to New York University as a whole,” said Briggs.<br /><br />“This, needless to say, did not sit well with many students and led to a larger, looming question in the minds and mouths of the community – why on earth is NYU attempting to expand so astronomically [around the world] when it is unable to support the assets it currently has?”</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><br />
<br />
<strong><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Related</span></strong><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><br />
<a class="related-link" href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20101113055333709" target="_blank"><strong><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A shift from science to humanities</span></strong></a>: <span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">on Yale-NUS College</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">*******************************************</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<strong><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Bitter Pill</span></strong><br />
<strong><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span></strong><br />
<strong><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">MDA's ban of local film sparks Internet buzz</span></strong><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Oct 10, 2012 (</span><a href="http://www.todayonline.com/CultureAndLifestyle/Movies/EDC121010-0000043/Bitter-pill" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">source</span></a><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">SINGAPORE - The Media Development Authority's (MDA) decision on Oct 8, 2012 to suddenly pull Singapore comedy Sex, Violence and Family Values from theatrical release, just three days before it was due to open in cinemas, has sparked a furore amongst the film-going community online. <br /><br /> Disappointment, shock and even anger abound on the film's official Facebook page, with discussions on why this has happened, especially after a successful and well-received premiere at Cathay Cineleisure Cineplex last Friday (Oct 5, 2012) night.<br /><br /> Writer-director Ken Kwek's anthology of three short films starring familiar names - including Adrian Pang, Sylvia Ratonel, Vadi PVSS and Tan Kheng Hua - was originally given an M18 film classification before it was yanked from a theatrical release and given a Not Allowed For All Rating. This rarely used classification essentially means a full-out ban, as a film given this rating is not allowed to be screened. <br /><br /> It was the second of the three shorts, Porn Masala, that was at centre of this controversy. The segment stars Pang as an uncouth director working with a nervous Indian actor (PVSS) to create Singapore's first "arthouse porno", all the while trading insults based on gross racial stereotypes. <br /><br /> The ban came as a shock to many cinephiles, many of whom pre-purchased tickets and were looking forward to seeing the film on the big screen.<br /><br /> "A sad day for not just the team who painstakingly worked on this film, but also for the people who are deprived from experiencing a potentially great piece of local cinema in a long, longtime," posted netizen Wanhin Seah.<br /><br /> Pang said he felt a mixture of disappointment and sadness over how the film was handled. "Especially seeing how it was passed in the first place, and eventually not just pulled but banned," he said.<br /><br /> Pang added: "Yes, the character I play is an idiot. He is a racist bigot. He is an ass. There is no two ways about it. But playing a character such as this is an outright parody and satire … meant to be ironic. If anything, it is to highlight how wrong it is be like him (the character), someone who says stupid things like that. <br /><br /> "At the end of the day, the grounds on which the ban has been imposed are not justified. As someone involved in the project, I can say that there was not ANY hint or slither or smell of racial ill-will at all."<br /><br /> Half the crew for Porn Masala were Indian and a Facebook quote from Kavitah Jayanandan, the movie's first assistant director, summed up the sentiment. <br /><br /> "It's pity that people won't get to see the film ... It's a pity that they won't see that Indians can be dignified, as seen in the character 'Vivian' (Vadi PVSS' character)," he wrote, before expressing his disappointment for banning "the one film that actually educates one to be racially tolerant". <br /><br /> "People may not see the film but talking about it may still help change mindsets," he added.<br /><br /> Director Kwek declined to comment.<br /><br /> Pang ultimately felt that this is "throwing us back by another 10 years". <br /><br /> "Is it any surprise that the state of television and film in Singapore is what it is today? I stand by Ken. I stand by his film. And I stand by his vision. Because I believe in it," he said.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">*********************************</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"></span><br />
