Lim Zi Rui: Singaporeans are treated as third class citizens in education

Reform Party candidate for Ang Mo Kio GRC Lim Zi Rui has lashed out at the PAP regime for treating Singaporeans as second and even third class citizens when it comes to education.

Speaking at a rally at Clementi stadium, Zi Rui said:

“Our local students lose out, lose the chance, even though they are of the same calibre. As I said earlier, why are we being treated as second class students? As second class citizens? You can see there is this inequality that persists in our society and basically this will [be very divisive] if we do not address all these issues directly and fast.”

Zi Rui was referring to the large number of scholarships pay for by taxpayers’ monies being given to foreign students by the PAP regime to study in Singapore universities, some faculties of which are fast becoming a little China or India.

“On the tertiary students…they are being given a scholarship and work in Singapore for a couple of years. This means that they are in direct competition to our local students – why are we allowing all this competition in education, but not allowing any competition in the parliament?”

Singapore men especially lose out to foreigners because of their NS obligations and the delay of two years in entering the workforce.

The number of scholarships given to foreigners yearly remains a mystery. It is also not known how many of these foreign scholars eventually relocate to Singapore permanently to contribute to the nation.

Teo Chee Hean: PAP considers interests of Singaporeans first

With the polls only two days away, PAP leaders are making all kinds of lame excuses and promises to secure the votes of undecided Singaporeans.

Speaking at a PAP rally last night, PAP candidate for Pasir Ris-Punggol GRC Teo Chee Hean claimed that the PAP always considers ‘the interest of Singapore and Singaporeans first.’

He added that the PAP regime often had to make difficult ‘trade-offs’ in its decisions such as bringing in foreign workers and managing the housing market.

“For example, if the government allowed too many houses to be built and property prices crashed, I have no doubt that fingers will be pointed at the Government,” he added.

According to statistics from HDB, only some 3,100 new HDB flats were built between the years 2006 and 2008 when there were almost 100,000 immigrants, causing the prices to shoot up.

The PAP regime could have controlled the rate of rise of prices without causing them to crash.

With the two opposition MPs contesting in GRCs, there is a good chance that the PAP will win all the 82 contested seats and Singaporeans will end up with no elected opposition MP in parliament since 1981.

Lee Hsien Loong exudes confidence that PAP will “do well” on Saturday’s polls

PAP candidate for Ang Mo Kio GRC Lee Hsien Loong has expressed confidence that the PAP will “do well” on Saturday’s polls where a record 82 seats are contested.

He also believes that the PAP will win hotly contested Aljunied GRC against the Workers Party’s ‘A’ team though he admitted that the fight would be a ‘tough’ one.

Reports from the ground suggested that the PAP has managed to claw back some lost support with Mr Lee’s public apology for the mistakes made by the PAP regime in the last few years and Mr George Yeo’s online video appealing for support from young Singaporeans.

PAP de facto leader Lee Kuan Yew echoed the same optimism a week ago when he proclaimed that the PAP will win the election “hands down” and the only hotspot is Aljunied GRC.

With Aljunied GRC appearing to be in the PAP’s safe hands now, it is possible that the PAP may win all the 82 contested seats which will see no elected opposition MP in parliament for the first time since 1981.

90,000 grateful new citizens are voting on Saturday and 900,000 more foreign workers (on work permits only) will be arriving in Singapore soon. This is the last window opportunity for native Singaporeans to reclaim their homeland. It is NOW or NEVER.

Ground shifting in favor of PAP after Lee Hsien Loong’s ‘apology’

The half-hearted insincere ‘apology’ made by PAP candidate for Ang Mo Kio GRC to solicit support from undecided voters in the last minute appeared to be working as as the ground is not shifting in favor of the PAP.

PAP candidates for Aljunied GRC claimed that residents are not responding positively to them during their walkabouts after Mr Lee’s apology and George Yeo’s video on Youtube appealing for support from young Singaporeans.

