https://www.facebook.com/pritam.euno...47939928561630
-PRITAM SINGH-
TC Case
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The public can read our short submissions on the matter of the Plaintiff’s application to amend their Statement of Claim after judgment has been rendered, on our blog - In Good Faith (
).
https://ingoodfaith.blog/2020/08/03/...ment-of-claim/
(In response to CNA article issued on 3 Aug 2020, in link below)
https://www.facebook.com/workerspart...03398136343402
We are concerned that the government’s policies will raise the cost of living and increase financial pressures on the sandwiched class. Here’s a breakdown of the impact of a petrol price hike and the impending increase in GST.
What new WP MPs at Sengkang GRC will encounter:
Ng Chee Meng PPA(E) (Chinese: 黄志明; pinyin: Huáng Zhìmíng; born 8 August 1968) is a former Singaporean politician who was the Minister in Prime Minister’s Office from 1 May 2018 to 10 July 2020. His previous postings included Minister for Education in charge of Schools portfolio from 1 October 2015 to 31 October 2016 in acting capacity and from 1 November 2016 to 30 April 2018 in official capacity as well as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Pasir Ris–Punggol GRC from 11 September 2015 to 23 June 2020 and has also been the Secretary-General of the National Trades Union Congress (NTUC) since 1 May 2018. He served as the 8th Chief of Defence Force of the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) from 2013 to 2015, and held the rank of Lieutenant-General. He was also the Chief of the Republic of Singapore Air Force (RSAF) from 2009 to 2013. Upon retirement from military career, Ng announced his intention to enter politics, and is the highest ranking officer to join the ruling party.[1] In the 2015 Singapore general election, he was fielded to the Pasir Ris–Punggol GRC[2] and won its Punggol North seat, paving way to be a MP successfully. Ng also served as the Senior Minister of State at the Ministry for Transport from 1 October 2015 to his promotion to the Second Minister in 1 November 2016 and served till 30 April 2018.
http://geraldgiam.sg/2009/10/how-pap...omment-page-1/
How PAP uses taxpayer-funded grassroots for political gain
Not many Singaporeans are aware of how much the taxpayer-funded grassroots have been used by the PAP for political gain.
Last week, Mr Eric Low and Mr Sitoh Yih Pin, the PAP MP-aspirants who lost to Workers’ Party’s Low Thia Khiang and SDA’s Chiam See Tong respectively in the last election, grabbed the limelight for themselves by announcing HDB’s decision to upgrade lifts in Potong Pasir and Hougang.
I had written an article questioning why HDB had informed the losing candidates in opposition wards of the upgrading plans.
A Straits Times forum letter writer, Mr Muhammad Yusuf Osman, said it best when he called for the mandate that the residents gave to the elected MPs to be respected. He asked: “Under what authority did both Mr (Eric) Low and Mr Sitoh (Yih Pin) act as advisers to the grassroots organisations, given that the People’s Association is a government statutory board and should work with the elected MPs of the constituencies?”
In response, HDB and People’s Association replied that “it is the Government’s practice to implement its national programmes for residents through advisers to grassroots organisations who are appointed by the Government to gather feedback from residents.”
They forgot to mention that these “advisers” are always PAP men, whether or not they won the election.
Not many Singaporeans are aware of how much the taxpayer-funded grassroots have been used by the PAP for political gain.
Here’s a quick run down:
The People’s Association (PA), a statutory board under the Ministry of Community Development, Youth and Sports, was set up in 1960 to counter the influence of Chinese clan associations and unions on working class Singaporeans.
Like all other stat boards, it receives a yearly grant from the government to run its programmes and cover operational costs. In FY2008, PA received $280 million from taxpayers, and another $23 million in “operating income”. It spent a total of $320 million last year.
However unlike most stat boards, whose chairmen are usually the permanent secretary of the parent ministry or some other senior civil servant, PA’s chairman is none other than the Prime Minister. The deputy chairman and two other board members are PAP ministers, together with a PAP minister of state, two other PAP office holders and a PAP backbencher. Eight out of the 14 board members are PAP MPs. No other public sector board in Singapore has so many “Men in White” on it.
