petir jan feb 2011 - · PDF filehomes and disorientation, ... District representative •...

January / February 2011www.pap.org.sg��

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Contents

��EditorialHabits and education The roots of Singaporeans’ kiasu-ness about exams goes back 1,300 years. But while exams are important, they are only one part of a good education system, writes Education Minister Ng Eng Hen. Hence the city-state’s holistic approach., in schools.

* Also in Chinese, Malay and Tamil

��Quick NewsA round-up of new policies.

��Face to FaceNo fear, SingaporeFaced with calls for more police presence in the wake of recent gang incidents, Minister K. Shanmugam took a hard look at the facts and found the figures tell a story that is far from scary. He tells Petir why.

��Party Conference PAP must be the people’s guideSingapore is facing the problems of its success – more immigrants, pricier homes and disorientation, said party secretary-general Lee Hsien Loong at the biennial conference. Members will have to work to make sure the impact of the new on citizens is positive for the country as well as strengthens the PAP.

Growth will be spent on improvementsThe 2010 budget surplus will be used to improve people’s lives. It will be invested in upgrading housing estates, improving the care network and much more.

Publicity and Publications Committee

Chairman • Grace Fu Vice-Chairman • Zainudin Nordin, Seah Kian Peng Secretary • Lim Wee KiakMembers • Ho Geok Choo, Alvin Yeo, Devi Vasantha Haridas, Kalyani Ramasamy, Chiang Heng Liang, Abdul Jafar Darwis District representative • Diana Pang Young PAP • Niu Liming PAP Policy Forum • Ori Sasson

Editor • Lim Huan Chiang Deputy Editor • Judith Holmberg Editorial and Design • Focus Publishing Limited (Tel: 6319 2392)

Printer • timesprinters, Singapore Photos courtesy of Singapore Press Holdings.

��Party AwardsThree long-time activists and award winners look back on some of the highlights of working for the party. They recount the time gravely-ill people came on stretchers to vote; setting up pre-school classes in Tamil; and trying to pacify furious villagers.

Those were the days, my friend

‘I was pelted with rotten eggs’

Struggle for merdeka

JANUARY / FEBRUARY 2011

MICA (P) 109/02/2011

Petir is published by the People’s Action Party Central Executive Committee. Material in this publication may not be reproduced in whole or in part without

the prior consent of the publisher. Views expressed in this magazine are not necessarily those of the PAP or the government. All rights reserved.

PAP Headquarters

Block 57B, New Upper Changi Road, #01-1402, PCF Building, Singapore 463057 • Telephone: 6244 4600 • Telefax: 6243 0114 • Internet: www.pap.org.sg

��Party Conference 3R’s, bridges and basic valuesA round-up of the six speeches delivered by activists at the conference.

��Party AwardsGreat job , comrades!Expect more seats to be contested in the next election, says Party chairman Lim Boon Heng, who gave out more than 300 awards to activists.

GE advice from four of the bestPetir meets the four veterans who received the Party’s highest award for their contributions and listened to their insights on winning hearts and minds.

60 proves a magic numberIt was the number of new recruits they brought in that put Radin Mas back in the list of top 10 branches.

��Behind the ScenesBright sparks at Boon LayPetir meets six long-time activists who have taken on intriguing duties to keep the branch humming – The Climber, The ‘Runner’, The Teacher, The Writer, The Cook and The Bodyguard.

Musical chairs with the ministersWhen the YP’s new exco met the Party’s secretary-general and two other central exco members, Petir eavesdropped on their conversations.

��View from the FrontCrime prevention: Don’t stop investingSingapore’s falling crime rate is the result of a comprehensive approach that addresses the causes of crime, removing the “weeds” and re-integrating the reformed, says Minister of State Masagos Zulkifli, who is working on more ways to deal with today’s young gangsters. But parents and the community will have to lend a helping hand.

��My SayGood parenting is criticalFor young people to get a good and proper education, and grow up with the right values and social and emotional skills, parents must play their part, writes former MP Sidek Saniff.

��Happenings• Punggol South takes bowling prize• Football diplomacy

��CyberspeakHow to fix high pricesNetizens suggest how to solve the problems of pricey HDB homes and car COEs.

��Backbencher’s BiteWhen your politics are rightMP Chan Soo Sen examines why Singapore has been more successful than other countries in remaining competitive and relevant.

��OverheardBest of the sound bites by parliamentarians.

EDITORIAL

One thousand and three hundred years is a long time to form a habit, even for nations.

In AD 603, the Civil Examination system started in Imperial China and continued through wars, pestilence and change of dynasties till its abolition in 1905.

Through it all, impoverished scholars who topped these exams could rise from being unknowns to become ministers in the Imperial Court. Some even married princesses.

Their fairy-tale lives became the evoca-tive stuff of folklore, legends and popular drama, perpetuating and embedding in the Chinese psyche the almost primal belief that hard work to achieve scholarly excellence is the way out and up.

Korea, Japan, Vietnam, and China and its diaspora bear dominant elements of this entrenched belief.

It is this “exam culture” that explains why the top performers in international comparisons of educational performance are invariably held by students from these Asian countries, and from Singapore.

The results of the recent Programme for International Student Assessment which assessed the capabilities of 15-year-olds in reading, mathematics and science, reinforce this notion.

But experts also highlight a potential hazard in such systems – a fanatical drive to compete in order to do better in exams as the sole outcome of education, often at the expense of other equally important goals of learning.

Excess tuition is one manifestation of this drive, with cram schools in South Ko-rea and Japan as prime examples of where this can lead with diminishing results.

Doing away with exams is not the solution. South Korea did away with na-tional entrance exams into its secondary schools in 1969. Apart from other prob-lems it caused, the pressure on students

Habits and education

did not abate. Some say it got worse, as students had

to fight against phantom competition without real results from periodic exams to calibrate.

The Ministry of Education believes that exams are integral in any sound education system, but that they must be balanced within a framework that focuses on the child and his needs.

Knowledge, skills and values form the foundations of this holistic approach to education here.

We must match our aspirations with effort and resources. This is why primary schools are all going single session, to

provide enough time and space for all children to have arts, music and physical education that teach the right skills and values outside the classroom, but as an integral part of the curriculum. These are a must-have rather than a good-to-have.

This is also why the MOE has started academies for teachers to build their pro-fessional expertise in these areas.

In its review of education in second-ary school, the changes it recommends are also based on this same philosophy of holistic development. The goal is to maintain the nation’s standards in maths and science as well as complement this with nurturing soft skills and right values.

4 PETIR JAN / FEB 11

While exams are integral in any education system, they must be part of a framework that focuses on students’ needs.

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The ministry wants to develop well-rounded students who are confident about themselves and rooted in our com-munity; for all Singaporeans to have the ability, through education, to participate actively and productively in a globalised world.

To achieve this, parents too must be active partners with the ministry in this quest.

Together, we can mould a Singapore that remains competitive, relevant and continues to punch above its weight, as well as educate generations of Singapo-reans with good minds and strong caring hearts in the years ahead.

New developmentsPrimary school

Primary schools are laying strong foundations and providing holistic education to nurture future citizens in a way that is enjoyable and meaningful for their students. • More interesting teaching methods such as group work, drama, role play and games to build confidence and collaborative skills. • Greater emphasis on physical educa-tion, art and music to ignite curiosity

Tertiary level

Singapore has a vibrant post-secondary and tertiary education land-scape, with more than 90 per cent of secondary school students progressing to post-secondary education. New in-stitutions are adding more peaks of ex-cellence and diversity to the landscape. • The Singapore Institute of Technol-ogy provides upgrading opportunities for polytechnic students through quality degree programmes that are established in partnership with overseas universities. About 500 students are currently pursuing degrees in it. • The Singapore University of Tech-nology and Design, a top-end, research-

and inculcate soft skills. Lower primary school students will have the chance to try out activities in sports and games, as well as the performing and visual arts. • More varied methods for assessing learning, beyond tests, to help students master key concepts and skills, such as oral presentations. • Schools to go single-session and have upgraded infrastructure to support new teaching approaches.

Secondary school

Teenagers will be helped to dis-cover their own strengths, build char-acter and develop citizenship. More pathways and options are being put in place to develop their diverse talents. • All schools create opportunities for new programmes, co-curricular activi-ties and international exposure.• Autonomous schools have built up strong niches in many areas, and of-fer students more choices for quality secondary school education. • Specialised independent schools – NUS High School of Mathematics and Science, Singapore Sports School, School of the Arts, and the School

of Science and Technology – develop students’ specific talents. • NorthLight School and Assumption Pathway School equip students who learn through a more hands-on approach, with practical skills that will stand them in good stead as they enter the workforce. • More progression pathways will be added in the next few years: • new pathways to polytechnics for Normal (Academic) students, • two specialised schools for Normal (Technical) students, • extension of the Integrated Programme (IP) to more schools.

Discovering strengths, enjoying new opportunities and pathways

Laying strong foundations – values, skills and knowledge

Getting ready for work and life – upgrading pathways, new programmes, new institutions

intensive university set up in collaboration with the Massachusetts Institute of Tech-nology and Zhejiang University, will offer high quality education with a focus on innovation and entrepreneurship. • Nanyang Technological University (NTU) and the Imperial College will be establishing a new medical school in NTU in 2013, to harness synergies between medicine and science and technology, to raise standards of medical care in Singa-pore.• New programmes, course offerings and research opportunities in the National University of Singapore, NTU and Sin-gapore Management University.


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Satu ribu tiga ratus tahun adalah jangka masa yang agak lama untuk membentuk suatu tabiat, walaupun

bagi sesebuah negara.Pada tahun abad 603, Sistem Peperik-

saan Sivil bermula di Empayar China dan berterusan walaupun mengharungi peperangan, wabak dan pembentukan dinasti-dinasti sehinggalah ia berakhir pada tahun 1905.

Dalam tempoh itu, cendekiawan-cendekiawan yang miskin boleh bangkit untuk meraih kecemerlangan di dalam peperiksaan dari hanya seorang individu yang pada mulanya tidak dikenali hingga menjadi seorang menteri di dalam Istana Maharaja China. Ada di antara mereka juga yang dapat berkahwin dengan puteri-puteri raja.