In the meantime, the state media continues to drum up support for the PAP with more biased reporting and astroturfing to manipulate public perception and sway support to the PAP.

The Straits Times Forum published a total of 18 pro-PAP letters yesterday and another 10 today expressing support for the PAP while censoring letters in support of the opposition.

In the meantime, the New Paper continues to indulge in ‘gutter journalism’ to smear the opposition candidates. After insinuating that Dr Chee Soon Juan had held an non-existent ‘protest march’, it now alleged that a NSP candidate has committed sexual indiscretions to a student during his previous stint as a teacher.

The state media is likely to go all out on Polling Day to smear the opposition in whatever ways they can to swing votes to the PAP while rehashing its oft-repeated propaganda such as the PAP’s ‘fifty year’ track record to secure the votes of older Singaporeans.

With the two opposition MPs contesting in GRCs, there is a good chance that Singaporeans may end up with no elected opposition MP in parliament. 90,000 grateful new citizens are voting on 7 May with another 900,000 foreigners coming our way. There will be no second chance for Singaporeans to repeat if we do not reclaim our Singapore back.

Shanmugam slams opposition for playing up emotions during GE

PAP candidate for Nee Soon GRC Shanmugam has slammed the opposition for playing up emotions for ‘pure political gain’ and attacked their proposals as all “somewhere between bad and downright crazy” without even bothering to debate with them.

He described this election as a fight for ‘the soul of our (PAP”s) democracy’ and continues to threaten voters with the PAP’s stale ‘fifty year’ track record of which he played no part in:

“On one side is the People’s Action Party (PAP), which has delivered decades of good governance. Because the people have put their trust in the PAP for so long, the Government has been able to ‘plan long-term, long-range, and choose the most logical plans. That has made it possible for Singapore to be exceptionally successful’. On the other side is a model in which ‘politics means arguing to work up unhappiness against policies, even if the policies are for long-term benefit'”

This coming election is a referendum of the PAP’s performance in the last five, and not fifty years for which they have been more that adequately rewarded for.

The PAP has indeed implemented several policies for the ‘long-term benefit’ of Singaporeans such as its proposal to increase Singapore’s population to 6.5 million people in 2007 which is now put on hold by Mr Lee Hsien Loong till after the election.

The civil rights of Singaporeans continue suppressed during Mr Shanmugan’s tenure as Law Minister in which the PAP introduced a series of repressive laws such as the Public Order Act last year which outlaw even a solo protest in any part of the island except Speakers’ Corner.

Shanmugam also infamously quipped that ‘Singapore is not a country but a city state’ which reflected the PAP’s shift from building a Singaporean identity to a ‘cosmopolitan’ city filled with international migrants under its perpetual rule forever.

Lee Hsien Loong: We won’t bring in too many foreigners too fast

With the election around the corner, PAP candidate for Ang Mo Kio GRC Lee Hsien is making all sorts of empty promises to placate disgruntled Singaporeans.

The sensitive issue of foreigners cropped up again during a webchat with Mr Lee on the PAP Facebook today when he was bombarded by netizens on the relentless influx of foreign workers which has changed Singapore’s demographics beyond recognition in the PAP’s mad pursuit for GDP growth.

Due to the PAP’s pro-foreigner and ultra-liberal immigration policies, foreigners now make up 43 percent of Singapore’s population, up from 14 percent in 1990. Of the remaining 57 percent who are citizens, an increasing number are born overseas.

When asked by a netizen Angela Xu on the PAP’s plans to address the tensions between foreign manpower needs and building a Singaporeans identity, Mr Lee replied:

“We won’t bring in too many foreigners too fast. We’ll work hard to integrate them with our people. We are not planning to make a 6+ million population. Not trying to get there. Dont worry.”

Mr Lee’s comment appeared to have contradicted his original stance on the matter in which he urged Singaporeans repeatedly to welcome more foreigners.