The PA oversees all the official “grassroots organisations”, namely the Citizens’ Consultative Committees (CCC), Community Club Management Committees (CCMC), Residents’ Committees (RC), Neighbourhood Committees (NC) and the Community Development Councils (CDC). PA also runs the National Youth Council (NYC) and the People’s Association Youth Movement (PAYM), which reach out to young people.
The de facto leader of all the CCCs, CCMCs, RCs and NCs in each constituency is known as the “adviser to the grassroots organisations (GROs)”. This adviser is appointed by PA, presumably with the nod of its chairman, the Prime Minister. In PAP constituencies, PA always appoints the elected MP as the adviser. But in opposition wards, PA appoints the PAP candidate who lost in the last election, not the opposition MP.
The same anomaly is repeated in the CDCs. CDCs have a whole panel of advisers, who are by default the GRO advisers. In South West CDC, where all the component constituencies are under the PAP, it is not surprising that all the advisers are PAP MPs. But in South East CDC, there is one grinning adviser who is not an MP — Sitoh Yih Pin, the man who lost to Mr Chiam See Tong (SDA) in Potong Pasir. North East CDC also has a non-MP — Eric Low — sitting as adviser. He lost to Mr Low Thia Khiang (WP) in the last two elections, garnering just 37% of the popular vote in 2006.
Mr Low Thia Khiang and Mr Chiam See Tong are completely excluded from the CDCs.
CDCs, Community Clubs and other GROs often organise events which involve a large number of residents. Most of the time, the guest-of-honour at such events is — you guessed it — the PAP grassroots adviser.
All this effectively denies the opposition MPs access to the whole array of grassroots resources that PAP MPs have easy access to. The opposition MP has to build up his own grassroot network from scratch, while PAP MPs simply inherit the control of the RCs, CCCs and CCMCs.
Most HDB dwellers will be familiar with the notice boards next to the lifts. These are managed by the RCs, which ensure that residents always aware of who their PAP MPs are by featuring their names and photos prominently on the notice boards. But in Hougang and Potong Pasir, instead of the elected MP, residents will see the losing PAP candidate’s face on the notice board every day when they go home.
Around the neighbourhood, they will also see huge banners sponsored by PA or the CCC, featuring the losing PAP candidate wishing residents during festive occasions. The Opposition is given no such banner space in PAP wards.
To round it off, the GROs are often the recruiting ground for the PAP during elections. Many grassroots volunteers are also loyal PAP men and women, who shed their supposed neutrality to don PAP all-whites during the election campaign, serving as supporters, election agents and counting agents for the PAP candidates.
The best thing of all for the PAP is that all these grassroots resources come at zero cost to the party, since it is all paid for by taxpayers — yes including those who voted for the Opposition. Unlike in other countries where political parties — just like the Opposition here — have to fund their own grassroots activities, the PAP can save its funds to be used during the election campaign.
With all these factors stacked against the Opposition, it is indeed commendable that Mr Chiam See Tong and Mr Low Thia Khiang have managed to hold on to their seats for the past 20 years. The residents of Potong Pasir and Hougang have proven that sincerity and pure hard work on the ground will be rewarded.
http://geraldgiam.sg/2009/10/hdb-sho...ying-politics/
HDB should be neutral and stop playing politics
The HDB should stop letting itself become a political tool of the ruling PAP.
I am glad to learn that the opposition held wards of Hougang and Potong Pasir will finally be getting lift upgrading for their HDB blocks. This is a long overdue measure for the residents of the two constituencies, which have been strongholds of the opposition since 1991 and 1984 respectively.
Singaporeans will recall that on the eve of the polling day in 1997, then-Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong warned voters that opposition estates risked becoming “slums” if they continued voting out the PAP. Thus started a pattern of Third World pork barrel politics of the ruling PAP, which culminated in the 2006 election when PAP candidates Eric Low and Sitoh Yih Pin boasted that caretaker National Development Minister Mah Bow Tan had promised the two wards a total of $180 million for upgrading if residents voted for the PAP.
Fortunately, voters were too sophisticated and principled to fall for the PAP’s dirty tactics of using taxpayer money to advance their partisan political ends. Hougang and Potong Pasir voters proved that they could not be so easily swayed by money and election goodies by re-electing Mr Low Thia Khiang (Workers’ Party) and Mr Chiam See Tong (Singapore Democratic Alliance), the former with a record high winning margin.