<h1 class="entry-title" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; border: 0px currentColor; color: rgb(204, 0, 0) !important; font-family: "Droid Sans", arial, sans-serif; font-size-adjust: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 1.4; margin: 0px 0px 5px; orphans: 2; padding: 0px; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Award Winning “Sex. Violence. Family Values” by Tisch Asia’s Ken Kwek Premieres at Cathay Orchard Cineleisure</span></h1>
<span style="font-family: Arial;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">Tisch Asia, August 29, 2012 (<a href="http://tischasiablog.com/2012/08/sex-violence-family-values-by-tisch-asias-ken-kwek-premieres-at-cathay-orchard-cineleisure/" target="_blank">source</a>)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"></span><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEij-JmvDYFw-io9bRjTZVp_ieTrWB230nZFDXRP1eVlqfRAqUagIHmBHRWUlJIyn7k1A0DO0xUMSh5mAEkUY86GZ1NgKVLAFRgUrfO5PwoT20x5IdcAfzOSyC3lPVxmWcVQF8FrlkmXsw/s1600/Kwek.Ken2_-200x300.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEij-JmvDYFw-io9bRjTZVp_ieTrWB230nZFDXRP1eVlqfRAqUagIHmBHRWUlJIyn7k1A0DO0xUMSh5mAEkUY86GZ1NgKVLAFRgUrfO5PwoT20x5IdcAfzOSyC3lPVxmWcVQF8FrlkmXsw/s400/Kwek.Ken2_-200x300.jpg" width="266" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: small;">Ken Kwek, writer and director of <em>Sex. Violence. Family Values</em></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<div style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; border: 0px currentColor; color: #777777; font-family: "Droid Sans", arial, sans-serif; font-size-adjust: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 24px; margin: 0px; orphans: 2; padding: 0px 0px 20px; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A new movie written and directed by Ken Kwek ’10 (MFA, Kanbar, Dramatic Writing),<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><em style="font-family: "Droid Serif", Times, serif; font-style: italic;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Sex.Violence.FamilyValues</span></em><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>offers a fresh take on Singapore, telling ‘three dirrrty stories from the world’s cleanest city’. The film will open exclusively at Cathay Orchard Cineleisure on October 11, 2012.</span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; border: 0px currentColor; color: #777777; font-family: "Droid Sans", arial, sans-serif; font-size-adjust: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 24px; margin: 0px; orphans: 2; padding: 0px 0px 20px; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Ken Kwek graduated from New York University Tisch School of the Arts Asia with an MFA in Dramatic Writing. His other writing credits include screenplays for<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><em style="font-family: "Droid Serif", Times, serif; font-style: italic;">The Blue Mansion</em>,<em style="font-family: "Droid Serif", Times, serif; font-style: italic;">It’s A Great, Great World</em><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>and<em style="font-family: "Droid Serif", Times, serif; font-style: italic;"> Kidnapper</em>.</span></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; border: 0px currentColor; color: #777777; font-family: "Droid Sans", arial, sans-serif; font-size-adjust: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 24px; margin: 0px; orphans: 2; padding: 0px 0px 20px; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;"><em style="font-family: "Droid Serif", Times, serif; font-style: italic;">Sex.Violence.FamilyValues</em><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>features three stories looking at an alternative side of Singapore. Story one in <em style="font-family: "Droid Serif", Times, serif; font-style: italic;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Sex.Violence.FamilyValues</span></em><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>is about a kindergarten principal who is disturbed to find a series of morbid cartoons drawn by a docile pupil. The second story is about a porn actor struggling with his role in a Singapore’s first ‘romantic cumedy,’ and the last story is about a nightclub bouncer who faces off with the toughest troublemaker he has ever encountered: a teenage stripper.