- Agenda and advice for new generation of leadership
- PAP does not have monopoly of power or indefinite right to rule S’pore
President Halimah Yacob’s first President’s Address, written by 4G ministers. Which is also a first.
There were a lot of milestones in President Halimah Yacob’s first Presidential Address.
By Sulaiman Daud | May 7, 2018
President Halimah Yacob delivered her first President’s Address to Parliament on Monday evening, May 7.
This is her first Address since her walkover election victory in September 2017.
Even though the address is read by the President, it was actually written by members of the government.
It sets out the proposed policies, programmes and direction of the government for this session of Parliament.
This resembles the UK’s State Opening of Parliament, where the monarch as Head of State delivers the address to her MPs. Her speech is also written by her government.
Drafted by 4G leaders
But this particular address was unique as it was the first to be drafted by the PAP’s fourth-generation leadership.
Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said in a Facebook post on Feb. 27 that he would be asking them to do it.
He said:
“I am asking the fourth-generation Ministers to draft the Government’s agenda for the President’s address. It will give Singaporeans a better sense of them and their thoughts.”
In a sense, this was the public’s first look at the priorities of the PAP’s 4G leaders.
So what did they have to say?
Priority 1: Secure Singapore’s place in the world
The government’s first priority is to carve out a place for ourselves in a “changing world” by defending our interests and working with others.
•Build up the SAF and Home Team’s capabilities to counter new threats, like terrorism and cyber attacks, while also strengthening civilian resilience.
•Commit to a rules-based order and uphold international law.
•“Champion” our particular interests, like free trade, against rising protectionism.
•Make as many friends as possible, particularly the US and China, while also working to enhance ASEAN unity.
Priority 2: Building a well-connected, world-class city
Good news, everyone who thinks that our infrastructure, especially in transport, could be improved. The second priority is to invest in infrastructure and plan for long term development.
•Invest in both physical and data links to keep Singapore the most well-connected city in Asia.
•Investing “heavily” in MRT infrastructure and renewing the HDB heartlands to promote a car-lite city, which helps to reduce carbon emissions.
•The moves of Paya Lebar Air Base and the city ports to Tuas will free up a lot of land for exciting new developments.
continue reading here :
President’s Address was drafted by 4G leaders. So, what did they say about themselves?
Ownself say ownself.
By Sulaiman Daud | May 8, 2018
While the President’s Address is delivered to Parliament by President Halimah Yacob, the speech was actually drafted by the government of the day.
This is so as the government’s priorities, policies and programmes can be set out for public scrutiny.
4G leaders drafted a speech that focused on S’pore (and themselves?)
However, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong took a “hands-off” approach in this address, saying he would ask the 4G leaders to draft it:
In an interview with the local media in London, PM Lee said that he had given the younger ministers advice, and they were on the 20th draft of the speech on April 21.
In the speech, there was a number of references to the fourth generation leadership.
Remember, the speech was drafted by the 4G leaders.
Which means the speech could well made one assume that the 4G leaders were talking about themselves.
So with that in mind, we use the speech to try to extract some clues as to how the 4G leaders view themselves.
Can and will do better
The first time the fourth generation leadership was mentioned (a third into the President’s address), it was in the context of what lies ahead in Singapore’s future.
It is a question on everyone’s minds as our next Prime Minister will be drawn from this talent pool.
While the 4G leaders will uphold the values and principles of the previous generations, they will not be afraid to make bold changes.
There was also a reference to how 4G leaders need to keep the spirit of the pioneers alive and constantly strive to outdo the previous generation.
continue reading here :
It’s like ‘holding two full-time jobs’: How MPs cope with parliamentary duties
Parliament sittings are getting longer and longer, according to data tabulated by Channel NewsAsia. From no-pay leave, pay cuts to a perennial sleep deficiency, MPs tell us about the sacrifices they have to make.
By and Nicole Chang
12 May 2018 06:36AM (Updated: 12 May 2018 08:26AM)
SINGAPORE: A Member of Parliament’s life revolves around two key places: Their constituencies, walking the ground, holding Meet-the-People Sessions and spending time with residents; and in Parliament, where they undertake their role as legislators and seeing to the national interest when Parliament sits.
And in recent years, Parliamentary sittings appear to be getting longer.
“In the old days, we used to sit from 1.30pm to 7pm,” said MP for Chua Chu Kang GRC Zaqy Mohamad, who became an MP in 2006. “But now, it can start at 10am, and run to 7.30pm or 8pm.”