Three-and-a-half years after those embarrassing defeats, the PAP has realised that such underhanded tactics don’t work. So now they’ve taken a different tack by promising lift upgrading to these wards just as the next election looms.
TODAY newspaper reported that the PAP’s losing candidate Sitoh had received an email from HDB informing him of this news. He lost no time in breaking the good news to residents through a news release. Mr Eric Low plans to announce the news today at a grassroots event. In addition, Mr Sitoh said he will be sending out a circular to residents in the selected blocks soon, presumably with his own letterhead proclaiming himself as the “adviser to the Potong Pasir grassroots organisations”.
I see no reason why the HDB should break the news to the losing PAP candidates. Does the HDB inform losing opposition candidates of impending upgrading in the wards they contested in, for example in East Coast or Tampines? Definitely not!
So why the double standard? Is it to give a chance to the PAP’s losing candidates to be like Santa Claus bearing good gifts for residents as if it came from them?
The PAP’s Eric Low claimed that the upgrading “is a result of our efforts over the years”. What utter rubbish! It was the Workers’ Party’s Low Thia Khiang who had asked in Parliament after the 2006 elections for the promised $100 million to be released to Hougang for upgrading. But the National Development Minister stoutly refused, saying that the funds were conditional on voters choosing the PAP.
Knowing full well that the PAP’s intention was to put opposition wards at the end of the upgrading queue, Hougang Town Council had previously gone ahead to upgrade the lifts at the blocks on Hougang Avenue 3 and 7 at the cost of some $400,000 to $500,000 of the Town Council’s own funds. A mere seven years later, HDB simply demolished those upgraded blocks, and refused to reimburse Hougang Town Council the costs for the unexpired cyclical period.
In fact, HDB’s informing of the PAP’s losing candidates of the upcoming upgrading is just the tip of the iceberg of the agency’s history of partisan political manoeuvring.
After winning the 1991 elections and assuming the chairmanship of Hougang Town Council, the WP’s Low was immediately served by the HDB with a notice to quit the premises at Blk 810 Hougang Central, which was then occupied by the PAP’s Hougang Town Council. HDB also served him with a notice of termination of its services as the managing agent for Hougang Town Council. Despite this, the new Town Council managed to overcome the obstacles put in its way, built a new premise within 6 weeks, and took over the management of Hougang estate from the HDB on 1st January 1992.
Without an office to operate from and to manage the estate, Low then took on the task of building and completing, within six weeks, the Hougang Town Council’s office. It is now located at Block 701 Hougang Avenue 2. He also successfully put together a team of councillors and staff to manage and maintain Hougang estate. Together, they took over the management of Hougang estate from the HDB on 1st January 1992.
The HDB should stop letting itself become a political tool of the ruling PAP. This is not the way a taxpayer funded statutory board should operate. Residents of non-PAP wards pay their income taxes and GST, and do their national service just like the rest of us. They should not be discriminated against.
I call on HDB chairman Koh Cher Siang, HDB CEO Tay Kim Poh, Ministry of National Development permanent secretary Tan Tee How and all the good officers working under them to exercise their rightful independence and neutrality as civil servants and resist attempts by the PAP ministers (or any future government ministers) to pressure them into executing decisions that benefit the party and not the people.
https://sg.yahoo.com/news/comment-he...035901193.html
COMMENT: Heng Swee Keat - Chosen as Singapore PM, chose to quit
Nicholas Yong
Nicholas Yong·Assistant News Editor
Fri, 9 April 2021, 11:59 am
SINGAPORE — The would-be king is dead. Long live the king - whoever he or she might be.
Heng Swee Keat, once proclaimed by the late Lee Kuan Yew as his most capable aide ever, has now joined the ranks of political could-have-beens like Anwar Ibrahim and Hillary Clinton, leaving Singaporeans to wonder what sort of Prime Minister he might have made. All in, he lasted around two and a half years as the heir apparent to PM Lee Hsien Loong.
In a televised Istana press conference on Thursday (8 April) that was open only to Singapore Press Holdings (SPH) and Mediacorp outlets, as well as the social news site Mothership, the Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister abdicated as the chosen one almost nine months after the General Election, amid a plethora of well-rehearsed talking points.