Kehidupan mereka ini telah men-jadi sebahagian daripada legenda, drama popular, diabadikan dan tertanam di dalam jiwa bangsa Cina sehingga mereka dapat membina suatu kepercayaan yang utuh bahawa bekerja keras bagi mencapai

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kecemerlangan di dalam pendidikan boleh meraih kepada kejayaan.

Korea, Jepun, Vietnam, dan China serta diaspora-diaspora mereka ditanam dengan kepercayaan ini.

“Budaya peperiksaan” inilah yang menjelaskan mengapa para pelajar ter-baik sewaktu perbandingan antarabangsa dalam kelakonan pendidikan datang dari negara-negara Asia Tenggara termasuk juga Singapura.

Dapatan dari Program bagi Penilaian Pelajar Antarabangsa yang menilai keu-payaan pelajar berusia 15 tahun dalam keupayaan membaca, matematik dan sains, mengukuhkan lagi tanggapan ini.

Namun para pakar berpendapat sis-tem ini juga berpotensi menimbulkan semacam bahaya – iaitu pembentukan keazaman fanatik bagi meraih kedudukan yang lebih baik lagi di dalam peperiksaan menjadi tunjang utama pendidikan, seh-ingga menjejas matlamat sebenar pembe-lajaran lain yang sama penting.

Tuisyen yang berlebihan merupakan salah satu penjelasan nya, dengan sekolah yang penuh sesak di Korea Selatan dan Jepun antara contoh di mana ia boleh membawa kepada keputusan yang kurang

memuaskan. Mengecualikan peperiksaan bukanlah

jawapannya. Korea Selatan memansuhkan peperiksaan bagi kemasukan ke dalam sekolah menengahnya pada 1969. Dis-amping masalah-maalah lain yang timbul, tekanan terhadap pelajar-pelajar juga tidak berkurangan.

Ada yang perpendapat keadaan akan betambah buruk lagi, apabila pelajar perlu bersaing di dalam peperiksaan yang tidak ada berkayu ukur.

Kementerian Pendidikan percaya peperiksaan itu perlu di dalam sebarang sistem pendidikan yang mantap tetapi ia perlu diimbangi dengan rangka kerja yang turut memberi tumpuan terhadap anak-anak dan keperluan mereka .

Pengetahuan, kemahiran dan nilai-nilai murni,telah membentuk asas pen-didikan yang holistik kepada pendidikan di sini.

Kita mesti sesuaikan aspirasi kita dengan usaha dan sumber. Itulah sebab-nya mengapa sekolah-sekolah rendah kini berubah menjadi sekolah satu sesi, bagi menyediakan masa dan ruang yang mencukupi semua kanak-kanak untuk mempunyai pendidikan seni, muzik dan

pendidikanlatihan jasmani yang mengajar kema-hiran dan ciri-ciri nilai yang murni bersesuaian di luar bilik darjah disamp-ing membentuk sebahagian penting kurikulum. Ia merupakan sesuatu yang wajib diadakan.

Itulah sebabnya mengapa MOE memulakan akademi bagi guru-guru untuk membangunkan kepakaran kar-yawan mereka di dalam bidang-bidang tersebut.

Dalam semakan pendidikan di sekolah menengah, perubahan yang disarankan adalah berdasarkan falsafah yang serupa iaitu pembangunan holis-tik. Matlamatnya ialah untuk mengeka-lkan piawaian negara ini dalam bidang matematik dan sains selain melengka-pinya dengan kemahiran peribadi dan nilai-nilai murni yang betul.

Kementerian mahu memban-gunkan pelajar-pelajar yang memiliki pendidikan yang holistik , mempu-nyai keyakinan diri dan berakar di dalam masyarakat; agar semua warga Singapura mempunyai keupayaan menerusi proses pendidikan, untuk menyertai secara aktif dan produktif di dalam dunia sejagat.

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QUICK NEWS

Medical bills get transparent

Private hospitals have joined their public counterparts in stating how much they charge – on average –

for common medical procedures, such as cataract surgery.

They began listing their bills on the Ministry of Health website in January and will update the data every month.

However, while the public sector offers the chance to make comparisons for around 70 treatments, private hospitals are listing those for about 40.

This is because data is published only if the private hospital sees at

least 30 patients for a particular medical condition in a year, and some hospitals specialise in certain conditions.

Public hospitals have been listing their charges since 2003. It resulted in some reducing their prices.

While the initial figures show private hospitals charge more, there are exceptions. Unsubsidised laser treatment for eye disease caused by diabetes, for one, costs the least at Mount Alvernia Hopsital.

New nurture plans for students

Secondary school students will receive more social-emotional support and career guidance.

A dedicated Character and Citizenship Education Unit within the Education Ministry has been set up to support and coordinate efforts to nurture character, citizenship and values among teens.

The unit will develop guidelines for the programme and streamline teaching resources for national education and moral education.

The ministry is also looking at introducing recreational sports competitions for youngsters who do not qualify for their school team. This is to give students more opportunities to take

part in a sport, strengthen soft skills and develop character.

A pilot programme starts this year for badminton, football and basketball.


Some 800,000 Singaporean HDB households will receive between $45 and $190 in utility

rebates this year.Under the Utilities Save scheme,

those living in one- and two-room flats will get the highest amount. The money is to help them offset about 20 per cent off their annual bill.

The first payout was made in January, the second will be in July.

The rebates, which total $80 million, are part of the $4 billion GST Offset Package announced in 2007 to help Singaporeans cope with the higher cost of living.

One child, two races

Mixed marriage couples can now choose how their child’s race is registered.

Besides either the father’s or mother’s race, they can also opt to have both, for instance, “Chinese-Indian”.

However, the first race listed will determine which mother tongue is studied in school and meeting the ethnic quota for HDB flats.

Up to $190 in utility rebates


FACE TO FACE

Ask newly-appointed Home Affairs Minister K. Shanmugam to rate Singapore’s safety level and his

answer is quick and to the point: “If it is compared to cities of similar size and composition, it is very safe, probably the safest.”

It is a conclusion the lawyer by pro-fession has reached despite two recent gangfights involving youths, based on “the facts”: Singapore’s overall crime rate in 2009 was 661 per 100,000 people, down from 870 in 2005.

The number of rioting cases has also dropped, from 489 to 283 over the same period. The number of violent crimes such as rioting and robbery have dropped by 7.4% and 27.3% respectively in 2010 as compared to 2009.

At a rate of 0.38 per 100,000 people, the rate for homicides, such as murders, is one of the lowest in the world.

“However, the occurrence of two gang fights within a space of eight days and the amount of attention they received left people with the impression that the crime situation here is getting worse, though it is contrary to the facts.

“In the 1960s and 1970s, people dying in gangster clashes was fairly regular. Peo-ple didn’t get so excited. Now Singapore has been made so safe that these incidents get a lot of attention,” he said in an exclu-sive interview with Petir.

“We were a more violent society in the 1980s. We were less violent in the 1990s. We’re even less violent now. This isn’t to-tally due to police efforts. Socio-economic progress has got a lot to do with it.

“When I was growing up, almost half the cohort didn’t make it beyond second-ary school, and you had a large pool of people who were somewhat aimless and were prepared to be violent. Today, nine

Do the recent gang incidents late last year indicate a more dangerous Singapore?

Not according to the facts, says Minister K.Shanmugam, who also assures

No fear, Singapore

The fightsOct 30: Part of a Halloween bash in the heartland community of Pasir Ris went wrong when poly-technic student Darren Ng, 19, and three friends were chased by chopper-wielding men at Down-town East. Ng was hacked to death.

Nov 8: Two cases of armed rioting were reported in Bukit Panjang. A 20-year-old man was slashed in the back and legs by a group of six parang-welding youths at around 10 pm. Later that night, the same group assaulted another group of six male youths aged between 14 and 18 years old.

in 10 have made it to at least ITE. “The system, the emphasis on educa-

tion, all these have channelled young men’s energies into more positive spheres.

The pool of people who can poten-tially get into trouble is much reduced. Nevertheless, there’ll be a group who’ll be attracted to violent behaviour.

“Nowadays, this is more random and it appears to be triggered off by fairly small things. Why this is so, whether it is the pressure of society or whether it is just peo-

ple being who they are, I’m not so sure.” Whatever the cause, looking at the

statistics, it is difficult to rationalise an increased police presence, which some have been calling for, or saturating the island with police, he pointed out.

“Consider the knock-on effects if we did so. We’d be taking people away from the economy and the industry. We’d be increasing the cost to taxpayers. The idea

is to have a balance between security, safety and people being able to go about their lives. While we cannot have a zero crime rate, we have a zero tolerance policy.”

So a set of “multi-pronged, multi-party approach” measures to nip youth violence in the bud would be more appropriate. One such measure is further legislation.

“Many offenders do not cross the threshold to be picked up under criminal law. So we’re thinking of giving the police powers short of detention, to prevent these youths from associating with each other, to prevent them from frequenting certain places.”

At the same time, policing and keeping the community crime free cannot be the responsibility of the police alone. It also requires the community, “to be the eyes and ears”.

Another possibility is to identify youngsters who could possibly get into trouble and try to “save” them before they fall into bad company. “We will try to pick them up before they fall out of school.”

An inter-ministerial team headed by Minister of State for Home Affairs and Education Masagos Zulkifli is currently looking into ways to enhance outreach to at-risk youths and coordinate intervention services at the local level, he pointed out.

While such steps could prevent way-wardness, the government is unable to provide a complete solution to the problem.

“Ultimately, it depends on the family. Many of these delinquent youths come from dysfunctional families. However, we can’t solve family problems. We can only see how these kids can be brought onto the right path.”

Results of the team’s findings and their recommendations will be released later this year.

PAP must be the people’s guide

PARTY CONFERENCE

Singapore’s society is changing, and the People’s Action Party must change with it. It must also act as

the people’s guide, so that the overall im-pact of the new is not only positive for the country but strengthens the Party as well.

PAP secretary-general Lee Hsien Loong made the points at the Party’s biennial conference, where he spoke in Mandarin and Malay besides English. The half-day meeting was held at the National University of Singapore Cultural Centre on Nov 28 last year.