“There’ve been a few times when a 1-2 day sitting became 4 or 5 days because there were a lot of topics, or something controversial came up,” he added. “That caused a lot of commitment clashes.”
CRUNCHING THE NUMBERS
Indeed, data on the Parliament website bear out Mr Zaqy’s observations.
Each sitting usually begins at 1.30pm, but some have started as early as 10am.
Attendance is compulsory, and MPs will have to seek permission from the Speaker of Parliament if they wish to be absent from a sitting.
The letter of the law as set out in the Constitution of Singapore is clear: If an MP is absent for 2 consecutive months from Parliament sittings or any committee of Parliament to which he or she has been appointed without getting permission from the Speaker, the MP’s seat will become vacant.
Channel NewsAsia tabulated the numbers from Jan 2006 to Mar 2018, and found that Parliament sat for an average of 28.45 days each year between 2006 to 2017. While there was no discernible increase in the number of days Parliament has sat, the total length of time in terms of hours has gone up.
Read more at
https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news...-jobs-10120268
If attendance is compulsory why are there empty seats ???
PAP MPs complain: Parliament work feels like full-time job
May 12, 2018
Complaining about long working hours, PAP MP Zaqy Mohamad said he felt like working in a “full-time job” whenever he attends Parliament. The PAP MP said he used to work only 1 or 2 days a week, but now he sometimes has to attend a 4 or 5 day work week like an employee:
“
“In the old days, we used to sit from 1.30pm to 7pm. There’ve been a few times when a 1-2 day sitting became 4 or 5 days because there were a lot of topics, or something controversial came up. That caused a lot of commitment clashes…I also honestly can’t remember the last time I had a social gathering. I’ve lost contact with a lot of my friends, unless they’re in the same industry. It’s really like having two full-time jobs.”
According to state media CNA, the Constitution says a PAP MP can be absent for up to 2 months. Technically, a PAP MP needs only report in Parliament for only 6 times in a year.
Last year in 2017, the ruling party PAP government had only 25 days of work and clocked only 182 hours of work. However, this is less than 10% when compared to the average working hours of 2,340 hours Singaporean employees clocked.
The state media also revealed that the shortest Parliament seating is only 25 minutes, and that sitting was for useless puppet President Halimah Yacob’s recent speech prepared by the PAP Ministers.
continue reading here :
http://statestimesreview.com/2018/05...full-time-job/
So if a PAP MP complain that he/she got too much work maybe that person is not capable enough and hence since resign and let someone else who can do the job.
Parliament: 4G leaders will listen to people’s views, launch discussion series: Heng Swee Keat
The fourth generation leadership will listen to Singaporeans “with humility and respect”, and launch a series of discussions with different groups of Singaporeans to seek their views, Finance Minister Heng Swee Keat announced on May 18.
Finance Minister Heng Swee Keat pledged to reach out to Singaporeans at different stages of life.
Published 4 hours ago
Tham Yuen-C
Senior Political Correspondent
SINGAPORE - The fourth generation leadership will listen to Singaporeans “with humility and respect”, and launch a series of discussions with different groups of Singaporeans to seek their views.
Finance Minister Heng Swee Keat announced this on Friday (May 18), wrapping up the debate on the President’s Address with a call to partnership between Singaporeans and their leaders.
He pledged to reach out to Singaporeans at different stages of life - young Singaporeans, Gen X, Baby Boomers and Pioneers.
The 4G leadership will also engage different segments of society, such as workers, volunteer groups, and hobby groups, covering people of different occupations and people who have different interests and passions.
The aim is to give all Singaporeans a role to turn good ideas into actions, he said.
“We will partner Singaporeans each step of the way in our journey of building our future Singapore,” he added.
continue reading here :
https://www.straitstimes.com/politic...heng-swee-keat
Sure or not Mr Heng ? Or is this like another wayang show just like the select committee on Fake News .
The Irony of Politicians Preaching Inequality and the Stigma of Public Transport and HDB Living
By Augustine Low -
May 19, 2018
In recent weeks, PM Lee Hsien Loong and his Ministers have been talking about the dangers of inequality and elitism.
Isn’t that most ironic, coming from the world’s highest paid politicians? The very people who make in one day what many families make in one month!