During a National Day rally speech last year, Mr Lee said:

‘Let us welcome them (immigrants) with an open heart, help them to fit in and encourage those who will become citizens to strike roots here. If we do this well, by the next generation, their children will be native Singaporeans.” (read here)

The sudden U-turn by Mr Lee does not change that fact that the PAP has planned all along to bring in more foreigners with PAP candidate for Tampines GRC Mah Bow Tan saying way back in 2007 that Singapore needs 6.5 million people. (read here)

More importantly, PAP de facto leader Lee Kuan Yew proclaimed only last week that the PAP will still be bringing in more foreigners:

“Please remember: We still need 900,000 foreign workers on work permits.”

Singaporeans should not be hoodwinked by Mr Lee’s last-minute sweet talk for a desperate man will make all kinds of promises that he will not be able to fulfil.

90,000 grateful new citizens will be voting on 7 May after which 900,000 may be voting five years later. This is the last opportunity for Singaporeans to reclaim ownership of their nation.

PAP’s distastrous election campaign hits rock bottom

The PAP’s campaign for the 2011 election is a castastrophe right from the very beginning, plagued by incoherent messages to the voters, contradicting statements made by leaders and an outright dissociation from the reality on the ground amidst fast rising public disgruntlement at opprobrium.

For the last one week, the PAP’s disjointed campaign was dominated by two former prime ministers instead of the incumbent. PAP ‘walkover’ MP for Tanjong Pagar GRC Lee Kuan Yew used his trade-mark ‘knuckle-duster’ style to intimidate Singaporeans from voting for the opposition, in particular residents of Aljunied GRC who were told to ‘repent for five years’ if they voted for WP. Then Goh Chok Tong, who had earlier promised not to comment on candidates from other constituencies shot his own foot by making disparaging remarks about his former subordinate and now SDP candidate for Holland-Bukit Timah Tan Jee Say.

The PAP has adopted the same modus operandi it employed so successfully in previous elections by harping constantly on its ‘track record’, handing out goodies like ‘Grow and Share’ package to woo voters and using the state media to smear and fix the opposition.

It appeared to have panicked when it realized that the same old tactics aren’t working on Singaporeans anymore, especially the young who are widely read and have no affiliations to the PAP.

The oft-repeated message of ‘good governance, political stability and economic growth’ now sounds like a stale old record repeating itself to a wall especially when life is indeed getting tougher for ordinary Singaporeans facing increasing competition from the relentless influx of foreigners.

The hundreds of dollars handed out to Singaporeans are too little to help them cope with the rampant inflation while the usua  smear tactics which have worked so well in the past now backfired one by one in the age of Facebook and Youtube.

Like an over-confident student who did not bother to study hard for his exams only to realize in the last minute that the format of the papers have changed and doing last-minute revision now, the PAP is changing gear with only three days to go to salvage a disastrous campaign so far.

The format of this election has indeed changed, revolutionized by the new media which the PAP has failed to incorporate into it campaign.

All of sudden, Lee Kuan Yew who had dominated the headlines for the last few days has all but disappeared from public view altogether with Goh Chok Tong whose infamous last words were – “The majority of Singaporeans are not concerned by the high ministerial pay.”

Like an abusive husband saying sorry to a battered wife and promising to change, PM Lee went through a face-life in a day: he apologized to Singaporeans for the mistakes his government have made despite the many opportunities they were given in the last five years, tried to embrace the online community by holding a ‘Live’ webchat through Facebook when he should have done so earlier and pretending to be humble, empathetic and caring when all along he had been lecturing Singaporeans and asking them to take the ‘bitter pills.’

PAP leaders suddenly remember to engage Singaporeans instead of talking down to them. George Yeo made a desperate appeal on a Facebook video to young Singaporeans to support the PAP, promising to “change and improve” when he said in 1995 that ordinary Singaporeans have no right to discuss about policies with the government.