“We must maintain our core princi-ples but adapt our policies and approaches to suit the times, and reflect the diverse views in society,” he told the 1,700 or so cadres and activists who attended.

“Our politics must evolve too. We

need to encourage citizens to engage more in national issues, not just by way of debate but by participating and working to make things happen.”

As an example, he cited the efforts of Mr Seah Kian Peng and 10 other MPs to make mediation compulsory for parents who want to claim financial support from their children.

“We encourage diverse views. If they

are good views, we incorporate them into policy. That way, we can produce an effective and capable government with a strong mandate which can win elections.”

It is with this in mind, that significant changes are being made to the election system; there will be more non-consti-tutional MPs, more single wards and smaller group representation constituen-cies, he said

Singapore will use the revenues generated from its remarkable 15 per cent growth in 2010 to

improve the lives of its people, prom-ised PAP Secretary-General Lee Hsien Loong.

The economy saw a surplus of $6 billion. A loss of $3 billion had been projected after trade in the first quarter of 2009 fell by a third and the GDP shrank 9 per cent. Almost 11,000 were retrenched in those three months. It was “scary”, he admitted.

He attributed the unprecedented surge in revenue to a mixture of good fortune, citizens and government tackling the downturn together, and

Growth will be spent on improvementsto careful handling of the economy over the years, which included avoiding budget deficits.

“We should use this growth to improve the lives of our people,” he said, and suggested the money be spent on build-ing homes, upgrading housing estates, strengthening social safety nets, investing in education for students and adults as well as in the city-state’s public transport, and improving the medical and care network.

The government has “many ambitious plans” for improvements, one of which is to remake the heartlands over the years. Punggol 21 is already taking shape; the Khoo Teck Puat Hospital is up and run-ning, among other things.

Since his speech in November, initia-tives for the redevelopment of some older housing estates have been announced, among them Tampines and opposition ward Hougang.

He also reminded that there are many direct measures to help the lower income group. One of these is an additional hous-ing grant of $40,000. On the 3M – Me-disave, Medicare, Medifund – approach to medical care, he noted: “Very few residents come to MPS with problems with their medical bills.”

Mr Lee pointed out that under Work-fare, $400 million has been given out to help 400,000 people each year over the last five years. He described the scheme –

Four issues to focus on:

• Sustaining Singapore’s prosperity• Improving the lives of all Singaporeans• Nurturing a new leadership team• Keeping Singaporeans united and cohesive


As a result, members can expect more seats being contested and a tougher battle at the coming General Election; certainly there will be more opposition voices in Parliament, where at least nine are ex-pected. There are three now, two MPs and one NCMP.

So every PAP branch must be ready for a fight, added Mr Lee, but this will be good for the PAP, and good for Singapore. “You have to feel that support. Treasure what is precious and valuable.”

He advised: “We must fight on the big issues that face Singapore and get vot-ers to focus on what is at stake, such as, ‘How can Singapore continue to succeed? Whom can we trust to take Singapore forward?’ ”

While sound policies and the right po-litical system are important, what is more critical is committed and capable leaders.

Such people are needed more than ever now because Singaporeans have higher expectations, the economy is more sophisticated, international competition is keener and the issues, such as interna-tional finance and climate change, are more complex.

They will have to not only work out the right domestic politics and take good care of voters, but also defend and pro-mote Singapore’s interests abroad in co-operation with the neighbours, as well as lead the people to make the right choices for the long-term good of the country.

Thus, the Party must keep strengthen-ing and renewing its leadership team at both the grassroots and MP levels.

“We have loyal and dedicated mem-bers and cadres in every branch, who have been working hard since the last GE, pre-paring for the next one. Party recruitment has progressed steadily and I thank all our activists for this,” said Mr Lee.

The PAP has also made “an enormous effort” hunting for promising candidates to be MPs and ministers, not only here, but among Singaporeans overseas too.

At every GE, reminded Mr Lee, the Party turns over about a quarter of its MPs, bringing in younger ones with fresh ideas and energy, who can identify with young Singaporeans, and who reflect their

for those over 35 earning under $1,700 a month – as “in effect a minimum wage, but better”, and “more targeted at those in greatest need”.

He acknowledged that growth has had side effects – more immigrants, pricier homes and disorientation.

“These are real problems, but they are problems of success.” To deal with them, Singaporeans need to keep a sense of perspective and be resolute, to keep the Singapore Spirit strong.

At the same time, he promised that the government will address these and stood firm on Singapore’s need to take in foreigners. “The world will not slow down for Singapore, so the government will take

on the task of helping Singaporeans keep their bearings and adapt to the new landscape that is developing.”

In his speech in Malay at the Party’s biennial conference, Mr Lee noted that many Malay professionals had done well and are now looking at how they can help others in their community succeed. Moving forward would help them integrate better with other racial groups, he added.

He paid tribute to older activists in his Chinese speech, saying: “They kept the party machinery going strong,and enabled us to keep close to the ground and continuously render high quality, sincere and effective service to voters.”


Chairman: Wong Kan Seng

Vice-chairman: Teo Chee Hean

First organising secretary/Branch appointments and relations:

Khaw Boon Wan

Second organising secretary: Gan Kim Yong

Organising secretary (special duties): Ng Eng Hen

Members: Mah Bow Tan

Tharman Shanmugaratnam

Constituency relations: Masagos Zulkifli

External relations: Josephine Teo

Information/Feedback/ District chairman:

Amy Khor

Malay affairs: Yaacob Ibrahim

Membership recruitment & cadre selection:

Lim Swee Say

New Media: Lui Tuck Yew

PAP awards: K. Shanmugam

Political education: Vivian Balakrishnan

Publicity and publications: Grace Fu

Social and recreational: Lam Pin Min

Women’s Wing: Lim Hwee Hua

Young PAP/District chairman: Teo Ser Luck

District chairman: Matthias Yao ChihDistrict chairman:

Teo Ho PinDistrict chairman: Zainudin Nordin

District representatives: Shen Luda, GenesisPang Li Yen, Diana

Shek Chee Meng, JonathanWong Mun Chiang

Young PAP representative: Shaikh Ismail

Women’s Wing representative: Ng Chui Hua, Angie

PAP Policy Forum representative: Satwant Singh

PARTY CONFERENCE

HQ Executive Committee

Chairman: Lim Boon HengVice-chairman: Yaacob Ibrahim

Secretary-general: Lee Hsien Loong

First assistant secretary-general: Wong Kan Seng

Second assistant secretary-general: Teo Chee Hean

Treasurer: Tharman Shanmugaratnam

Assistant treasurer: Lim Hwee Hua

Members:

Goh Chok Tong

Lee Kuan Yew

Yeo Yong-Boon, George

Lim Swee Say

Khaw Boon Wan

K. Shanmugam

Vivian Balakrishnan

Gan Kim Yong

Indranee Rajah

Ng Eng Hen

Teo Ser Luck

needs and aspirations.It also brings in potential new office

holders who can reinforce the team of ministers and parliamentary secretaries, and be ready to take over the reins when the time comes.

“We have a strong leadership team today, with many capable ministers with 10 to 20 years’ experience. But the young-est – Dr Vivian Balakrishnan – is now already 49.

“But there are still not enough young ministers to form a new core team for a future Cabinet – PM, DPMs, key min-isters. We must induct new candidates with the potential to hold all these key appointments. Among themselves, those in the Cabinet now and those to come in, will have to settle on the person who will be the next prime minister.

“I was fortunate to have had a very long tutelage before becoming PM – al-most 20 years in government, including 14 years as DPM. The next PM will not be as lucky. This is therefore an urgent matter, critical not just for the PAP, but for the long-term good of Singapore.

“Leadership renewal will thus be an-other key issue in the next GE.”

So far, he recounted, “we have drunk a lot of tea since the last election”, a reference to the first round in the PAP’s selection process. More than 240 people attended; a shortlist of more than 40 have been interviewed.

“We have found good people, in-cluding potential office holders, branch activists, YP and WW members, Young NTUC and unionists; but we are con-tinuing to look for more.

“I’m confident of presenting a first-class slate of candidates when the mo-ment comes. When elected, we will have enough talent to form the nucleus of the next generation of leaders.”

He highlighted four key issues: Sus-taining prosperity, improving Singapo-reans’ lives, nurturing new leaders and keeping united.

“Prepare well,” he urged, “and win a strong mandate. Keep Singapore our best home, where we can build a bright future together.”

The Central Executive Committee


Singapore’s success and progress from a little red dot to global player should be one that its youth is proud

of. That some young people say they feel disconnected from their country could be due to two reasons – their not having helped in the nation-building process so far and the challenges to the viability of the Singapore Dream, said Mr Desmond Choo,

He was one of six PAP ac-tivists who delivered speech-es at the Party’s November conference.

He suggested using three R’s to “bridge this disconnect”. The first being resilience and re-sourcefulness; the second, respect for intergenerational strengths, and the third, responsibility.

He called on the PAP to come up with new ways to empower young people here, and for Singapore’s youth to step up and take charge.

3R’s, bridges and basic values

Mr Vickram Nair also asked for more building of bridges, to deal with three challenges that he said the city-state faces. They are: The effect of immigration and new citizens; clashes between people on moral issues; and disruptions to tradi-tional values caused by progress.

Ms Mary Yeo, the daugh-ter of a vegetable seller, asked for more help for Singaporeans who have been left behind. Besides direct financial assistance, she also suggested that more emphasis be placed on helping Sin-gaporeans see that life here is better than in other countries.

“I would like to see a budget for fund-ing programmes to educate and expose people to life outside Singapore. More help should also be given to the young to help them blend into society.” She put the recent gang fights down to a feeling of

disenchantment.Dr Abdul Razakjr said

that there is a need to pre-serve the fundamental values of hard work, persever-ance and self-sacrifice. He added: “Families must be the founda-tion of our nation’s progress.”

Mr Gan Thiam Poh reasoned that Singapore can stay ahead by remain-ing positive and working closely with the govern-ment.

Enumerating all the various qualities that have come to be as-sociated with Singapore, among them its incorruptibility and world-class education system, Ms Foo Mee Har said: “ B e -ing Singaporean is a reason enough to be proud and all should stand together to continue building the Singapore brand for this and future generations.”