Do they know what it’s like to worry about unpaid bills, medical expenses, children’s education and the fear of retrenchment? Preaching is one thing, having empathy and solidarity as a result of experiencing day-to-day struggles is another.
PM Lee has also just said in Parliament that there is no stigma to taking public transport and living in HDB flats because it is shared experiences which gel the people.
The inescapable fact is, the majority of Singaporeans are accustomed to public transport and HDB living, so the sting of stigma is furthest from their minds.
The questions is: How many politicians and top officials take public transport and live in HDB flats? Are they the ones feeling the stigma and unwilling to put up with the inconvenience?
Let’s take Taipei’s Metro. It is certainly more reliable than our MRT system. So reliable that Singapore has sought the Taipei Metro’s help to review operations here.
The Taipei Metro is nationalised and majority-owned by the Taipei City government. The Metro boss is in effect Mayor Ko Wen-je, and guess what – he takes the train to and from work every day.
Thailand’s Transport Minister Chadchart Sittipunt also regularly takes the train, bus, motorcycle taxi and boat to work. He even urged his Ministry’s senior officials to ride a public bus at least once a week to find ways to improve the service.
In Singapore, how many top officials from SMRT, LTA and the Transport Ministry regularly take public transport? If it can be done elsewhere, why not in Singapore?
continue reading here :
From hard-hitting criticisms to seductive talk?
Published on 2018-05-20 by The Online Citizen
by Han Lang
Less than a year ago, Emeritus Senior Minister Goh Chok Tong said the comments made by then-Workers Party chief Low Thia Khiang on the Oxley Rise issue were “not unexpected”, before adding: “This is what is called political sophistry.” According to Collins dictionary, sophistry is the practice of using clever arguments that sound convincing but are in fact false.
During the election campaign in 2015, Deputy Prime Minister Teo Chee Hean accused Mr Low of shedding crocodile tears over the stepping down of then-Transport Minister Lui Tuck Yew. He said: “It’s very in character for Mr Low to squeeze the most political mileage out of anything. The reasons that Tuck Yew decided to step down are known to everyone.”
In 2014, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong took WP to task in Parliament over its constant shift in positions. Mr Lee said: “We have to call a spade a spade. If we have changed position and your previous position was wrong, say so. If you hold by your position, have your guts to reaffirm it and take the consequences. But to weasel away, play with words, avoid the issue and then claim to be responsible, that is what we fear can drive Singapore’s politics into the same place where many other countries have gone.”
In another case of the ruling party questioning the integrity of the WP, the PAP wrote in one published forum letter: “A responsible opposition party should offer well thought-out, sustainable alternative policies, or at least serious critiques of what the government proposes. The WP has not done that. " It added: “No WP MP has ever introduced a Private Member’s Bill, unlike former NMP Walter Woon and PAP MP Christopher de Souza. Mr Low and his colleagues habitually show one face during elections and another in Parliament.”
There are many other examples which I will not list here but the one common point is such that the People’s Action Party has openly questioned if the WP is playing the role of an opposition party in a responsible way. Another way to interpret the PAP’s comments may be that the WP are political opportunists who are not performing their role as responsible parliamentarians.
continue reading here :
https://www.theonlinecitizen.com/201...eductive-talk/
Do not be fooled if they want to talk and listen to us . It is just another wayang show by them .
“Frontrunners” for PM: Was there even a race to begin with?
Published on 2018-05-22 by The Online Citizen
by Han Lang
Given the fact that our students have consistently topped international education rankings, including the Programme for International Student Assessment (Pisa) tests, it is baffling that our local mainstream media continues to “believe”, genuinely or otherwise, that there are three “frontrunners” to succeed Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong.
Let’s look at the three “frontrunners” as declared by the media. Before that, anyone keen on this topic should first research and determine who was the first person to list Chan Chun Sing, Heng Swee Keat and Ong Ye Kung as the “frontrunners”. That person attributes it to “political observers” but without naming these “political observers”, we can draw our own conclusion on what exactly is the agenda for listing these three names.
Anyway, let’s first look at Heng. Born in 1961, Heng is 57 this year. PM Lee is 66 this year and he has indicated two key points relating to succession. The first point is definitive: He will hand over power AFTER the next general election. In early January 2018, he said: “We know it’s a serious matter, a pressing issue, as the younger ministers have already said in their statement and they know my timetable, after next General Election – earlier rather than later – I would like to hand over to a successor.”
