the extracts
Read through the
discussions and was greatly impressed by some of his reply.
One self profess
"young professional who belong to the top 20% of earners" forumer asked:
"While I admire your courage, determination and leadership, I have doubts on attractiveness of "civil disobedience" as promoted by you to the electorate. I am a young professional who belong to the top 20% of earners. Within 2 years of graduation, I am able to afford a condominium and a car. Much as I disagree with the PAP's heavy-handedness in dealing with the opposition, I owe it to them for what I have today. Though I come from a middle class family, my parents are able to support me to complete a medical degree in NUS, the most expensive course. Our country is stable and strong, we have material possessions and comforts few in other countries would ever imagine and I have a bright future ahead of me. To me, the concepts of democracy, human rights and liberalism sound very abstract and foreign. How can they improve my life in anyway. In spite of all its shortcomings, the PAP government did transform Singapore from a Third word to First in 4 decades. Which other countries can boast of such a strong, stable and responsible government as ours? Look at our neighbors Thailand which now faces a constitutional crisis due to the opposition boycott of the GE, when their economy suffer, its the people who is at the losing end. Is this the democracy you and your party propose? How do you intend to convince other young professionals like me to support your party?"
And his reply was that he used to be at the top 20% earners but he now have nothing.
"Dear Mihailov75,
First, let me congratulate you on your achievements.
Actually I think you are in the top 10 percent. You have indeed come a long way.
I, too, was in that tier of society where I was fortunate enough to do what I really loved - teaching and interacting with my students and seeing them grow intellectually. I was also doing research at NUH, Gleaneagles Hospital, and the Dept of Physiology. My wife was finishing up her doctoral dissertation and tutoring at the Dept of Social Work & Psychology. My office was serenely nestled on Kent Ridge. When I eventually applied for a credit card, I was offered three ¨C all gold. Banks started calling me up and said that they would give me a 100% housing loan. "One hundred percent??!!" my wife (fianc¨¦e then) and I exclaimed. We plumbed for a double-storey terrace house with four bedrooms, a big front porch and not little back garden. We got ourselves a brand new Mazda station wagon with plans to fit a few kids and a German Shepherd. We had arrived. (If you consider my childhood, which was distinctly not middle-class, the we-have-arrived feeling was even more delicious.)
But something stirred in me. Till today, I cannot tell you why, it just did. Seeing how the PAP treated Mr J B Jeyaretnam, the idea behind the Graduate Mothers¡¯ Scheme, the continued detention of Mr Chia Thye Poh, the bullying of the Mr Francis Seow and 1987 detainees, the absurdity of streaming our schoolchildren at nine years of age all gnawed away at me.
Most important, looking at the way working Singaporeans lived (and I know because I came from there) I found it difficult to continue living my lifestyle without lending a voice.
So I did.
And the rest, as they say, is history.
Dear Mihailov, I cannot produce numbers to convince you that justice and truth outweigh the material comforts in life that you enjoy and the prestige that comes along with it. Instead I want to tell you that the measure of society is not how well it provides for the top 20 percent of its citizens. Instead the true measure of a society is how well we take care of our weak and old and vulnerable.
In the same vein, the true measure of a man is not how much he earns or what kind of house he lives in and what of a car he drives. It is how much he cares about those around him especially those who need a hand and a voice.
I will not try to convince you that democracy will get you a bigger pay check or buy you a bigger house, for it cannot. Instead I will tell you that in life there are virtues such as justice, truth and freedom that make us whole and that breathe into us the spirit to distinguish us from the other species of animals.
It is what makes us human.
I now live in a three-room HDB flat, drive a beat-up Toyota which
doesn't even belong to me, own no credit card, my office is atop the smoky Bee Cheng Hiang in Serangoon Road, I've been to jail four times, and I am a bankrupt.
But I have my wife and three children with me, and I have overcome my fear of standing up to the PAP. I can freely speak up for my fellow citizens. And because of this I dare say I am far, far richer ¨C and happier ¨C than the richest man in Singapore. Is this enough to convince you to join our cause? God will let you know.
Thank you, dear friend.
Chee Soon JuanSingapore Democrats"
A forumer - BalancedMind asked him to think for his wife and 3 children, to stop going against the ruling party or to change his tactics. I think he sympathizes with the poor wife and children who have to suffer together with their husband and father.
"Dear Dr. Chee,
I do not intend to burden you with all the questions and points that fellow
forummers have raised in this thread of yours. Your worth and what you
have done will be judged by our decendents many years down the road. You
can take comfort that you have played and done your part in securing democratic
process for us Singaporean and to which you have my respect.