CEC members at the party conference.

Great job,

Party stalwarts receive more than 300 awards,

an exclusive preview and some advice

PARTY AWARDS

PAP members showed that their abilities go beyond the political at the party awards ceremony in

November, during a 20-minute show of music and dance before the presentation.

Led by Comrade Teo Ser Luck, the post-65 MPs kicked off the evening at the National University of Singapore Cultural Centre, with a literal bang – on Chinese-drums. The effort offered the audience an exclusive preview of the group’s contribu-tion to this year’s Chingay parade.

They were followed by two dances from the Women’s Wing and an energetic song and dance routine by Young PAP members.

The cheers and clapping by the 1,400-strong audience continued after the show, this time for the stalwarts be-ing recognised for their contributions to the Party.

In total, four commendation medals, 14 dedicated service medals and 303 long service medals were given out that night. Also presented were two youth medals, five women’s medals and 10 outstanding branch awards.

There were10 fewer in 2010 than the year before.

Speaking at the event, party chairman Lim Boon Heng injected a serious note to the evening when he reminded his audience about the upcoming General Election and alerted that it would prob-ably see more contested seats.

“In fact, the uncontested constituency is likely to be the exception rather than the norm,” he said, adding: “This will be good for our party, as our branches will gain battle experience that will be valuable for future elections. I urge all branches, there-fore, to include as many young members as possible in your election committees.”

He concluded with a rallying call: “Together, let us work hard to renew our mandate for the next election term, and put in place the team for the next 20 years.”

�� By Jimmy Yap


Hey, hey, hey, we are the YP.

P65 MPs gave a preview of their Chingay parade item.

WW members performed two dance numbers.

Mr Teo Yeow Soon

When Comrade Teo Yeow Soon opened his door to Mr Rahim Ishak, the former MP for

Siglap, one day in 1979, little did he realise that he would be opening the door to a new phase in his life.

That fateful day, Mr Rahim invited him to join the Party. It was the nudge he needed. A few weeks later, he became a PAP member.

It was a natural step for him given his political beliefs. “I’ve been a convert since the Malaysian Malaysia period,” said the 61-year-old. Back then, he was a student.

The shipbuilding company director has been serving in Siglap ever since, both as a party member and as a grassroots lead-er, and he has seen the place transformed.

The area used to be dotted with kampongs. Today, 80 per cent of Siglap consists of private housing estates.

“When the kampongs were here, they were strongly pro-Barisan. Today, we have different challenges. Now there are more condos, which are difficult to access be-cause we have to get permission to go in.”

Despite this, he and the Siglap branch members have persevered and managed to go home to home in some condos during previous election campaigns.

“We counted and we must have climbed a few hundred storeys, walking up and down,” he recalled.

One thing has not changed though. Comrade Teo says it is still vital to get in touch with the people and respond to their concerns, sometimes anticipating them before they arise.

For example, a few years ago, the National Environment Agency decided to upgrade the hawker centre at Bedok Corner. However, there was no effort

PARTY AWARDS

GE advice from Petir meets the four

men who received the

Commendation Medal,

the highest award given

to members for their

contributions to the Party

to deal with the parking situation there, which had always been inadequate.

Knowing the centre is very popular, the branch members and grassroots lead-ers petitioned for a carpark to be built on an empty plot of land nearby. They were successful and were thus able to forestall complaints from residents and foodies.

Today, he is looking forward to tak-ing on any challengers in the upcoming election.

His biggest concern is the impact of the Internet and how it can be used to spread untruths and distortions.

“People like to pass all kinds of com-ments on the Internet. Can you really clear

all the mistruths? Can you really combat, blow for blow, every comment? It’s very difficult.”

Mr Ng Kim Eng

For most residents living in the north east, the opening of the Nex mall in late 2010 has been a godsend. The

place has a wide variety of outlets and amenities, and is a hive of activity.

However, one group of people have been unhappy with its success – the residents who live nearby. Because of the droves of people drawn to the mall, park-ing has become a problem, especially on


From left: Mr Teo Yeow Soon, Mr Ng Kim Eng, Dr Kee Wei Heong and Mr Eric Wong.

four of the

weekends. The mall’s carpark is frequently full,

and the visitors turn to the HDB car parks nearby, sometimes illegally. As a result, those living in this once quiet neighbour-hood now have to fight for parking space.

Such issues are the sorts of things that Comrade Ng Kim Eng, 63, has to deal with today. “We help to monitor. We called the Housing Board. We explain to residents that the problem is that Nex is new and people come from all over Sin-gapore,” he said.

Paying attention to people is a lesson that he learnt long ago. The vice-chairman of the Braddell Heights branch, who has

been a party member for three decades, is also a veteran of the fierce battles in the ward between former MP Goh Choon Kang and Mr Sin Kek Tong, then of the Singapore Democratic Party, in 1988 and 1991. Mr Goh prevailed both times by a small margin.

After the 1991 elections, Braddell Heights became part of Marine Parade Group Representation Constituency, and since then, it has been uncontested.

Comrade Ng, who heads an advertis-ing solutions company, believes that if it were made a single-member constituency, it would do much better now than in 1991, because of the changes that have

taken place there: It has excellent local infrastructure, most precincts have been upgraded and it is served by two MRT lines, the North-East and the Circle.

On top of that, the MP, Mr Seah Kian Peng, has been active there, going on a walkabout every week or two. The grassroots organisations have been busy too, organising about 400 activities a year.

“Last time and this time, they are to-tally different situations,” he said.

Dr Kee Wei Heong

Few PAP members today have expe-rienced fighting an election. As a result, party members like Comrade

Kee Wei Heong, 61, are a valuable asset.Not only has he been involved in sev-

eral battles for the vote, he has experienced the bitter taste of losing a constituency, and the sweetness of winning it back.

The gynaecologist has been a party member for 15 years and is now the branch secretary of Bukit Gombak.

In 1991, he was part of the team that lost the ward to the Singapore Democratic Party’s Ling How Doong.

However, at the next election, he was part of the team that helped the PAP re-gain the seat, and by a big majority.

“We trounced Ling How Doong in 1996,” he said. “We more or less expected it because our ground support was swell-ing tremendously. We had support from the Seventh Month groups, the temple groups and the Malay groups.”

He attributed the win to other factors too – missteps by Mr Ling that created unhappiness among the residents and the PAP’s hard work. The branch reorganised and took pains to incorporate local resi-dents into key positions within it. This enabled the Party to become much more

��


PARTY AWARDS

in tune with residents’ feelings. However, it is not enough to be in

tune, said Comrade Kee, who himself lives in the area. “You must have a genuine concern for their welfare, and this was well communicated by Comrade Ang Mong Seng, who wrested the seat back.”

At the time, Mr Ang was seen as the ideal man for Bukit Gombak because of his friendly, homespun approach. The fact that he was Chinese-educated burnished his credibility with the residents, most of whom lived in HDB flats.

Over time, however, the demographics of Bukit Gombak changed and Comrade Ang’s background had fewer advantages. Since 2001, just 35 per cent of residents in the district live in HDB flats. Everyone else lives in the new condominiums that have sprung up. This brought a different set of challenges.

“We had to deal then with a complete-ly different type of place,” said Comrade Kee, “and to convince the residents that a Mandarin-educated person like Mr Ang was the right man to represent them.”

It took time but the residents were eventually won over. “We organised programmes which gave them a chance to meet him. Through their interactions with him, they sized him up and started to accept him.”

The branch members have never for-gotten the lessons of 1991 though and

take pains to encourage new residents to join the Party and to create a sense of community. Now, there is a regular group who golf together and the district has five neighbourhood committees.

Mr Eric Wong

A woman with a two-year-old in tow came in to a meet-the-people session at Geylang Serai. The little

girl was the woman’s granddaughter, and had been staying with her since she was born. However, the child had a problem – she had no identification papers.

The team of volunteers at the MPS session took on the task of helping the woman. They ended up making applica-tion after application for the papers, but were rejected time and again, and had to file appeal after appeal.

Finally, after four years, the girl got her papers, just in time for her to start school.

The case of the woman and her grand-daughter exemplify why Comrade Eric Wong joined the Party 24 years ago. He had been part of the grassroots movement before that.

“I came to the branch to help out at the MPS sessions initially, and joined the Party after I saw how it operates and spends time and resources helping others,” said the 54-year-old, who has been with the Geylang Serai branch since 1986.

He started as off in the Young PAP. At one point, he was its chairman. He is now his PAP branch’s secretary, a post he has held since 2005. The consultant gemmol-ogist is also the chairman of the Geylang Serai Citizens’ Consultative Committee and the patron of the Community Club Management Committee.

With his experience, he now views problems that crop up as opportunities to increase engagement with residents. One example was when Block 11 at Haig Road made the news for all the wrong reasons last year – as one of Singapore’s dirtiest blocks. The block stands along a path that has a lot of foot traffic.

“We took the initiative to clean it up,” he said. “We educated the residents about not littering and told them that they could call the town council if they saw litter becoming a problem.”

Through these efforts, they helped to make the residents of the block take ownership of the problem. Three months later, the block was given a merit award by the Marine Parade Town Council for its cleanliness.

The old political hand’s pre-election advice to other Party members is simple: “Be genuine to the people, be resilient, and engage and communicate.”

He also made the point: “You cannot prepare for elections at the last minute. People are not blind.”

Around 1,400 cadres and activists were at the award presentation ceremony.


When he took over as secretary of the PAP branch in Radin Mas in October 2009, Mr

Ho Thiam Teng knew that the General Election was not too far away.

So he and branch chairman Sam Tan, an MP for Tanjong Pagar GRC, sat down and laid out their game plan for the branch – to recruit as many new volunteers as they could, so they would have the manpower needed for the slew of activities that come with an election.

In all, the branch brought in 60 new volunteers that year, double the annual number of iniatates of previous years.

Its efforts were recognised – it was among the top 10 outstanding branches in 2010. While it is the only one in the group which had not also clinched the award in 2009, the Radin Mas branch is not a debutante on the list; it won the award in 2005 and 2007.