Unlike the first, the second key point is vague: on him remaining as PM at the age of 70. At an interview six years ago, he was asked if he would still be the PM beyond age 70. He replied: “I hope not. Seventy is already a long time more. And Singapore needs a prime minister who is younger, who’s got that energy, and who is in tune with that very much younger and very much different generation.”
The next GE is likely to be held in 2020 and on the assumption that the ruling party secures another five-year term, it is realistic to expect that PM Lee will step down a year or two later - when he would be 69 or 70 years old.
Even if PM Lee steps down “earlier rather than later” - say in 2021, Heng will be 60 by then.
For a political party which constantly prides itself on leadership renewal and in bringing in ’top talents’ every five years, would it make political sense for a 69-year-old to hand over power to a 60-year-old?
So, how realistic are the chances of Singaporeans greeting the next leader as PM Heng?
Let’s then look at Ong who will turn 49 this year. At the age of 52 in 2021, he would be “adhering” to the recent “age-range” of PAP’s second and third PMs. PM Lee took over at this age while his predecessor assumed power at 49.
continue reading here :
https://www.theonlinecitizen.com/201...to-begin-with/
Somebody will volunteer to be the next Singapore PM if the current PM can’t make up his mind. Just another wayang show . Talk about leadership renewal .
Ng Chee Meng elected NTUC secretary-general
22 May 2018 06:00PM (Updated: 22 May 2018 09:53PM)
SINGAPORE: Minister in the Prime Minister’s Office Ng Chee Meng will be the new Secretary-General of the National Trades Union Congress (NTUC), the union said on Tuesday (May 22).
The committee unanimously on Tuesday elected Mr Ng, formerly the deputy secretary-general, as NTUC Secretary-General, a move that has been anticipated for some time.
Mr Ng, 49, was appointed deputy secretary-general and co-opted into the NTUC central committee on Apr 23.
“From May 1, he served the labour movement full time after relinquishing his appointments as Minister for Education (Schools) and Second Minister for Transport,” NTUC said.
Mr Ng said in a Facebook post on Tuesday that NTUC will continue to strengthen the labour movement and work closely with its tripartite partners to build on the foundation laid by former labour chiefs.
NTUC said that its central committee has accepted former labour chief Chan Chun Sing’s resignation and it takes effect on Tuesday. Mr Chan is the Minister for Trade and Industry, a portfolio he took up on May 1 following a Cabinet reshuffle.
He led NTUC for three years before stepping down.
Mr Chan, 48, said in his resignation letter that his work in the Ministry of Trade and Industry will be an extension of the work in NTUC.
“The labour movement will always have in me - a friend, a partner, and a supporter,” he wrote.
Read more at
https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news...-sing-10257504
Another ex-general replaces another ex-general . So now NTUC becomes a subsidiary of the PAP .
PM Lee expects next PM to emerge before next General Election in 2021
Here’s a Loong summary.
By Jeanette Tan | 14 hours
Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong spoke at length about a number of issues during the debate on the President’s Address in Parliament last week.
He made a mention of the issues that were to be of top priority for him and his freshly-reshuffled Cabinet.
Though PM Lee mentioned that the fourth-generation leaders prepared President Halimah’s speech, he spoke significantly at length about his thinking with regard to who his successor will be.
But let’s break it down for you first:
PM Lee began by setting the list of tasks on the agenda for his younger leaders now in office:
– To keep growing and reinventing our economy,
– To preserve our meritocracy, justice and fairness as a society, and
– To hold Singaporeans together in one cohesive society.
Warning that just like with previous generations of leaders, the successors will have to realise that the electorate, economic landscape and international order of things will be different, and so will need to adopt a new approach in governing the nation.
He cautions that “some hard truths will always remain” for Singapore, but has the following advice for the new leaders:
– To keep an open mind and make decisions with both the head and the heart
– To remember, but not be trapped by, our history
– And to generate new ideas, bonds and connections.
PM Lee related the details of the conversation he had with former Workers’ Party (WP) chief Low Thia Khiang at Parliament House that gave rise to this photo:
PM Lee said he had observed the fact that the WP had just completed its leadership transition — with Low handing the reins to new secretary-general Pritam Singh — and asked Low what changes are to be expected.
continue reading here :
https://mothership.sg/2018/05/pm-lee...4g-leadership/
Still haven’t decide on who will be the next Singapore PM ??? Talk about leadership renewal . Maybe someone will volunteer to be the next PM .