However, I think it's high time that you do think about your family, your supportive wife and children. They have supported you in what you are doing up to now taking the blunt and discomfort that you are going through but don't you think you should also now think about them as they are just as human like everyone in this forumn. I have a little girl just like your eldest daughter and to which I try my best to give her the headstart in life. When I look at the photos of your family posted by Uncle Yap I was sad that you have not been fair to your little girl. I know you will be telling me that you love not
your little girl less but you love your country more. Much I can admire you for that believe but I still think you should spare a thought for your family especially your children who needs you more than we do.
You have done your duty to our nation and have been respected for that but allow me to say that my highest respect is not for you but to your wife and children who has supported you all these while which not many men can dream of. I do hope
you will spare some thought for them as it is your duty as the head of your
household to do so. "
But his reply was that he wish to create a better future for them by giving them a conducive environment and country.
"Dear BalancedMind,
Your words are wise and I thank you for them.
I have not the slightest ntention of sacrificeing my children's interests and needs.
Like any father, there is not a single day that goes by where I don't think
about how I would like them to grow up and how I can better provide for them.
But life is such that we never know what we are going to be confronted with.
That's why I see that the best gift I can give to them is to work for an
environment that facilitates their development into thinking individuals and citizens who endeavour to improve their lot around them. As they grow and see what is happening around them they will learn the values of right and wrong, and the courage to seek out the former and speak out against the latter. Their values system is what's most important.
With such an anchor for living, no matter where life takes them in the future they will always live richly ¨C both spiritually and physically.
Chee Soon JuanSingapore Democrats"
All these you will never hear from the media, not even the gossipy TNP or Shin Min...
the blue pill or the red pill?
Dr. Chee Soon Juan has engaged the forumers of Sammyboy.com's Alfresco Coffee Shop for a post GE 2006 feedback session to seek their views, comments & suggestions.
Dear fellow Singaporeans and forumers,
Following the 2001 GE, the SDP spent 7 days in this forum posting its views, answering questions and responding to comments/suggestions.
We are here again to do the same following the recently concluded elections. We will participate in this chat-site for the next 7 days during which we welcome questions and comments that you would like to direct at the Singapore Democrats.
While we cannot answer every post, we will endeavour to respond to as many of you and cover as wide a range of topics as humanly
possible. It is our effort to continue to spread our message and solicit input from our fellow citizens.
In order not to impose ourselves on this forum, we will confine our postings to this thread and this thread only. We would like to kick it off by posting the article below which we had written before polling day and inviting comments.
We look forward to a meaningful and stimulating discussion with all of you.
Chee Soon Juan
Secretary-General
Singapore Democratic Party
This is your chance to find out more about him.
You have a choice.
"You take the blue pill and the story ends. You wake in your bed and believe whatever you want to believe."
"You take the red pill and you stay in Wonderland and I show you how deep the rabbit-hole goes. "
Remember -- all I am offering is the truth, nothing more.
the technicality issue
For most of the GE 2006, I ignored or skimmed through all the news reports on PAP except those where they
bombard-ed the Alternative Parties. On the Friday before the Polling day, I went a jogging at Sengkang along the
LRT SouthWest route starting from Cheng Lim station. Along the deserted road, there are many PAP and SDA posters hanging on the lamp posts, as they are both contesting for the Pasir Ris - Punggol GRC (I wondered how did SengKang fit into Pasir Ris - Punggol equation, but that's the UNIQUELY SINGAPORE GE thing when it comes to GRC boundaries).
So along the first few lamp-posts, the PAP posters shown was the 6-men team leaded by Teo Chee Hean. Funny why both parties bothered to hang the posters there as it is inhabited and the LRT stations are not operational too. Maybe they are targeting the joggers but I think it will most likely back-fired psychologically. How will you feel if u are panting heavily short of breath while all the candidates do is to smile at you fighting for air?
After a few hundred meters down the road, across 2 traffic junctions, I saw that the faces in the PAP posters changed upgraded from Teo Chee Hean to junior Lee?!? So SengKang is effectively split into 2 parts with 1 half under the Pasir-Ris - Punggol GRC and the other half grouping under junior Lee AMK GRC. And then I past by the construction site for the new SengKang Sports Complex, which is just beside the
Sungei Punggol. And then I realized this the new SengKang Sports Complex that the
Teo Chee Hean and his team members have said that "Residents in Pasir Ris and Sengkang can look forward to sports complexes" in his election speeches/interviews.
And while admiring the construction as I dream of swimming and/or jogging in the new SengKang Sports Complex, I realized that this SengKang Sports Complex is not within our Pasir-Ris Punggol GRC boundaries. IT IS TECHNICALLY LOCATED WITHIN THE AMK GRC, even though it is in called SengKang Sports Complex.