Khaw Boon Wan cried to win sympathy votes during a rally while conveniently forgetting his callous call for Singaporeans to send their parents to retire in Johor Bahru in 2007. Dr Vivian Balakrishnan now promises to “care for” and “look after” Singaporeans when he deliberated for months before raising the monthly allowance of Public Assistance recipients.

Unfortunately, these feeble last-ditch attempts aren’t going to convince many Singaporeans who have already made up their minds to teach the PAP a lesson it will never forget on 7 May.

Despite controlling the mainstream media, the PAP has clearly lost out to a highly motivated, tightly-knitted and nimble opposition which has clearly played its cards right this time with strong support from the new media.

In fact, the state media may turn out to be the PAP’s undoing as its blatant one-sided propaganda has lulled PAP leaders into a state of complacency for a long time.

Like domesticated dogs which have grown too fat and lazy to guard the house, the present batch of PAP leaders are so sheltered from the humps and bumps of politics that they have lost the instinct, capability and competitiveness necessary to survive in the harsh world of politics.

Though the PAP will still win the coming election with an overwhelming majority, it will be a useful wake-up call for its leader to change their usual strategy to appeal to the younger generation of voters in future elections.

SDP will lose crucial votes due to misreporting by TNP

The Singapore Democratic Party is going to lose crucial votes in the coming polls on 7 May as a result of the misleading article by The New Paper (TNP) on 1 May which falsely insinuated, among other things that Dr Chee Soon Juan had attempted to lead a ‘protest march.’ The same lie was reported in the two Chinese tabloids.

Though the Straits Times carried an article the next day clarifying the matter in a way, it was inadequate as TNP editor Dominic Nathan said the paper ‘stand by the story’ which may cause lingering doubts in the minds of fence-sitters who have not made up their minds yet.

The loss in a few hundred votes is likely to affect results in closely fought contests like in Holland-Bukit Timah GRC where SDP is fielding arguably its strongest team.

The TNP article was skewed deliberately to portray the entire SDP in a negative light by linking it with Dr Chee’s ‘chequered past’. Singaporeans have been conditioned over the years by the PAP and state media to have a less than favorable perception of politicians who engage in ‘civil disobedience.

While Dr Chee has certainly toned down alot, the constant rehashing of his ‘misdeeds’ in the state media is likely to have an influence on the older generation of voters who are more conservative.

Some may be inclined to vote for the SDP, but may back out in the last minute out of irrational fear that the SDP may conduct ‘protest marches’ in the streets if elected to destabilize the country.

The PAP knows the innermost fears and insecurity of Singaporeans pretty well and have no qualms playing them up in order to serve its partisan interests.

The SDP team has done remarkably well in keeping a cool head and ignoring the baiting by TNP which will drag them into a meaningless slugfest only to benefit the PAP. However, the unfounded allegations cannot be allowed to go unrebutted just like that.

The online community has been most vocal in their support of SDP and Dr Chee with even neutrals joining in to lambast TNP for its unethical gutter journalism.

A Facebook page set up calling for the boycott of TNP has garnered more than 4,400 “likes” so far, an indication of how hated the tabloid has become. (read here)

Despite sparking a massive backlash and growing pressure to apologize, TNP has still refused to retract its story and apologize as it knows that doing so will only win sympathy votes for the SDP. Its real motive is simply to discredit the opposition in order to sway public opinion to the side of the PAP.

It’s time Singaporeans come together to send a strong deterrent message to SPH that such irresponsible misreporting is not tolerated and hit it at its pockets by boycotting not only TNP, but its major advertisers as well.

In the meantime, Singaporeans reading this can do their part by sharing with your neighbors, especially those who only rely on the mainstream media for news on what really happen. That’s the very least we can do for a party which is risking so much to speak up for us.

As for TNP, it’s time we consign it to the rubbish chute where it should long belong to.