But while PM Lee and Heng’s fourth-generation colleagues were all singing from the same hymn sheet, the end result was still puzzlingly, and maddeningly, discordant.
The 59-year-old first cited his age - he had belatedly realised that by the time the next General Election comes around, Heng will be in his mid-60s, and the runway for leadership succession will be too short. “We need someone who is younger with a longer runway, to not think in just one or two election terms, but think about the long term future of Singapore,” he said, exhibiting the body language of a man ill at ease in the glare of the media spotlight.
Then there was the startling admission that he had not seen himself as up to the job from day one. Asked when he had started thinking about stepping aside, Heng, who will retain his post as Coordinating Minister for Economic Policies, replied, “I started thinking about it when I was appointed. I do not want to take on any job which I cannot deliver…And therefore, I’ve been thinking about it as to whether am I the right person?”
To further complicate matters, despite singing his praises amid a show of unity, Heng’s 4G colleagues have yet to choose a new successor and said in a joint statement that his decision was an “unexpected turn of events”. Even more confusingly, Senior Minister and Coordinating Minister for National Security Teo Chee Hean will be acting PM whenever PM Lee is on leave, despite Heng remaining as DPM for now.
The average Singaporean could be forgiven for thinking: what is going on? For there is no other way to call it but for what it is: a leadership crisis.
Something does not add up
Yahoo News Singapore contributor PN Balji, a former editor of The New Paper and Today, covered two prime ministerial successions in his career: from the late Lee to Goh Chok Tong to the current incumbent. Now, he said, Singapore’s well-choreographed leadership succession has gone “topsy turvy”, even though Lee, 69, had already pledged to stay on till the end of the pandemic.
“The Singapore system is such that everything is well planned. Now Mr Heng steps aside and we don’t know who is going to take over. He is not going to be Finance Minister, but he’s still going to be DPM for a while. It’s all very intriguing and unsettling for Singapore,” Balji said.
Balji was also unconvinced by the 4G leaders citing the pandemic as a reason for the disruption in leadership succession. “COVID-19 has been here for a year. Is it worse than what it was a year ago? And PM Lee has already said he will not hand over until COVID-19 is over. So what is the pressure on Heng Swee Keat?”
All this does not bode well for the People’s Action Party, in the wake of last year’s election that saw the opposition making historic gains and the PAP’s vote share falling by almost nine percentage points. Since then, the ruling party has stumbled from one setback to another, whether it be the TraceTogether debacle or its apparent U-turn on the contentious tudung issue.
Come the next election, what would the PAP say if the Workers’ Party, which ran Heng to the wire in his East Coast ward, or any other opposition party were to contest the GRC and tell residents there: you were duped into voting for a man who was supposed to be PM, are you going to be duped yet again?
First among equals?
With the benefit of 20/20 vision - no pun intended - Heng’s unease in his role had been apparent for some time. One of the clearest signs that he might not be primus inter pares was his fumbling performance in a November 2019 parliamentary session.
Having proposed a motion that called on WP Members of Parliament Low Thia Khiang and Sylvia Lim to recuse themselves from financial matters relating to the Aljunied-Hougang Town Council (AHTC), he was meant to carry the ball. This reporter wrote at the time, “Instead, just minutes into the debate on the motion, Heng had to call for a time-out. He hummed and hawed, flipping through his folder like a student stumbling through his class presentation.”
Tellingly, clips of PM Lee looking exasperated and instructing Heng on what to say in the session had been circulating online. The latter’s reputation has always been that of a genial technocrat, and not a political street fighter.
Then came the 2020 election, when Heng made his infamous “East Coast Plan” gaffe and led his East Coast team to a less than convincing victory with just 53.41 per cent of the vote share. And despite delivering five pandemic Budgets, he was not at the front and centre of the government’s efforts to combat the coronavirus, raising questions about whether he inspired confidence among his own colleagues.
Who will be next?
National broadsheet The Straits Times, without citing any polls or individuals in the know, has already anointed four men as potential successors to Heng.