Not that I am very particular about the imaginary line drawn by the boundaries of both GRCs but hor, if it not within your GRC, please don't claimed that "It has been promised a sports hall and swimming pool in Pasir Ris, and a sports complex in Sengkang." It's a tiny weeny bit misleading, right?
the sore loser?
So is the best loser in the 2001 GE really going to quit politics? He has lost again in this election and said that he will only make a comeback when there is enough people who are angry with the ruling party.
It took Mr. Chiam See Tong 4 rejections (He first contested in 1972 and that makes 12 years of fighting against all odds) before he succeeded in Potong Pasir in 1984. Not only that, he went on to be the elected MP for potong pasir for 22 more years, seeing off 6 fierce contests. He is now 71 years old but he is still fighting strong to deny the ruling party a clean sweep in the government, just as he has first rallied for when he contested in 1984.
So Mr. Chia, do you see the reality of being the Opposition Party in Singapore? You are only half-way there.
the founder of (modern) Singapore
the other day me and my wife was discussing about the GE, paticularly the media coverage and the ernomous turnout at Opposition parties rally.
I was telling her that the turnout are so fantastic but it does not necessary translate into votes as we have experienced during past few elections. The turnout are inversely proportionate to the aomunt of media coverage. PAP rally only saw thousands of people at most while Opposition parties easily attracted tens of thousands. On the other hand, our media coverage of PAP is never lacking. On TV, you get to hear what the PAP ministers have to say to the voters. Opposition will be lucky to get 1 or 2 sentences broadcast to the whole of Singapore. On the newspaper, lagi best. Out of 10 pages, 9 will be reporting on what PAP ministers have said - many a times word for word. All the Opposition parties, no matter how many candidates they fielded, will get to share that 1 pathetic page.
Of course, there are exception. But you have to be on the wrong side of the law. Like Mr. James Gomez. He got plenty of coverage for 3 days because he did not submit the minorities certificate application form and yet went back to question the election department staff when he did not received his minorities certificate. All the ministers took turn to bombard him and the election department, under Ministry of Home Affairs, presented the media with their side of the story using CCTV footage and their conservation contents. The media dutifully printed all of them in their papers and I must say that the CCTV footage was shown so many times over the TV news, I thought they are asking the public for assistance to help identify the man in the CCTV.
But the biggest issue is that our so-called "founder of modern Singapore" as referred to by the media has also opened his mouth for the first time during this GE to give his thoughts on the "liar" James Gomez. And after him, many copy-cats ministers also started questioning his integrity and calling him names.
I told my wife that it's time the "founder of modern Singapore" let go and move on. Not only on the James Gomez issues but from Singapore politics too. It really time that he retired and stop interfering. I don't understand why many people were so angry about the youngsters who were "rude" to him during the live open debate aired over TV recently.
Yes, we should respect him for what he did to transform Singapore. But that respect doesn't means that we should allow him to "But from time to time when they’re out of bounds, I put them down."
Did he make single-handedly built Singapore from a third world country to (so called) first world country? Please don't forget that our grandparents and parents are the ones who sweat and toiled in contributing to Singapore progress as well. He did not built Changi Airport by himself, he did not served in the army as part of the National Service, he did not have a HAND in the building of the HDB flats, roads, expressways, drains, etc... He only lead a group of highly competent ministers to catapult Singapore into what it is today.
So please don't mind us being "rude" if you think that we are "out of bounds" cos you are past your time. Please learn to let go and stop interferring in our times. Thank you.
the election talk
My previous guess was incorrect... but this new election date was also quite perfectly timed just after 1st May - Labour day and Hong Bao day. Have you ever wondered why is the Hong Bao available to those who are at least 21 years old? What about the 18, 19, 20 years old teenagers who had started working and hence contributing to country economically in 2005? Unfair, right? Blame it on this being the election year lah.
I was damn
proud of pleased with the
opposition alternative parties when they MOUNT the first serious challenge to the ruling party by contesting in 47 seats on the Nomination day. Credit should also be given to the
ruling party election department for making minimum changes to the boundaries - electoral division. The
opposition alternative parties are much better prepared this time round. They even managed to come together to discuss and finalized each party interests in which areas to avoid 3-corner fights and hence maximizing the
opposition alternative resources. I am glad that they have denied the ruling party returning to power on nomination day.
There are many new faces for this election, with the ruling party introducing the new faces earlier (cos they know roughly when the election will be called) and the
opposition alternative parties electing to intro their new candidates after the announcement of the Nomination day. I have nothing to say about the ruling party candidates, as usually they are high-ranking military generals, doctors and lawyers with impressive CV to show to the public. But the fact that
opposition alternative parties are able to recruit more educated and younger candidates (and some hot chicks too) and convinced them to run against the ruling party is very encouraging.
