Thoughts on the Unelected President of Singapore
Published on 2017-09-12 by The Online Citizen
by Teo Soh Lung
My bet on the Reserved Presidential Election has from the beginning been a “no election”. This outcome has nothing to do with the qualifications of candidates. It has everything to do with the nature of the People’s Action Party.
The PAP is basically a party of politicians without courage. They do not take risks. They calculate to the minutest and most ridiculous detail of how to win this election – making it a “reserved presidential election” and increasing the financial requirement to S$500 million for contestants. But despite all the calculations (or rather miscalculations), they lacked the confidence of winning the contest. They may still have Madam Halimah Yacob as the president if the contest proceeded, but the majority will be as slim as that of Tony Tan.
The PAP have never been noted for its courage. Indeed, it has none being used to bulldoze people and institutions. It wins most times by brute force and endless tweaking and enactment of new laws.
How will Madam President face the world? An unelected elected president? People are already tweeting “#NotMyPresident”.
Can Her Excellency succeed in unifying Singaporeans despite her carefully crafted words to the press that “One of the main focus and function of the elected president is to act as a unifying force. Obviously, there’s work that I have to do, but…I would like to invite Singaporeans to work together with me, so that we can work together for a united Singapore and a much stronger Singapore.”
continue reading here :
https://www.theonlinecitizen.com/201...-of-singapore/
#SheisNotMyPresident
WP, Aware blame changes to EP scheme for walkover
By Valerie Koh
Published: 10:43 PM, September 12, 2017
Updated: 12:21 AM, September 13, 2017
SINGAPORE — Several members of the Workers’ Party (WP), including Non-Constituency Member of Parliament (NCMP) Leon Perera, have spoken out against the walkover in this year’s Presidential Election. They noted that many recent changes to the scheme had led to only several occasions where voters went to the ballot box in the past 26 years.
The Association of Women for Action and Research (Aware), in congratulating Madam Halimah Yacob, who is set to become Singapore’s first woman President, reiterated its disappointment with the tightening of the eligibility criteria for presidential candidates.
“Nevertheless, we congratulate Madam Halimah … and hope that she will speak up for gender equality in her role,” it said on Tuesday (Sept 12).
In a Facebook post on Monday, Mr Perera noted that there have been only two elections across five presidential cycles. Those elections were won by Mr Ong Teng Cheong in 1993, and Dr Tony Tan in 2011. Mr S R Nathan was elected unopposed in 1999 and 2005, as will be Mdm Halimah in this year’s election which has been reserved for the Malay community.
Mr Perera attributed the impending walkover for Mdm Halimah to the “many changes” made to the Elected Presidency last year. These include raising the bar for private-sector candidates, requiring them to helm companies with at least S$500 million in shareholders’ equity.
Mr Yee Jenn Jong, a former WP NCMP, questioned the need to tighten the criteria for private-sector candidates in a Facebook post on Tuesday.
continue reading here :
http://www.todayonline.com/singapore...opportunity-wp
Very sad day . #SheisNotMyPresident
Thoughts on the Unelected President of Singapore
Published on 2017-09-12 by The Online Citizen
by Teo Soh Lung
My bet on the Reserved Presidential Election has from the beginning been a “no election”. This outcome has nothing to do with the qualifications of candidates. It has everything to do with the nature of the People’s Action Party.
The PAP is basically a party of politicians without courage. They do not take risks. They calculate to the minutest and most ridiculous detail of how to win this election – making it a “reserved presidential election” and increasing the financial requirement to S$500 million for contestants. But despite all the calculations (or rather miscalculations), they lacked the confidence of winning the contest. They may still have Madam Halimah Yacob as the president if the contest proceeded, but the majority will be as slim as that of Tony Tan.
The PAP have never been noted for its courage. Indeed, it has none being used to bulldoze people and institutions. It wins most times by brute force and endless tweaking and enactment of new laws.
How will Madam President face the world? An unelected elected president? People are already tweeting “#NotMyPresident”.
Can Her Excellency succeed in unifying Singaporeans despite her carefully crafted words to the press that “One of the main focus and function of the elected president is to act as a unifying force. Obviously, there’s work that I have to do, but…I would like to invite Singaporeans to work together with me, so that we can work together for a united Singapore and a much stronger Singapore.”
continue reading here :
https://www.theonlinecitizen.com/201...-of-singapore/
Will she be able to truly discharge her duties for the betterment of all Singaporeans ?
PE: Names & reasons for rejection “secret” – More should step forward
September 12, 2017
By Leong Hse Hian
I refer to the article “Halimah Yacob only one to get eligibility certificate, set to be Singapore’s next President” (Straits Times, Sep 11).