Mr Ho said the branch’s main strength lies in the cohesiveness of those who serve there. “No single person’s effort alone can do the magic.”

The stock broker, who has been a branch member since 2002, added that branch ex-co members and activitists are very close.

The key to their award was “team-work”, said the 43-year-old. He ex-plained: “We put in a very conscious effort and adopt a decentralised approach in carrying out duties. While each ex-co member has his role, responsibilities and duties spelt out, he will always update the chairman or me.”

The branch, which has been around for 34 years, now has 1,000 members. At any given meet-the-people session, there are at least 20 present to help out.

The branch is not resting on its laurels after the award. Ways to do better this

proves a magic number

year are already being mulled over. The objective this year is to strengthen the comradeship among the ex-co members as well as among the activists.

Over the second weekend of January, three bus-loads of them took off for a two-day, one-night retreat in Malacca. There, the more than 100 members and their spouses got to know each other better over meals and while sightseeing.

While it is good for the branch to be recognised for its recruitment efforts, it will also be striving for more ex-co mem-bers and activists to be more committed to the cause, said Mr Ho.

“I hope that activists helping out at meet-the-people sessions are not the result of their respective appointment-related commitment, but that they do it because they enjoy the process and cultivate a good team spirit in the proc-ess.”

�


Radin Mas branch on its retreat to Malacca in Jan.

Selection criteria • Recruitment of new members

• Submission of political feedback

• Submission of branch accounts

• National Day Parade participation

• Submission of MPS statistics

• Submission of Political Donations Act Report

• Attendance at branch secretaries’ meeting

• Attendance at Political Education talks

PARTY AWARDS


My parents were illiterate mi-grants from southern China. They brought me into this

world in a little kampong fronting the sea on Pulau Tekong in 1938. I was their first child.

Soon after, we moved to another tiny kampong fringing a virgin jungle at the southern tip of Johor. There I spent 10 years of my childhood, not knowing there was such a thing as school.

Although we lived in abject poverty, my parents added more mouths to the family. By the 1950s, there were nine of us squeezed into a wooden shack with an attap roof, which leaked more often than not when it rained.

We had neither electricity nor piped water, and the toilet was a hole in the ground behind the shack, on a piece of vacant land off old Upper Changi Road. We were squatters.

In the late 1950s, I got to know a group of Chinese-educated young men and women who kindled my interest in politics.

Some were members of the PAP’s Changi Branch. None of them crossed over to the Barisan Sosialis camp during the 1961 split in the Party. Had they done so, I might have followed suit. But we were all socialists in our outlook then, anyway.

After the group got to know me bet-ter, during the campaign period before the referendum to join Malaysia, I was invited to join the Party. In those days, the selection criteria for membership were very stringent. I was a provisional member for about a year.

In 1968, I was appointed assistant branch secretary. From 1976 to 2002, I served as branch secretary. Today, I have a very laidback job as vice-chairman of the Changi-Simei branch.

Almost 50 years of my life now has been intimately interwoven with the Party. In working closely with comrades, as well as with many MPs, I’ve been richly rewarded in comradeship, mutual trust and support in fighting for a common cause.

Three long-time members of the Party look back

Those were the days,

By Tan Kim Hock

��

Mr Tan (standing) interpreting at a party event in the late 1960s. Then MP for Changi, Mr Sim, is seated on his left.


‘I was pelted with rotten eggs’

This was because I gave tuition at the Tamil Methodist Church. I was also the secretary of its Youth Group, though I was not a Christian. Sometimes, I became these residents’ mouthpiece.

When I was asked to join the branch committee, I accepted as I felt that politics could be a base to help the needy. I was moved by these people’s problems; they reminded me of the hard times my family

faced after my father’s death. Moreover, when the PAP came to

power, its objectives and the dynamic lead-ership of Mr Lee Kuan Yew captivated my thinking and made me want to contribute to society and nation.

It led me to hold many positions, such as secretary for the Citizens’ Consultative Committee. At one point, I served on the Pasir Panjang Secondary School Advisory

These are some of the things that stand out in my memory:

CamaraderieMost members of the Changi Branch

then spoke Chinese. Almost none had had anything above high school education, but all fiercely upheld the Party’s guiding principles.

The first MP I worked with, the late Robin Sim Boon Woo, did not complete his “O” levels. He was a true street fighter who spoke English, Malay, Mandarin and all the main Chinese dialects fluently.

He was the right man at the right time for the right place. The branch was always a hive of activity, and camaraderie among us was a by-word.

DeathWee Beng Ngee, who I’d known

for years before he joined the PAP, was branch secretary when he had a massive heart-attack and died in Robin Sim’s car not long after the latter was elected MP. It was a real loss to the branch. At the wake, the coffin was draped with the party flag, a sight I can never forget.

Monthly fee Most of us were poor, yet all of us

happily paid a monthly fee to the branch to defray electricity and water bills, and the rent for the premises. The amount de-pended on our financial ability. It ranged

My family once received social assistance. I knew of no other way to pay back this help, so I

joined the Pasir Panjang branch in 1960. Residents from Alexandra Terrace,

Kampong Heck Guan San, Brickworks and other surrounding areas, which housed people from the lower-income group, used to approach me for help before that.

from 50 cents to $2. To encourage as many members to

turn up at MPS, an attendance register was kept. The times of our arrival and departure were recorded.

GE canvassingI vividly recall the times we spent writ-

ing slogans on banners. Members good at Chinese calligraphy would write them in beautiful Chinese characters. For English and Malay, we resorted to using stencils.

Those who could not write well would help put the banners up. We cut holes in them to ensure they would not be blown down by the wind.

Most families lived in the suburbs. To canvass for their votes, we would visit every household. Campaigning then lasted more than nine days, and I’d wear out a pair of canvas shoes during each campaign, from tramping undulating paths.

Decentralised paradesIn some years, we had NDPs in dif-

ferent districts. As chairman of the Rural East District Working Committee, later renamed Suburban East District Working Committee, I was involved in all of them.

In those days, whether the parade was held at the Padang or not, the PAP would put up two marching contingents. Each branch had to contribute a minimum of 12 members with two or three reserves.

We did not have problems finding members for the contingents, though there was no allowance then for uniforms and transport. Today, finding even one or two is a problem faced by many branches.

The district’s 11 branch secretaries who made up the committee would meet once a month at a different branch on a rotation basis. The constituency’s MP would discuss the political issues of the day.

The committee also organised joint kindergarten sports meets at Bedok sta-dium, and joint kindergarten concerts at the defunct Kallang Theatre.

In 1988, before the GE, the PCF kin-dergartens put up a grand concert across the country, at the request of Comrade Goh Chok Tong. He’d been impressed by the 1987 one we had staged at district level.

As the organising chairman, I sat in the front row, beside Comrade Mah Bow Tan, who was a GE candidate. While we were chatting, he suddenly asked, “Which constituency will you be standing in?”

Gravely-ill votersMany voters in the 1960s and 1970s

who were immobile and gravely ill would turn up to vote. Some came on home-made stretchers, others were carried piggy-back by friends or relatives.

They believed that if they did not vote they would lose their citizenship, or their

By M. Subramaniam


I was born in Muar, Johor, in 1930. When I was 21, I left my home-town to seek a new life and new

opportunities in Singapore. I joined the civil service as a teacher.

Mr Lee Kuan Yew and his coun-terparts had formed the PAP and were agitating for self-government and an end to British colonial rule. They needed supporters for this movement, and being a young, active man with strong anti-British sentiments, I joined the group.

The British agreed to give Singa-pore self-government in 1959. At the time, the treasury was low in funds, and civil servants and members of the statutory bodies had their wages cut. A few colleagues and close friends re-signed from the service, and coaxed me to do the same. I decided to stay on.

In 1962, the government held a referendum to obtain the people’s mandate for merger with Malaya. The opposition parties, the Barisan Socialist and Workers’ Party objected strongly to merger and urged people to cast blank votes.

I spent my days and nights canvass-ing for the PAP, encouraging people to

support the party’s actions and plans. Singapore merged with Malaysia in 1963.

Not surprisingly, there were teeth-ing problems. I remember vividly with fear and sadness, the scenes of racial riots in Singapore in 1964. Together with my comrades, we made trips to the kampongs to pacify and reassure the people.... It was indeed a chal-lenging task.

Singapore was expelled from Ma-laysia. On Aug 9, 1965, it became independent. As loyal supporters of the PAP, we rallied around our leaders to build our nation.

I was 80 years old last year. I look back, and a sense of fulfilment envel-ops me. Every year on Aug 9, when I watch the National Day Parade, I feel a deep sense of pride for my country, especially since I’d played a role in the struggle for “merdeka”.

I often tell my grandchildren little stories from the past, and remind them how lucky we are today.

The writer joined the Party in 1959. He received a Gold Medal in

the 1993 Party Awards.

Struggle for merdekachildren working in government depart-ments might lose their jobs!

Even the MPs found it difficult to convince them that no such thing would happen to them.

Bomb scarceWhile we were celebrating the Party’s

30th anniversary, the manager of the now defunct restaurant at Bedok Central, came running to me and blurted out in Mandarin, “Zha dan! Zha dan!” He’d received a call saying there was a bomb in the place, and it would go off soon.

My gut feel was that it was a hoax, and I told him not to tell anyone else. But I told Prof S. Jayakumar, who was present, and he asked the security officers to quietly search the premises. They found nothing. When I told my organising committee members about it later, they were shocked.

In our party they are still old cadres like me who have been totally devoted to the party because we strongly believe in the Party philosophy as enshrined in our national pledge. We earnestly hope that our future leaders and party members will continue to work hard to take Singapore to new heights.

The writer joined the Party in 1965. He received a Commendation Medal in

2003, a Silver Medal in 1988 and a Gold Medal in 1990.

Committee. I co-edited a magazine with Encik Othman Wok for Pasir Panjang branch in the 1960s.

In 1963, during a street rally, rotten eggs were thrown at me. At the Singapore Polytechnic, which was at Shenton Way, we were faced with furious rivals. They were armed and we moved off to avoid nasty incidents.

When Encik Othman won the elec-tion, we wanted to celebrate but could not find a garland, so we went to a Hindu temple at Alexandra Brickworks and took one from there!