Although 1 report I read in the news really emphasize the difficulties and hardships that a person will face if he/she decide to join the
opposition alternative parties. There was this man at the age of 30 plus whom last minute withdrew from being one of the
opposition alternative team candidates to contest against the ruling party in one area. He was reported (by their Chief) to be in eyes swollen with tears when he explained his reasons for withdrawing. The reasons were that his 67 or 69 years old mother has
strongly disagreed to him standing as an
opposition alternative party candidate and his family and relatives have also
advised him not to join the
opposition alternative party as it may affect his brother-in-law "career advancement". Very sad hor... but is this the true situation here?
One other thing about this election is that many high profile candidates in the ruling party have being using analogy in their speeches. Like the one who choose to warn his voters about the consequences of choosing the wrong candidate. He said in Mandarin that choosing a candidate is likening to choosing a DURIAN. If the voters chose the DURIAN that is spoilt, he/she will have to throw away that DURIAN. So they must chose the Good DURIAN. Up till now I still cannot understand what is the connection between choosing a durian and voting for an MP...
Then recently we have the minorities certificate saga that was running the newspaper for many days. One
opposition alternative candidate took a minorities certificate application form but forget to submit it and then proceed to question the election department for mishandling his form when he did not received his minorities certificate. Apparently, the ruling party took big issue with this mistake of his and questions this
opposition alternative candidate's INTEGRITY to stand as a candidate. The election department also very eagerly offered their version of the story, completed with a full detailed telephoned conversion between them and the
opposition alternative candidates plus the video evidence that he took the form and kept it inside his briefcase failing to submit it.
And the media has been using the video many many many times (almost everyday) when the ruling party's candidates took turn to question the
opposition alternative candidates silence over this matter. And even when the
opposition alternative candidate has openly apologized at their rally, the ruling party still insist that the chief of the party answered to the public for that mistake - even to the point of hinting that the
opposition alternative candidate be sacked and withdrawn from standing as a candidate. And this is the first time I heard that it is perfectly ok to run a 4-men team against a 5-men team in a 5-candidates GRC!!!
I think I remembered that I once read in the news that there was a drawer minister from the ruling party, who was once caught leaking some high class information out and he was charged and fine some money, shipped out of that organization for a few years then rejoined back after that. Correct me if I am wrong, please.
And of course, there must be another smart alex ruling party candidate to voice out at this saga with ANOTHER analogy - stealing getting caught taking a BIG item, putting it in the bag and walk out of a supermarket. Can someone please tell this fellow the differences between stealing and forgetting to submit a form that was given freely to anyone who asked for it? Why can't he say that it is liken to a student who forgets to submit his answer papers during his exam and later questioned the school when he found out he was awarded zero marks in that paper?
Several tactics by the opposition alternative parties were quite naive as well. Touting as a 24/7 MP is one thing but to the extend of offering instant access to either 1 of the 5 MPs 24/7 via a mobile phone number is suicidal. You will be bombed with nuisance calls 86400/1440/24/7 loh. The call for Economic union with our neighbour was also not the cleverest thing to do. As rightly disputed, we can't even build a bridge together, how to talk about economic union?
Where have all the eloquent speakers of the ruling party gone to? All retired? Till now, most that I have read and hear from the newspaper and tv is poor speeches completed with irrelevant analogies. The PM is one that makes excellent speeches - especially the National Rally last year, it was an excellent speech. The rest of his members simply cannot make it. As for the opposition alternative parties, the new lady chairwoman seems to be struggling when she was reading out her speech in mandarin. I give her poor marks for that. However, judging from the reactions of people who attended the opposition alternative rally, the opposition alternative parties have much better speakers who make an effort to connect with the people. BUT whether they can be better MPs remain to be seen, that is, provided that they are elected as MPs.
I noticed that many candidates of the ruling party are getting more arrogant, especially in the way they denounce and criticized the opposition alternative parties. It seems even more arrogant when those newly joined candidates jump in to criticize the other parties’ candidates. I thought they should be working to prove themselves in their sincerity and willingness to serve the residents first before they can criticize another person? If the ruling party is serious about the integrity and character of the opposition alternative candidates, why not used the same trick policy deployed in the Presidential Election where all candidates were screened through by a high-level committee before they were give a COE - Certificate of Eligibility...
I thought they should appeal to the voters through sincerity? I just hope that they will stop nitpicking on each other and start to show to us the voters that they really have our welfare in mind when they choose to stand as candidates for election.
Please tell me why should I vote for you. Not why I should not vote for the other candidate.