Dr Vivian expressed “regret” over comment made on needy Singaporeans in 2007

Four years after making the infamous remark in parliament in 2007, Dr Vivian Balakrishnan suddenly realize he was wrong and expressed ‘regret’ over it to portray a ‘soft’ side of him in order to win sympathy votes ahead of the coming election.

PAP MP Dr Lily Neo had made an impassioned appeal to Dr Vivian Balakrishnan to increase the monthly allowance for recipients of Public Assistance by $1 a day to which he retorted callously:

‘How much do you want? Do you want three meals in a hawker centre, food court or restaurant?’

 In a rally speech last night, Dr Vivian urged Singaporeans to read the entire parliamentary exchange, in which he had gone on to point out that a targeted approach to help needy families who needed additional help was better as the needs of individual families were different.

“I am stating that I believe in helping people; whether it’s cooked food that comes to you or whether it is in a food court,” he insisted.

The entire transcript of Dr Vivian’s exchange with Dr Lily Neo can be read here. It is pretty obvious that Dr Vivian thought that the pittance was enough for for “most families to get by.

With polling day only two days away, PAP leaders have been making last-minute half-hearted apologies and shedding crocodile tears to win the support of undecided voters.

Netizens should remember the veiled threat issued by Dr Vivian in 2007 to them:

“Anonymity in cyberspace is an illusion. You will remember in 2007, we prosecuted three persons under the Sedition Act because of the blogs they put up which denigrated the religion of one of our communities in Singapore. The reason we did that was to send the message that your words have an impact; if need be, we can identify you, and if we have to, we will be prepared to prosecute you.” (Source: CNA)

TNP journalist lodged police report against netizen who posted her hp number online

Embattled TNP journalist Bryna Sim has lodged a police report against a netizen who posted her handphone number on the TNP Facebook:

[Source: Boycott TNP Facebook]

The netizen Sharon Yeo claimed that Ms Bryna Sim told her she made a police report because she flamed her and posted her hp number online. Ms Yeo denied ever flaming Ms Sim and she simply re-posted her handphone number which was circulating in the hardwarezone forum. The police has not contacted her yet as of now.

A lawyer we spoke to confirm that there are absolutely no legal grounds for Ms Sim to make the police report as Singapore does not have any privacy laws and it is already available in the public domain.

TNP had ran an article on 1 May by Bryna Sim and Melvin Singh with the misleading headlines: “Is he SDP’s loose cannon“:

“It appeared that he (Dr Chee) was about to lead the group in a march before other party members intervened to stop it.”

It then tried to sow discord within the ranks of SDP by insinuating that some SDP candidates were ‘horrified’ by Dr Chee’s actions and tried to stop him.

It turned out that a supporter had wanted to hang a garland over Dr Chee which he obliged. The crowd was clamoring to shake his hand and ask for his autograph. No ‘protest march’ of any sort ever took place. (Please watch this video from 10:40 for the irrefutable truth.)

Despite being caught in the red, TNP ‘journalists’ continue to ‘stand’ by their fairy tale and refused to apologize. When contacted by the Straits Times, TNP editor Dominic Nathan said they ‘stand by their story’.

In a reply to a netizen’s letter, Melvin Singh claimed that he was ‘alerted’ to the ‘march’ by SDP candidates which had been proven to be patently false again.

Even when her mistake was exposed, Bryna Sim still refuse to apologize:

While Ms Sim has been on the receiving end of brickbats from netizens, her editor Melvin Singh who was the one in charge of the article has gone into hiding. Netizens have been trying to contact his office number to no avail:

Melvinderpal Singh
Deputy Editor
Office: (65) 6319 5567
Email: melvin@sph.com.sg

The fairy tale concocted by TNP to smear SDP is likely to cost it crucial votes in the polls on 7 May. Till now, TNP is still standing by its hogwash and refuse to retract the story, let alone offer a public apology to SDP and Dr Chee.