I began helping at Kampong Glam in

1970, when the late Mr S. Rajaratnam asked for a Tamil speaking committee member to help at his branch. I still sit on the Citizens’ Consultative Committee there.

Besides party work, I have also been active in grassroots and community work for more than 40 years now, in market committees, Indian activity groups, bring-ing out publications….

One highlight was being in at the formation of Sinda; I was the secretary of the committee drawing up the self-help group’s constitution. We were invited to become life members, but the fee was not

affordable, so I was not able to continue.Yes, I did not give much time to my

family, but my wife shared my views, so I had her support. This made it easy for me to do my work. However, I did not totally neglect my family. I checked my children’s homework and talked about it when I drove them to school.

All in, I juggled my time well enough that they did not miss me. Today, they all have a tertiary education.

The writer, who joined the Party in 1963, received the Dedicated

Service Medal in 2010.

By Chan Chwee Lim

Bright sparks at Boon LayPetir highlights six older activists, who each make highly individual

contributions to their branch, and whose combined efforts keep it strong


The Climber

Teo Hun Kwang, 72RetireeMember since 1975

Lao Zek used to inch his way up lamp posts. Activist Soo Yap Chai, 63, who has been working on

grassroots affairs alongside the man for 25 years, said: “After every General Election, he is the first climbing the lamp posts, hanging posters of the new MPs.”

Lao Zek, a term of respect for uncle in Teochew, is 72-year-old Teo Hun Kwang. Younger activists simply call the man with

the shock of white hair and the tanned, lined face, Uncle Teo.

He grew up in Tuas, where his grand-parents owned a rubber plantation, became a fisherman at 16, but turned hawker when the government claimed back the plantation in the early 1970s and the family resettled in Boon Lay.

Perhaps it is his calm demeanor, or the fact that he tends to listen and act, that resulted in Mr Teo quickly becoming a respected figure in the community. Fel-low activists express admiration for his steadfastness to the cause and his presence at almost every MPS.

In the 1970s, some hinted, when

secret societies were quite a force in Singapore, and fights were frequent oc-currences at the hawker centre where he sells Teochew porridge, he helped restore the peace there.

He admitted reluctantly that he used to be the one to “negotiate” with the gangsters, but added deprecatingly: “They were simply giving me face.” He also played down his involvement of over 30 years in the branch.

He believes in leading by example, hence the lamp post climbing. He is also the ears and eyes of the PAP. When oppo-sition parties make house to house visits at Boon Lay, he buys their party paper, for his MP to read and keep abreast of developments in the rival camp.

Though he had a heart bypass in 2001, he still soldiers on, because of the urging of others, who regard him as a “commander”. Asked what keeps him go-ing, his said: “There is simply too much to do.”

BEHIND THE SCENES

The ‘Runner’

Kuek Chiew Peng, 55Managing Director of a trading and consultancy firm Member since 1989

Twice a week, branch secretary Kuek Chiew Peng shuttles a mother and her cancer-stricken

son to and from the hospital, a task that he considers part and parcel of his duties as an activist.

He explained: “The 12-year-old boy has leukemia. He is from a single parent family and his mum is unable to work, as she needs to stay home and look after him. They have to visit the National University Hospital twice a week for his treatment.”Mr Teo Hun Kwang.


BEHIND THE SCENES

The Teacher

Poopathey s/o Thiagarajan, 62 Curriculum Planning OfficerMember since 1987

A few weeks ago, Mr Poopathey received a wedding invitation, from the father of a girl he

had taught almost 20 years ago. They wanted the man who had helped determine her future at the occasion.

His contribution started in 1987, when he was still a Tamil language teacher. The father of three realised that the standard of Tamil students in the primary school at which he was teaching was dismal. Most came from English-speaking backgrounds. To compound matters, there were no Tamil pre-schools.

“I formed a team of teachers, drew up a curriculum and we taught pre-schoolers Tamil every Sunday. We started with about 20 students. Before long, parents who stayed as far away as Bedok Reservoir were sending their children to our class!”

The programme spread to 25 com-munity centres across the island in three years. In 1990, PAP Community Foundation centres and several private kindergartens started their own classes.

The direct beneficiaries may have grown up, but their parents still rec-ognise him on the street and thank him for helping lay the foundation for their children.

He is still doing his part, providing glue for his community, as chairman of the Indian Activities Exco, which organises such events as the Tamil karaoke nights.

“Now that I’m getting on in age, I’m glad that I’ve groomed the younger ones to carry out these events in my absence. My succession plan is in place,” he said.

The Cook

Sakinah binte Jamin, 57HousewifeMember since 1997

When she was helping her mother prepare dinners at home, young Sakinah Jamin

might not have thought that her cooking skills would one day come in useful to the

When they came to a meet-the-people session to ask for financial help, Mr Kuek recognised that the pair also needed moral support. He volunteered to be their driver, and was been making the journeys for a year now.

The way he has thrown himself whole-heartedly into helping the Party has led some who are anti-PAP to label him a “runner”, a nickname given to those who help loansharks and bookies. Mr Kuek is undeterred; he enjoys running the branch and solving residents’ problems.

He also manages the strong youth pres-ence at the branch. Initially, ties between the veterans and the young volunteers were slightly strained, observed Madam Tan Lai Oi, who chairs the branch’s Women’s Wing.

“When the youth group first started organising the New Year countdown some eight years back, they came up with out-of-the-box ideas to publicise the event, such as hanging advertising. The veterans were appalled. But when this produced re-sults, skepticism soon gave way to support.

Mr Kuek has also found a way to bridge the gap between the two groups. “During MPS, we try to pair up the jun-iors and the seniors, so they complement one another.”

He added: “I hope the youngsters take over the running of the branch, with the seniors as their mentors.”

The Writer

Ong Li Li, 46PCF PrincipalMember since 1995

The scene almost broke her heart: The mother of three young chil-dren standing in the room filled

with people one evening in 2006, at a loss as to what to do to after her husband was sentenced to jail.

Madam Ong Li Li recounted: “She was from Thailand and had married a Singaporean man here. She had no family

Mr Kuek Chiew Peng.


The Bodyguard

Tang Wai Keong, 59Personal DriverMember since 1978

He could be one of the most important men at meet-the-people sessions. After a spate

of incidents in recent years involving MPs who were hurt or threatened by residents at these weekly gatherings, Mr Tang Wai Keong took on the task of ensuring their safety. His charge is MP Ho Geok Choo.

He said in Chinese: “In the past, we had people bringing their motorbike helmets into the room when they met the MP. But now, we check suspicious packages, and even objects like umbrel-las have to be left outside.”

He observed that more people are coming to seek financial assistance these days. Some are in dire straits. But sometimes, he noted, it is not the case.

“There was this man in his 60s who came almost every week for NTUC vouchers. Yet, he also told us that he makes frequent trips to Batam. That got us wondering if he was really as down and out as he claimed,” he recounted.

“Finally, we decided that his might not be a genuine case, and we rejected his request for vouchers. The man sat outside shouting that he was going to burn our place down and plant a bomb.”

Unfazed, the 1.72m tall Mr Tang and two other activists stood by him, ready to act in case of any eventuality.

As the father of two had predicted, the man backed down when told that the police would be called should he continue his antics.

He said: “Spending a few hours every week to lend my presence to en-sure the smooth running of the MPS, is meaningful to me.”

community. Besides being an interpreter for Malay-speaking residents at MPS, she also feeds the volunteers there, providing home cooked food and cakes.

“Their favourite dishes? My mee siam and orange cake!” she says. The recipes for both are in the “Boon Lay… Blending with Food” cookbook published last year.

Madam Sakinah, who gave up full-time work as a quality controller in 2000, has also been in thick of the battle for

votes. She recalls the camaraderie and ac-tion, the house-to-house visits and helping to paste voters’ names on polling cards.

To help out at the 1988 GE, she wran-gled a week’s leave from her company. In return, she worked double shifts and weekends to make up for it.

She says thoughtfully: “When you go out and help, don’t look for anything in return. Then, happiness will find you.”

support in Singapore. Half way through her story, she broke down.”

Being a petition writer at MPS means that Madam Ong is faced with new pre-dicaments each week.

She listens to what the residents have to say, trying to put herself in their shoes, and then crafts the notes they need to various agencies to seek help. These let-ters also propose how the agencies can render support.

The help of the Southwest Commu-nity Development Council’s in getting training and a job was sought. NTUC vouchers for groceries and household

items were also given.Life has always been comfortable for

Madam Ong, who has two teenage boys. She says: “When I first started helping at MPS at the encouragement of my supe-rior at PCF, I had a big shock. There are residents who can’t afford to pay their utility bills and have been living without electricity for one to two years!”

Such cases are a major reason she continues helping out.

“It is satisfying to advise on possible ways to solve their problems. Sometimes, however, all people need is a listening ear.”

From left to right: Mr Poopathey, Madam Ong, Madam Sakinah and Mr Tang.


BEHIND THE SCENES

The day was cloudy with floating rain, but the weather did not af-fect the anticipation about a lunch

meeting with PAP secretary-general Lee Hsien Loong, 1st assistant secretary-gen-eral Wong Kan Seng and the HQ exco’s 2nd organising secretary Gan Kim Yong.

There were 28 of us, including 10 new faces. Also present at the Istana that Jan 7 were Young PAP chairman Teo Ser Luck and vice-chairman Zaqy Mohamad.

It is a tradition, started in 2009, for each new exco to meet with party leaders, and Mr Lee put everyone at ease by asking the new faces, “Were you asked to promise something in the contest?”

We split up into three tables, with a party leader at each. The big surprise for first-time office holders was the “musical chairs” – party leaders changed table at each course.

Table 1:The topic of how each constituency

ushered in 2011 was served with the soup. Much as we would have preferred celebrations to end much later than they did, we found they were over at many constituencies well before midnight, to accommodate those who were turning in early.

“You mean, you all had to end your new year countdown by 9pm?” asked Comrade Lee.