It states that “Marine services firm chairman Farid Khan, 61, and property company chief executive Salleh Marican, 67, have been informed they did not qualify to contest the election.
This means Madam Halimah will be declared the country’s eighth President shortly after nominations close at noon on Wednesday.
The committee announced its decision on Monday (Sept 11), two days before Nomination Day, which falls on Sept 13.
Mr Salleh’s and Mr Farid’s bids had been uncertain because neither man helmed a company with $500 million in shareholder equity for the most recent three years, a condition set out in the Constitution following amendments passed last year.
The Elections Department said that it notified all five individuals on the outcome of their applications, and also told the rejected applicants why they did not get certificates of eligibility.
However, the names of the unsuccessful applicants or the reasons given to them will not be published, said the ELD.
This follows the Constitutional Commission’s recommendation (183 pages) that unsuccessful applicants should not be disclosed to the public.
continue reading here :
Although this is a reserved election, I am not a reserved president: Halimah Yacob
Published 57 min ago
Updated 20 min ago
Royston Sim
Assistant Political Editor
SINGAPORE -Madam Halimah Yacob on Wednesday (Sept 13) pledged to be a president for every Singaporean, after she was declared president-elect.
Addressing her supporters, she acknowledged that some in the community have doubts about the election, which is reserved for Malay candidates.
“Although this is a reserved election, I am not a reserved president,” she said, adding that she will work with and represent everyone.
The former Speaker of Parliament was elected president without a contest, as she was the only candidate who qualified to stand.
Madam Halimah said this did not diminish her desire to serve: “My resolve to work hard, tirelessly and with great sincerity is even greater now.”
When asked about the unhappiness in some quarters over the election, she told reporters: “Whether there is an election or no election, my promise is to really serve everyone. I will serve with great vigour, with a lot of hard work, with the same passion and commitment as the last four decades.”
She becomes the Republic’s second Malay president - a proud moment that shows multiracialism really works in Singapore as everyone has a chance to reach the presidency, she said in her speech.
“This is not just good for now, but also good for generations to come because it shows very positively how Singaporeans practise multiracialism,” she added.
She also noted, to loud cheers, that she is Singapore’s first female president.
“Every woman can aspire to the highest office of the land, if you have the courage, the determination and the will to work hard,” she said.
Flanked by her husband Mohamed Abdullah Alhabshee, 63, and proposer Teo Siong Seng, she thanked the hundreds of supporters who turned up at the People’s Association Headquarters in Jalan Besar.
She also thanked all Singaporeans for their support, encouragement and good wishes.
Concluding her speech, she urged Singaporeans to come together to confront the challenges facing the nation.
“I ask you now, dear Singaporeans, that the election is over, to stand together so we can focus on our core priorities to ensure that Singapore remains a great home for everyone.”
Singapore has come a long way since it became independent in 1965, and the best is yet to come , she said. But this can only be achieved if people work together, she added.
continue reading here :
http://www.straitstimes.com/politics...-halimah-yacob
Really a sad day for all Singaporeans .
Halimah Yacob will continue to live in Yishun flat
Madam Halimah Yacob’s home of two adjacent HDB flats, bought on the resale market, is nestled in a cluster of HDB blocks and tucked away in a neighbourhood that looks like any other. The corridors are cluttered with the everyday items of HDB life.
Published 23 min ago
Tham Yuen-C
Assistant Political Editor
SINGAPORE - President-elect Halimah Yacob will not only become Singapore’s first woman president, but will also be the first to live in a Housing Board flat during her term.
Shortly after being declared the winner in a walkover, she told reporters that she had no plans to move out of her family home in Yishun .
“I’m still staying in Yishun,” says Halimah Yacob when asked where she would be living after becoming President.
“It is a very nice, comfortable place and I have been living there for many years,” she added.
Her husband, Mr Mohamed Abdullah Alhabshee, 63, quipped that there was no need to move, as the house was “as huge as a penthouse”.
The jumbo flat is made up of a four-room and a five-room flat, and is where Madam Halimah has lived with her family for over 30 years.
Madam Halimah and her husband have two sons and three daughters, aged 26to 35.
Asked about security arrangements, Madam Halimah said: “I will leave it to the security department. I think they know how to secure the area.”
As Speaker of Parliament before she stepped down to contest in the presidential election reserved for Malay candidates, she had already had some security arrangements.
Madam Halimah said living in the flat also helped to keep her healthy, as she would try to take the stairs up and down to her sixth-floor flat, instead of the lift.
continue reading here :
http://www.straitstimes.com/politics...in-yishun-flat
It will surely cost the residents staying in that block a lot of inconvenience . #SheisNotMyPresidet .