They are: Transport Minister Ong Ye Kung and Trade and Industry Minister Chan Chun Sing, both of whom have often been spoken of as potential PMs; Education Minister Lawrence Wong, who has impressed with his handling of the pandemic; and National Development Minister Desmond Lee, the youngest of the quartet at 44.
With a Cabinet reshuffle due in two weeks, matters will hopefully become clearer.
But the damage has been done with Singapore’s leadership succession in disarray. The PAP must move quickly and decisively if it is to reassure stakeholders on the domestic and international fronts.
It is uncertain if Heng will even be around to contest at the next GE.
Once upon time, the late Lee declared “I will now play goalkeeper” as he handed over to Goh Chok Tong. In Heng’s case, he has called for his own substitution long before the 90 minutes are up. Who will emerge to see Singapore through the game?
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https://sg.news.yahoo.com/heng-swee-...122950408.html
Heng Swee Keat: My age is key reason in decision to step aside as leader of 4G team
Vernon Lee
Vernon Lee·Senior Editor
Thu, 8 April 2021, 8:29 pm·4-min read
SINGAPORE — Deputy Prime Minister Heng Swee Keat said on Thursday (8 April) his age is a key reason why he was stepping aside as the leader of Singapore’s fourth-generation team.
Heng, 59, will remain as DPM and Coordinating Minister for Economic Policies, and step down as Finance Minister.
Speaking at a media conference to announce his decision, Heng said by the time he takes over as leader of Singapore, he will be in his mid-60s and the runway in leadership succession will be “too short”. The COVID-19 pandemic has also shaped his decision, he added.
“And we need someone who is younger with a longer runway, to not think in just one or two election terms, but think about the long term future of Singapore, and of Singaporeans and the structural challenges, which will creep up day by day,” Heng said.
Such a leader will be able to take Singapore through to the next phase of nation-building, with the support of the people, he added.
Heng, who is also Member of Parliament for East Coast GRC, said he is glad that Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong is staying on to see Singapore through the COVID-19 crisis.
When asked if his health was a factor behind his decision, Heng said his health is good now and he is very thankful to his medical team for taking great care of him.
In November 2018, following his appointment as the ruling People’s Action Party’s (PAP) first assistant secretary-general, Heng said that he had made “a very good recovery” from the stroke he suffered in 2016.
Speaking at a press conference then, Heng stressed, “I would not have taken up this appointment if I do not have the confidence that my health allows me to do it.”
https://twitter.com/YahooSG?ref_src=…122950408.html
In response to a question at the conference on whether the outcome of last year’s general election had an impact on Heng’s decision, the DPM said the results of the GE and in particular the East Coast GRC were not a factor.
At the GE, the PAP suffered its worst electoral performance since independence in terms of the number of seats lost to the opposition. The Workers’ Party won Sengkang GRC and retained Aljunied GRC and Hougang SMC for a total of 10 seats.
The PAP won 61.24 per cent of the votes cast and 83 seats out of 93 at the GE held amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Its vote share was a sharp drop from 69.9 per cent in GE2015.
In the closely watched contest for East Coast GRC, Heng led the PAP team to triumph over the WP team led by Nicole Seah, winning 53.41 per cent of the vote.
Heng revealed that when he was first appointed as leader of the 4G team, he was already thinking about the heavy responsibilities and tasks ahead, saying that the pandemic last year was a turning point for him.
“I started thinking about it when I was appointed. I do not want to take on any job which I cannot deliver. Those of you who have worked with me know I am a workaholic. And I put my heart and soul into what I do. And therefore, I’ve been thinking about it as to whether am I the right person?”
In a joint statement before the conference, the 4G leaders excluding Heng said they “respect and accept” the DPM’s decision.
“We appreciate what a difficult decision it must have been. But no one could have foreseen the disruption of COVID-19, the great uncertainty it has created, and its long-lasting impact. We know that he has made the decision with Singapore’s long-term interests at heart.”
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Related story:
DPM Heng Swee Keat steps aside as leader of 4G team, ‘setback for succession planning’
https://www.theonlinecitizen.com/202...spore-leaders/
Leong Sze Hian’s crowdfunding success demonstrates how common people can weaken libel tactics by S’pore leaders
by The Online Citizen 07/04/2021in Court Cases, MediaReading Time: 3 mins read 88
Veteran blogger Leong Sze Hian’s crowdfunding success on Easter Sunday has highlighted how libel tactics by the Singapore leaders can be easily weakened by the common people through donations in a crowdfunding campaign.