Yes, said a YP member from the north. His party ended at 9pm. That was an hour earlier than mine at Keat Hong! So much for ushering in 2011 with a bang…

This is where we realised citizens’ ex-pectations have evolved. While economic progress has raised our standard of living,

Musical chairs with the ministersThree YP members recount what happened when the

youth wing’s new exco met with the PM, and two of his Cabinet

it has also created a citizenry that shies from mixing with neighbours.

Perhaps more have become less toler-ant of communal celebrations. Such was not the case during kampong days, when people came together regularly, especially during festivals.

We talked about transportation-relat-ed issues with the Manpower Minister. Comrade Gan suggested having a female-only coach to help alleviate discomfort for female commuters.

But some argued this would only serve to crowd a particular train section even further and sow unhappiness. Better to have more MRT lines and increase the frequency of our trains, to ease the crush,

especially during peak hours.

By Hamidah Aidillah Mustafa

Table 2:“I will have dessert with you because

I’m sweet!” joked Comrade Gan, and proceeded to discuss the issue of foreign workers. While Singaporeans have ex-pressed concern that their jobs may be lost to them, a member said she could not find enough Singaporeans for her company.

With Comrade Wong, we talked about the lack of practising engineers, despite the many engineering graduates.

The conversations highlighted the dilemma Singapore faces – the need for

The YP exco and PM Lee, Mr Wong and Mr Gan at the Istana.

17th Young PAP Executive Committee


Chairman: Teo Ser Luck

Vice-chairman: Zaqy Mohamad

Vice-chairman: Christopher De Souza

Executive secretary: Chng Jit Huee, Cindy

Treasurer: Chay Yiowmin

Organising secretary/Regional chairman: Lim Kexin

Second organising secretary/Head of political discussion group/

Regional chairman: Koh Ming Feng, Abner

Head of YP media/Regional chairman: Tin Pei Ling

Regional chairmen: Goh Kah Heng, Ivan Goh Mian Han, Joel Chia Chee Sin, Steve

Yap Jun LinWong Yu Han Huang Jun Jia

Budiman Mohd SallehKua Wei Xiang, RichardFoo Sek Liang, Winson

Chen Zhiyu, JamesAdrian Ng Chuan Aun

Head of YP community: Chan Hui Yuh

Head of YP network: Shaikh Ismail

Co-heads of YP School: Tan Beng Chong, Martin

Chng Wan Yee, Phyllis

Head of international relations: Chin Pui Kay

Head of external communications: Elaina Olivia Chong

Head of internal communications: Hamidah Aidillah Mustafa

Member (internal & external communications):

Niu Liming

Member (political discussion group):

Lee Teck Heok

Members: Tan Wu MengVikram Nair

Members (Young NTUC representatives):

Choo Pey Ching, DesmondTan Peng Hoe, Steve

foreign workers to fill the manpower void, and assuring Singaporeans there are em-ployment opportunities aplenty.

The mood moved from light to seri-ous throughout the meal, as we covered employment trends, the YP’s relations with youth wings in other countries and the national soccer team’s performance.

We felt our table had the best deal as we enjoyed the prime minister’s company for the main course. He asked what we thought would be the hot issues at the coming General Election.

Foreign talent came up, of course. We agreed that many Singaporeans remain uncomfortable at the thought of increased competition at work and an incident at a

enough to address these. Almost all agreed in unison on the influx of foreigners, the economic threat they present to locals and their negative influence on Singapore’s so-cial fabric; the rising cost of living, ballon-ing property prices and, correspondingly, poorer Singaporeans’ plight.

The viablility of a minimum wage system and the pros and cons of Workfare were discussed with Comrade Gan, who also nibbled on the topic of the growing political generation gap, a result of young-er Singaporeans’ more individualistic outlook and older ones’ more communal attitude. Comrade Wong picked it up.

The Deputy Prime Minister was also candid about national security and the man in the street’s perceived fear, which he uses as an excuse to stay out of political activism. He assured there are no deliber-ate attempts to silence opposition voices, but that this does not mean people can threaten Singapore’s social cohesion.

On the challenges of controlling sen-sitive information and restricting access to undesirable material online, it was generally agreed that effective control lies in education and instilling moral values.

Comrade Lee talked about the PAP’s move to encourage more diverse political views and opposition representation in Parliament, including the possible impact of less than capable opposition MPs.

Finally, someone asked: “How is Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew doing?” Mr Lee said he was well despite the usual mobility issues of the old, and that he was intellectually “still there”. The answer comforted all present.

By Lee Teck Heok

meet-the-people session was cited to show the irrationality it can cause.

A father was extremely upset over the university’s taking in foreign students; he felt this deprived his child of a place. It had been difficult explaining to him his child would not have got in even without them, given local students’ very good performance.

By Tin Pei Ling

Table 3:The topic that interested the three

leaders the most was what members saw as the issues that would dominate the GE, and whether we felt the PAP was doing

VIEW FROM THE FRONT


I am a parent of four children whom I love dearly, including an 18 year-old-son. Like any other parent, I un-

derstand very well the alarm which may have been caused by news reports about teen violence and loan sharks recruiting juvenile runners.

Any one person victimised as a result of such actions is one person too many. But if we look only at the headlines, we may have the misperception that crime is afflicting our community more than before.

That perception is not true. The frequency of unlicensed money lending cases has stabilised. The organised secret societies of the past have devolved into the street-corner gangs we see today.

We must view these incidents in the context of the big picture: The overall law and order situation remains good, with the crime rate falling despite a growing population.

This is due in no small part to Singa-poreans’ diligence in keeping our home safe. There is a comprehensive approach to address the causes of crime at its roots, to remove the weeds when they threaten this society, and to re-integrate those who have reformed. The security we all enjoy is a hard-won outcome, in which we must continually invest.

Crime prevention: Don’t stop investingIt takes parents, the community and the government to ensure a safe home for all

To stop crime before it happens, all relevant parties in the government work closely with the community and community leaders. Take youth crime for example. To tackle gang activities by young people, the police and the Juvenile Court refers those who have drifted into gangs to the Streetwise Programme run by youth service agencies.

Over six months, these young people are counseled and provided with diver-sionary social activities. Of the 229 who went through the programme from 2005 to 2008, less than 10 per cent have re-offended within a year of completing it.

Parental fillipThe Ministry of Community, Youth

and Sports also has an Enhanced Step Up Programme, which focuses on teen school drop-outs.

They are an obvious group at risk of being drawn into crime, and schools work with the ministry to get parents and students involved with a view to encouraging drop-outs to return to class.

I’ve seen many cases of teens who respond well when their parents work together with our agencies even when they have committed a crime.

There will always be a small group of criminals, despite our efforts. When the safety of our community is threatened, we must respond strongly.

Some of you will remember how Singapore tackled the loan shark scourge earlier last year. The Moneylenders (Amendment) Bill introduced powers targeting those at the top of syndicates, disrupting their finances, enhancing penalties and extending Singapore’s legal reach beyond its borders.

The syndicates are feeling the ef-fects. In a recent case, a 24-year-old man who set fire to doors of homes had his sentence of 36 months’ jail raised to 54 months by the High Court. This was in addition to 15 strokes of the cane and a $30,000 fine. The raised jail term would not have been possible without the amendments.

This sends a strong deterrent mes-sage, that as a society, we will not tolerate threats to our safety.

For the new street-corner gangs, we are similarly examining various legislative options to make sure police powers and sentencing options stay effective.

The successful reintegration of ex-offenders into the community is critical to them staying crime free. Since 2004, the Yellow Ribbon Project has spread the message of giving ex-offenders a second chance, creating a community of sup-port for them when they are released from prison.

Currently, about 2,500 have signed up as potential employers for ex-offend-ers. There were about 1,500 in 2005.

The success of the project, coupled with the rehabilitation programmes in prisons and support from the com-munity, has contributed to the decline in the rate at which former inmates are subsequently convicted or detained again for a new offence within two years of leaving prison.

It has gone down from about 44.4 per cent for those released in 1998 to about 26.5 per cent for those released in 2007.

By international standards, this is low. In New Zealand, which has a similar number of inmates as Singapore, it is about 40 per cent.

��


As new issues arise, we must de-velop new approaches. Earlier this year, I chaired the Committee on the Prevention of Re-offending to study the problem of offending and re-offending. One of the key initiatives implemented is the setting up of the Central Youth Guidance Office under MCYS.

This office will provide a comprehen-sive overview of youth support services and coordinate efforts by the government and community partners in engaging youth meaningfully and therefore also preventing youth crime.

I also chair the National Committee on Youth Guidance and Rehabilitation. Our key priority now is to review all the initiatives to make sure they remain

relevant, as youth culture and norms change.

The government cannot act alone. Crime happens for many reasons, and the Home Team cannot be everywhere at the same time. When offences occur, we should be neither disheartened nor overreact.

Our greatest strength is that we are both a small nation and a large neighbor-hood, made up of communities that care.

Many grassroots organisations work with the police to safeguard their neigh-borhood. We run Community Safety & Security Programme projects, to engage residents to keep an eye out for suspicious activity and conduct local patrols.

This allows residents to take owner-

ship of problems in their neighbourhood. There are many young people who

are angry with the world. While their parents, if enlightened, would bring them back, the entire community needs to help them feel strong enough to walk away from the temptations of crime, and to take control of their lives.

Just as one person victimised is one too many, we must also recognise that each young person at risk is one too many. We may be parents, friends, neigh-bours, or teachers, but we must all care and we can all make a difference.

The writer is a minister of state at the Ministry of Education, and

Ministry of Home Affairs.

Grassroots leaders on patrol in Zhenghua constituency in response to the recent street gang violence.


MY SAY

In recent history, we have seen the importance of education as a lever to improve the standard of living and

economic position of many countries. Leaders have made their mark on the development of their countries through educating their people.

In the 1970s, Zhou Enlai articulated the four modernisations for China – agri-culture, industry, science and technology, and national defence. Two years after that, in 1977, Deng Xiaoping reinstated and embraced them at the 11th Party Con-gress. Since then the world has witnessed the astronomical rise of China’s economy.

Mr Barack Obama, the first non-white president of the US is making changes to American schools’ curriculum by improv-ing the teaching of science, mathematics and the English language.