</span></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; border: 0px currentColor; color: #777777; font-family: "Droid Sans", arial, sans-serif; font-size-adjust: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 24px; margin: 0px; orphans: 2; padding: 0px 0px 20px; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;"><em style="font-family: "Droid Serif", Times, serif; font-style: italic;">Sex.Violence.FamilyValues</em><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>has screened in <span style="background-color: yellow;">film festivals around the world</span>, and received the <span style="background-color: yellow;">Audience Award at the Gotham Screen International Film Festival</span> in New York.</span></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; border: 0px currentColor; color: #777777; font-family: "Droid Sans", arial, sans-serif; font-size-adjust: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 24px; margin: 0px; orphans: 2; padding: 0px 0px 20px; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The film stars Adrian Pang, Pam Oei, Sylvia Ratonel, Tan Kheng Hua, Benjamin Heng, Osman Sulaiman and Vadi PVSS.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><em style="font-family: "Droid Serif", Times, serif; font-style: italic;">Sex. Violence. FamilyValues</em><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>is produced by The Butter Factory and Ken Kwek.</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMZhDM9_gDt0fzKxJDCKEzsSLB2oxUJfl5DwO6V0qqhhpJvXCkgzgPATFHFFrnNBWh5eUfIfRMbwVH2K336sZd3OmZr9aXaD_Sb7g45sDkRodEN2wy1RqGDJcaSi0cay0Y0PmMeF8r7A/s1600/Sex-Violence-Family-Values-Poster+1.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="242" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMZhDM9_gDt0fzKxJDCKEzsSLB2oxUJfl5DwO6V0qqhhpJvXCkgzgPATFHFFrnNBWh5eUfIfRMbwVH2K336sZd3OmZr9aXaD_Sb7g45sDkRodEN2wy1RqGDJcaSi0cay0Y0PmMeF8r7A/s640/Sex-Violence-Family-Values-Poster+1.png" width="640" /></a></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; border: 0px currentColor; color: #777777; font-family: "Droid Sans", arial, sans-serif; font-size-adjust: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 24px; margin: 0px; orphans: 2; padding: 0px 0px 20px; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglLGFx9i1w-VhcMSEYr0yOTut2PENJT_dxT7zhn4wibVR7Jju1R_8BzAOKMgrGtVjO8GAvMKvV6g6JNdv8cCpc5bvGQxhmWo-mctUbk3OhAkJt06JkO4oLiJ9A2Lo6atjfB_6E7UxzYg/s1600/Sex-Violence-Family-Values-Poster+2.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="520" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglLGFx9i1w-VhcMSEYr0yOTut2PENJT_dxT7zhn4wibVR7Jju1R_8BzAOKMgrGtVjO8GAvMKvV6g6JNdv8cCpc5bvGQxhmWo-mctUbk3OhAkJt06JkO4oLiJ9A2Lo6atjfB_6E7UxzYg/s640/Sex-Violence-Family-Values-Poster+2.png" width="640" /></a></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; border: 0px currentColor; color: #777777; font-family: "Droid Sans", arial, sans-serif; font-size-adjust: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 24px; margin: 0px; orphans: 2; padding: 0px 0px 20px; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-q0jmRZebv3BqRoCutT8eUvDgVqMd8MpbQIiPs6VixiHnpUMxgvV0DO0AVy3C9EDUJzm8Iu0K9h4ROD_OkhnMLvtKpq0EXiEUQe4s0-1o0pviTyTF3D_u_mUKmcI5sf5aj1qoX_gdkw/s1600/kenKwek+b.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-q0jmRZebv3BqRoCutT8eUvDgVqMd8MpbQIiPs6VixiHnpUMxgvV0DO0AVy3C9EDUJzm8Iu0K9h4ROD_OkhnMLvtKpq0EXiEUQe4s0-1o0pviTyTF3D_u_mUKmcI5sf5aj1qoX_gdkw/s1600/kenKwek+b.png" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="color: black;"></span> </div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiK3o6tDR13aEXGswj38mJYXegTy8eTOlTBrfIStC_saUb-iPR3ZqaTeWwogVbmmgE8rW_yDlC42XP64gszQN3kAzS52xE6dv49PuuSyake07_skntra-aGAqNrQtWh3efC99u4qsjwGA/s1600/kenKwek+c.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiK3o6tDR13aEXGswj38mJYXegTy8eTOlTBrfIStC_saUb-iPR3ZqaTeWwogVbmmgE8rW_yDlC42XP64gszQN3kAzS52xE6dv49PuuSyake07_skntra-aGAqNrQtWh3efC99u4qsjwGA/s1600/kenKwek+c.png" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">(<a href="http://www.svfv.com.sg/the-director/nonsense-in-hi-def" target="_blank">source</a>)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<span style="color: black;">********************************</span></div>
<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0