Mr Leong, a financial advisor and blogger, initiated his crowdfunding effort on 25 Mar after the High Court ordered a sum of S$133,000 to be paid to Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong for the defamation suit brought against him by PM Lee.
The defamation suit concerns an article shared by Mr Leong on his personal Facebook Timeline titled “Breaking News: Singapore Lee Hsien Loong Becomes 1MDB’s Key Investigation Target – Najib Signed Several Unfair Agreements with Hsien Loong In Exchange For Money Laundering”.
The article, published by “Malaysian-based social news network” The Coverage, alleged that PM Lee had entered “several unfair agreements” with Najib Razak, who was the Malaysian Prime Minister at the time the deals purportedly took place, “including the agreement to build the Singapore-Malaysia High-Speed Rail”, according to court documents.
After just 11 days of crowdfunding, Mr Leong said that a “Miracle on Easter Sunday” had been achieved, noting that 2,065 people had contributed to the crowdfunding efforts.
A total of S$133,082 was raised as of Sunday, with the highest donation being S$5,000 and the smallest being S$2.91.
Speaking to Asia Sentinel on Wednesday (7 Apr), he branded PM Lee winning the libel suit as a “pyrrhic victory”.
“Thousands have written to me. It seems that the fear of the people may be turning into anger. I hope that this will be the last time that any politician will sue ordinary citizens for defamation (in Singapore), as they must realize now that it does not pay to continue to do so,” said Mr Leong.
While Mr Leong has managed to raise the damages for the defamation suit, he is still required to pay various costs comprising legal costs and court fees, which could amount to S$50,000 or more.
A Singaporean lawyer based in Hong Kong – who was not identified in the Asia Sentinel report – said that defamation lawsuits by the ruling party are intended to “punish critics” and “cripple them financially”.
“If one disregards the time and effort that the defendant has to spend on his defense, then donations by the public to support the public mean that neither of these objectives is achieved.
“Critics are likely to keep their silence for fear of the financial cost associated with losing these defamation claims. If the financial cost is covered by donations, however, this removes a significant disincentive for offering criticism, and could encourage more people to speak up,” said the lawyer.
PM Lee is also suing Terry Xu, the chief editor of The Online Citizen, pertaining to an article published on 15 August 2019 titled “PM Lee’s wife, Ho Ching weirdly shares article on cutting ties with family members”.
The article contained alleged defamatory statements made by PM Lee’s siblings Mr Lee Hsien Yang and Dr Lee Wei Ling in relation to the 38 Oxley Road dispute.
Lawyer Lim Tean, who is defending both cases, told Asia Sentinel that he hopes the two libel cases of Mr Leong and Mr Xu will be the “last of the political libel trials our nation will witness”.
“Henceforth, the PAP should know that any attempt to curb free speech using antiquated libel laws will be met with the full resistance of the people, who are not prepared to be steamrolled any longer,” said Mr Lim.
He continued, “They may win the courts but these will be pyrrhic victories. The real winners will be the common man of Singapore who are willing to pay any price to support their champions such as Leong Sze Hian and Terry Xu, as this extraordinary crowdfunding campaign has demonstrated.”
Mr LHY, PM Lee’s younger brother, was among the 2,065 people who had donated to Mr Leong’s crowdfunding campaign.
“I was happy to be one of the many donors who came forward to help Leong to pay off the damages awarded by the court. It is very significant so many Singaporeans came forward to express their support,” said Mr LHY.
Correction: Edit about the phrase used by Mr Leong on pyrrhic victory
https://sg.news.yahoo.com/singaporea...062435406.html
Many Singaporeans feel CDC mayor salaries are ‘outrageous’: Pritam Singh
Nicholas Yong
Nicholas Yong·Assistant News Editor
24 February 2021·3-min read
SINGAPORE — Many Singaporeans are of the view that the salaries of Community Development Council (CDC) mayors are “outrageous”, mainly because they are not perceived to commensurate with the mayor’s roles and functions today, said Leader of the Opposition Pritam Singh on Wednesday (24 February).