Singapore, similarly, has witnessed changes made by visionary leaders. For in-stance, a former Minister for Education, the late Dr Goh Keng Swee, overhauled the Republic’s education system by im-proving the quality of education, adopting English as the language of instruction and a system of teaching according to the ability of the students through streaming.

While the role of education in elevat-ing the skill level and improving the eco-nomic prospects of people is well articu-lated, one common misconception about education today is that a good education equals high marks in academic studies.

Education goes beyond that. It must encapsulate intangibles such as cultural, religious and value awareness; a curiosity for knowledge; the ability to learn and teach one’s self through self-correction and

self-regulation; and most importantly, the mental strength to survive or persevere.

It is therefore imperative that all young people are brought up with the right values and social and emotional skills. In this aspect, the role of parents in guiding and teaching them is critical.

All youngsters need parental guid-ance. Without it, there is not just the danger of their school grades suffering but also of their not having a set of rules to guide their personal and social lives. Sometimes though, they also need help from institutions such as the school and religious bodies.

It takes the entire community to bring up a child. The community should see a shared responsibility in keeping our youth on the straight and narrow. When they go astray, we should be concerned about the causes for it and perhaps research the reasons and find remedies for these.

In the long run, the cost of this would be cheaper than dealing with the results of youthful wrong turns.

Let us build on our cohesiveness and excel together in our pursuit of knowl-edge, step into innovative learning in a fast-changing world. At the same time, we have to anchor our children in strong values and characters. Then, and only then, can a country not only exist but exist strongly.

We must strengthen our belief in each other, our cultural and social values, and bring these values to the table by coming up with pragmatic policies based on our political and economic situation, aided by an efficient administration.

All this can only be achieved through education and the continuous upgrading of education.

The writer was anMP for Aljunied GRC.

Good parenting is critical ��

The role of parents in guiding and teaching youngsters is critical if they are to be well educated.


HAPPENINGS

Punggol South bowlers emerged champs in the 2010 Secretary-General Cup held on Dec 12 at

Superbowl Jurong, beating teams from 29 other branches. Their team – captain June Chua, and members Johnny Lee, Lynette Hia, Raymond Tay and Tan Meng Kiat (above with MPs Arthur Fong and Ho Geok Choo) – had a winning score of 2,270 pins.

“We were quite confident of being among the top three as our team has strong bowlers. However, we’re pleased to be the champions as there were other strong teams. We hope that we can con-tinue the good performance next year,” said Ms Chua.

The team met up to five times a week to prepare for the competition.

Besides the team championship, Punggol South bowlers also did well in the individual categories. Mr Johnny Lee was the second runner up for the men’s individual event, and Ms Lynette Hia was the third runner up for the women’s individual event.

Punggol South takes bowling prize

Football diplomacy

The YP soccer team, led by the youth group’s vice-chairman, Mr Zaqy Mo-

hamed, nearly suffered a double-digit defeat in its first interna-tional friendly match played on a rainy Dec 18 at Ahmad Ibrahim Secondary School.

Its opponents were a group made up of African diplomats, as well as expatriates and employees of African companies in Singa-pore. They included Angola’s ambassador to Singapore and diplomats from Egypt and South Africa.

The visitors pulled away early during the first half, and took the game 9 - 1. The YP team’s only goal was scored by Mr Lau Soon Poh. After that, it was time for a chit-chat and a nibble.

How to fix high prices


CYBERSPEAK

Whilst some may have negative views of the HDB, I believe it has done a good job. Flats are easy to build but it is not easy to maintain blocks of flats. Just look at public housing in neigbouring countries. We can certainly be proud of ours.

– Just1more

It is true that in many Asian cities property prices have risen beyond the average person’s ability to pay. It is also a fact that this rise is largely speculation driven, and, within that, driven by non-residents. In Asian cities that are “closed to non-citizens or non-residents” property prices have not increased by such a large percentage.

There are many restrictions in many cities around the world on foreign ownership of residential properties, let alone public housing. Currency exchange control, permit needed, much stricter restrictions on bank loans for foreigners and non residents….

– Kjks

Though HDB flats are pricey and their prices are moving up, affording a flat is not out of the reach of most Singaporeans. But they need to start saving and planning for the future in their early 20s to afford the downpayment for a new flat in their late 20s.

In NZ, the cost of housing is out of the reach of most young couples/families, who rely on their parents to help pay part of the deposit for a house. In major cities, housing ownership is

about 60 per cent, sometimes 70 per cent and falling rapidly.

– batgirl1001

It seems to me that LTA’s policy is causing a vicious cycle in COE prices. They blame the drop in de-registrations but the higher the COE climbs, the fewer the de-registrations will be, causing an even higher COE price because of shrinkage in the COE pool.

– mollybegooder

There should be a progressive tax system for vehicle owners. Those buying more than one car pay more taxes and those owning many cars, taxed a lot more. This would help distribute the wealth. But sadly in Singapore, the tax rate (which has been adjusted down for years except for GST) has been favouring the richer people.

– Newsstorm

Neitzens weigh in on the

high cost of HDB homes

and COEs and suggest

ways to solve the problem

I think the gahmen (government) should also revive the old scrap car system and run it parallel to the COE system. Maybe it should issue only about 1,000 COEs every year. For the rest, you want to drive, you go find someone willing to scrap his old car, get a certificate that entitles the holder of the scrap paper to buy a new car. Like that, the market can decide the value of a license to drive a car.

– Pakbelang

Family-friendly work practices are easily implemented in the civil service where the volume and intensity of the work is nowhere near that of the private sector. I doubt if many staff in the latter have the time and energy to pick up the slack for their married colleagues with children, when these people have to be away from work.

– TrueBeliever

When your politics are right


BACKBENCHER’S BITE

Everywhere I went in December, I saw Singaporeans expressing con-fidence in the new year.

I saw people of all ages crowding the shopping centres, shopping bags in hand. I saw cheerful young people in their Sunday best heading to parties. I saw happy fami-lies at the airport, leaving for or returning from family holidays. There was really a lot of good feeling around.

There are reasons for it beyond the festive season: We saw strong economic recovery and good growth in 2010. Unem-ployment was low, and foreign investment strong. Many expect better bonuses, and look forward to a good national budget. Most expect 2011 to be as good as if not better than 2010.

However, this is not a certainty. Euro-pean governments are cutting back deeply on spending because of mounting debts. Students, workers and retirees are protest-ing on their streets.

We Singaporeans have been working hard together all these years to achieve the confidence we now feel. We know too well that we cannot take success for granted. Hence, we always prepare for bad times and position ourselves for a better future.

Hence, Singapore is prudent in its fiscal policies. Indeed, this country’s fiscal position is so strong that it can reduce tax rates, invest in its future, do more to help the less fortunate and build up the national reserves all at the same time!

As a nation, we have built up a strong nation-al reserve to weather major storms. As in-dividuals, most Sin-gaporeans have sig-nificant savings while owning their homes.

Over the last four decades, the econo-my has transitioned from labour intensive, to capital intensive, to knowledge inten-sive, and now moves towards being in-novation intensive. We have been making adjustments, learning new skills, helping the less fortunate and moving on, and we have been doing so together.

There was a lot of hard work involved, sometimes even hard feelings, but we stay united, scaling new heights together, remaining competitive and relevant in a globalised economy.

But why was Singapore more suc-cessful than others in achieving all this? Because it gets its politics right!

��

A nation that cannot get its politics right can find its rich natural and financial resources becoming a national curse rather than national assets.

My African friends always bemoan how the very rich mineral resources their countries possess benefit only a few. In some cases, these resources were exchanged for weapons to pursue civil wars, bring-ing destruction to already impoverished communities.

Singapore’s politics produce a strong, stable, clean and accountable government, capable of leading and convincing the nation to take difficult but needed steps for its future.

As the ruling party since self govern-ment, the PAP always remembers the trust and responsibility Singaporeans place upon it when returning the Party to power. Our party scours the citizenry to bring in outstanding and committed Singaporeans to serve the nation in every General Election.

Our backbenchers speak out strongly and logically on legislation and govern-ment policies. Our front benchers work tirelessly on strategies for Singapore. There are countless late night e-mail exchanges among the top leaders on national policies.

Few countries see good and bumper budgets year after year. We, in Singa-

pore, appear to take this a little too much for granted.

My wish for fellow Singapor-eans in the new year is to have the wisdom to continue to get our politics right. To entrust the right people to take charge of our destiny, so that we can have the right outcome for our future generations.

Only then can we continue to feel confident and happy, for many more years to come.

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OVERHEARD

All of us are either a son or daughter and for many, we are also a parent. So I hope that we can all learn to love, to care and to forgive both our children and our parents for their shortcomings and past wrongs as we hope they would do the same to us. That will be the hallmark of a truly resilient family.

– MP Seah Kian Peng sums up what being family really means

“Dancing is one of the platforms as anyone can join in the fun if he or she is willing to take the first step.”

– Minister Lim Boon Heng puts his right foot forward to promote active ageing and more

“God works in strange ways, because the moment I got

elected, my wife conceived. And our first three children

were born in my first electoral term.”

– Minister George Yeo illustrates that going into politics can result in unexpected bonuses

“You must get used to this idea that while you are at the top or near the top, there will always be others who will compete with you.”

– Minister Wong Kan Seng points out that one can never say one has really arrived

“We are the party that delivers the goods.”

– MP Seng Han Thong on putting out ‘fires’ in his ward, in 2007 and 2009.

“So I would sometimes be concerned, whether the issues I was raising seem very naive or I was

speaking out of ignorance, because I was not only young, but a first-term MP (too)...”

– MP Baey Yam Keng, one of the youngest

MPs elected, has had his doubts

“Just like in a football team, you want to have people who have had exposure. To cast them aside for the sake of renewal is not a step forward.”

– MP Arthur Fong argues for older

ministers in the Cabinet

“My children are all of schooling age. So this year, we gave them all

thumbdrives. At least 8GB because these days, they need to put a lot of

homework (on these).”

– MP Lim Wee Kiak believes in giving

practical Christmas gifts

“We cannot assume that all policies are iron-clad and foolproof and there is no room for improvement.”– MP Halimah Yacob on why she asks so many questions in

Parliament (180 over the past four years.)

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