SDP seeks court ruling to mandate Marsiling-Yew Tee by-election
Published: 7:55 PM, September 13, 2017
Updated: 8:20 PM, September 13, 2017
SINGAPORE — The Singapore Democratic Party (SDP) has gone to court to seek a declaration that a by-election must be called in Marsiling-Yew Tee Group Representation Constituency, to fill the seat vacated by Madam Halimah Yacob after she resigned last month to contest the presidency.
Law firm Peter Low & Choo is representing the opposition party in challenging Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong’s decision to appoint Member of Parliament (Choa Chu Kang GRC) Zaqy Mohamad as grassroots adviser in Mdm Halimah’s former ward, instead of calling for a by-election.
The SDP’s lawsuit was filed on Wednesday (Sept 13), the same day Mdm Halimah was declared elected to the office of the President after two other applicants were declared ineligible to contest. A pre-trial conference has been scheduled on Oct 9.
Framing its legal challenge as a bid to block the ruling People’s Action Party (PAP) from “(doing) as it pleases”, the SDP said in a press release: “It was the PAP that mandated that each GRC include at least one candidate from a predetermined minority race. But the same party is also the one who has arbitrarily decided that if that minority member resigns, there is no need to replace him or her in a by-election.”
It cited Article 49(1) of the Constitution, which states: “Whenever the seat of a Member, not being a non-constituency Member, has become vacant for any reason other than a dissolution of Parliament, the vacancy shall be filled by election in the manner provided by or under any law relating to Parliamentary elections for the time being in force”.
The SDP, which had contested and lost in Marsiling-Yew Tee GRC in the 2015 election with 31.3 per cent of the votes, added: “The PAP … is just a political party … And like any other political party, it must serve the nation by respecting democracy — especially in spirit — enshrined in the Constitution.”
continue reading here :
http://www.todayonline.com/singapore...w-tee-election
Don’t waste time and money . The court will throw your case out .
People feel ‘muzzled and angry’ because they could not vote this Presidential Election: Tan Cheng Bock
13 Sep 2017 10:03PM (Updated: 13 Sep 2017 10:10PM)
SINGAPORE: President-elect Halimah Yacob will occupy the “most controversial presidency in the history of Singapore”, former presidential candidate Tan Cheng Bock said on Wednesday (Sep 13).
Mdm Halimah submitted her nomination papers on Wednesday morning and will be sworn in as Singapore’s eighth President on Thursday.
The former Speaker of Parliament was the only person to qualify for the election, which was reserved for Malays following changes to the Elected Presidency. Two other presidential hopefuls, Mr Mohamed Salleh Marican and Mr Farid Khan, had their applications to stand for the election turned down as both did not meet a new requirement for private-sector candidates to helm companies with at least S$500 million in shareholders’ equity.
In a Facebook post on Wednesday, Dr Tan congratulated Mdm Halimah and said he wished her well, but called the walkover “disappointing”.
He noted that when a Constitutional Commission set up to review the Elected Presidency recommended scraping the election and reverting to an appointed Presidency, the Government rejected the idea. “They explained it was important for citizens to give the Presidency their ‘popular’ and ‘direct’ mandate,” Dr Tan said.
He raised the example of the 1993 Presidential Election, where former Deputy Prime Minister Goh Keng Swee “went out of his way” to persuade Mr Chua Kim Yeow to run, even though the Government’s “preferred candidate” was Ong Teng Cheong.
“Why? To prevent a walkover and give citizens the dignity of expressing their choice,” Dr Tan wrote.
He added that in 2011, he stood for election because he “did not want a walkover”.
For this year’s Presidential Election, “everyone knew Mdm Halimah would win,” he said. “Still, we looked forward to a poll to tell the Government what we thought about the elections”, he added.
“People now feel muzzled and angry. Because when you take away our right to vote, you take away our political voice. You tell us that our choice does not matter.”
Dr Tan said that this year’s Presidential Election had been a “quiet affair” but there is now a “deafening silence awakening the nation”.
Read more at
http://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/...e-this-9213684
Somehow still feel sorry for you . The changes made to the President Office where everyone knows is to prevent you from taking office . But I am sure you can better serve your fellow countryman in other capacities . One thing for sure she is #NotmyPresident .
Election reaffirms nation’s ‘regardless of race, language or religion’ pledge: PM
By Siau Ming En
Published: 4:00 AM, September 15, 2017
SINGAPORE — President Halimah Yacob’s ascent to the highest office in the land symbolises Singapore’s perseverance towards a dream first espoused by founding Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew more than five decades ago: A multiracial and multi-religious Singapore.
This was a point made by Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong yesterday at Mdm Halimah’s swearing-in ceremony, as he revealed how the Government had an eye on external developments when it decided to make Constitutional changes to the Elected Presidency scheme.
The Republic’s steadfastness to its founding principles has become all the more urgent given the trends in the region and the rest of the world. “In an age when ethnic nationalism is rising, extremist terrorism sows distrust and fear, and exclusivist ideologies deepen communal and religious fault lines, here in Singapore we will resist this tide,” PM Lee said. “Here, the majority will make extra efforts to ensure that minorities enjoy equal rights. That is something special, precious and fragile.”
Held at the Istana, the ceremony in the State Room was attended by Cabinet Ministers, Members of Parliament, top civil servants and foreign dignitaries among others. After the national anthem was played, Mdm Halimah, 63, took the oath and was sworn in as the country’s first Malay President in 47 years.
In his speech, which was delivered before Mdm Halimah gave her address, PM Lee noted that the need to ensure minority have equal rights drives the Government to make sure that Parliament always has representatives from all ethnic groups.
“Indeed, that was the compelling reason the Government amended the Constitution last year,” he said.
Following changes to the Elected Presidency scheme which were passed into law last November — these include a hiatus-triggered mechanism to ensure minority representation in the office of the president — Singapore will regularly have a Head of State, the symbol of the nation, from different races, PM Lee said.
He cited past Presidents Dr Benjamin Sheares who was Eurasian, S R Nathan who was Indian and Mdm Halimah’s predecessor Dr Tony Tan who is Chinese. With Mdm Halimah occupying the office, Singapore now has a President who is Malay and a woman, he added.
Describing Mdm Halimah’s swearing-in a “significant moment in our history”, PM Lee pointed to how she is the first Malay to become Singapore’s President since the country’s first president Yusof Ishak, who died in office in 1970. “You are also the first Malay to be elected President since it became an elected office in 1991, and the first President elected since the major constitutional changes last year. You are also our first female President,” he added.
Harking back to the events of Aug 9, 1965, PM Lee said Mdm Halimah’s presidency reaffirmed a pledge made by the late Mr Lee in the first hours of the country’s independence: Singapore would not be a Malay nation, a Chinese nation or an Indian nation, and everybody would have his equal place regardless of language, culture and religion.
“When Mr Lee made this pledge, we had a Malay Head of State. President Yusof symbolised, visibly, that though we had been forced out of Malaysia primarily because we were a Chinese-majority city, independent Singapore would never in turn suppress its own non-Chinese minorities,” said PM Lee. “We chose the nobler dream: A multiracial, multi-religious Singapore.”
The way that Mdm Halimah overcame hardship and achieved success, without forgetting the poverty of her childhood, “reflects the Singapore story”, said PM Lee, adding that she has gone out of her way to help those in need and enabled many others to succeed.
“Your life story symbolises the sort of society that we aspire to be, and reminds us that the Singapore Story is one of hope and opportunity,” he added.
continue reading here :
http://www.todayonline.com/singapore...gion-pledge-pm
The correct version :
President notes disquiet over election, but vows to serve each and every one
By Faris Mokhtar
Published: 4:00 AM, September 15, 2017
SINGAPORE – In the face of an uncertain and troubled world, Singapore must continue to uphold the principles of multiracialism, meritocracy and stewardship as it deals with challenges ranging from terrorism threats, an ageing population to ensuring jobs for workers, said Madam Halimah Yacob.
In her first speech as the Republic’s eighth President following yesterday’s swearing-in ceremony at the Istana’s State Room, Mdm Halimah described the Presidency as “a key institution in our democracy”, and unifies the nation by embodying its shared values.
Paying tribute to the country’s founding fathers and its first President, Mr Yusof Ishak, for establishing the country’s multiracial foundations, she said they understood that multiracialism did not mean “ignoring or forcibly erasing differences between ethnic groups”.
Noting that the founding fathers had also entrenched multiracialism in key national policies such as housing, education and security, Mdm Halimah, 63, added: “I am proud that I belong to a country that does not just say it is diverse, but lives out this diversity every single day.”
Despite the progress made, she stressed that building a multiracial society is a “constant work in progress”, with every generation facing new challenges, needing “champions who care deeply about multiracialism and fight to uphold and realise this ideal”.
And even as she lauded the changes to the Constitution to ensure multiracial representation in the highest office of the land, Mdm Halimah acknowledged public unhappiness over this year’s reserved presidential election, which turned out to be a walkover after she emerged as the sole eligible candidate.
“I know that some Singaporeans would prefer to achieve this without needing reserved elections. I respect their views,” she said.
“Like them, I look forward to the day when we will no longer need to rely on the provision to have reserved elections, and Singaporeans naturally and regularly elect citizens of all races as presidents.”
In the meantime, she reassured all citizens that as President, she would serve “every one of you, regardless of race, language or religion”.
continue reading here :
http://www.todayonline.com/singapore...-and-every-one
We all who know who you truly serves . By the way You Are Still Not My President .