“Other Singaporeans are of the view that the CDCs’ functions can be carried out by other existing entities, or by ministries and statutory boards, including other organisations under the People’s Association, particularly since the social footprint of each CDC is uneven, and can differ greatly compared to another,” claimed Singh.
“Yet others simply don’t know what the CDCs do.”
There are currently five district mayors - Low Yen Ling (South West), Denise Phua (Central), Fahmi Aliman (South East), Alex Yam (North West) and Desmond Choo (North East).
According to the 2012 White Paper on government salaries, mayors are paid an annual salary of $660,000. This is in addition to their annual MP allowance of $192,500.
Speaking during the parliamentary debate on Budget 2021, the Workers’ Party chief noted that $20 million was allocated to the CDCs in the Unity Budget last year, and this increased to $75 million a month later in the Resilience Budget. “This injection is equal to all the reserves of the CDCs put together, according to the CDCs’ FY 2018 annual report.”
The Aljunied Member of Parliament called for a “serious review” of the necessity of having full-time CDC mayors, suggesting that bodies such as the Citizens Consultative Committees (CCC) are more closely connected to the ground. He noted, for example, that representatives of market and merchants association are commonly represented on the CCCs, and there is one CCC for each ward or constituency.
It would follow, said Singh, that the CDCs’ role in the CDC voucher scheme is potentially “superfluous”. The 43-year-old added, “So it would appear to me as if the government is trying to find some way to make the CDCs relevant, in view of their relative absence in the public mindshare.”
CDC voucher scheme
Last Tuesday, the government announced a $900 million Household Support package for families in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic. Under the package, about 1.3 million households will be given $100 CDC vouchers, with an additional $150 million grant to the CDC for this. Recipients can use the vouchers at heartland shops and hawker centres.
Singh asked the government to clarify if the CDC vouchers can also be used at supermarket chains such as Giant, Sheng Siong and NTUC FairPrice. He suggested that the current scheme be focused solely on heartland shops and hawkers, such as local provision shops, Chinese sinsehs and fruit sellers
“There’s a risk that if this is not done, the bulk of the vouchers would be spent at supermarkets like NTUC, Fairprice and bypass the heartland shops. If the major supermarket chains are involved, the scheme could effectively mirror a cash top up.”
He also asked how much of the $150 million has been allocated for the CDC voucher scheme per se, and how much constitutes the amount allocated for the administration of the program.
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Related stories:
80% of Singaporeans think Budget 2021 will boost economy: survey
Budget 2021: Singapore expects overall budget deficit of $11 billion for FY2021
Singapore Budget 2021: More winners than losers
Quote:
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kuasimi
https://sg.yahoo.com/news/comment-he...035901193.html
COMMENT: Heng Swee Keat - Chosen as Singapore PM, chose to quit
Nicholas Yong
Nicholas Yong·Assistant News Editor
Fri, 9 April 2021, 11:59 am
SINGAPORE — The would-be king is dead. Long live the king - whoever he or she might be.
Heng Swee Keat, once proclaimed by the late Lee Kuan Yew as his most capable aide ever, has now joined the ranks of political could-have-beens like Anwar Ibrahim and Hillary Clinton, leaving Singaporeans to wonder what sort of Prime Minister he might have made. All in, he lasted around two and a half years as the heir apparent to PM Lee Hsien Loong.
In a televised Istana press conference on Thursday (8 April) that was open only to Singapore Press Holdings (SPH) and Mediacorp outlets, as well as the social news site Mothership, the Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister abdicated as the chosen one almost nine months after the General Election, amid a plethora of well-rehearsed talking points.
But while PM Lee and Heng’s fourth-generation colleagues were all singing from the same hymn sheet, the end result was still puzzlingly, and maddeningly, discordant.
The 59-year-old first cited his age - he had belatedly realised that by the time the next General Election comes around, Heng will be in his mid-60s, and the runway for leadership succession will be too short. “We need someone who is younger with a longer runway, to not think in just one or two election terms, but think about the long term future of Singapore,” he said, exhibiting the body language of a man ill at ease in the glare of the media spotlight.
Then there was the startling admission that he had not seen himself as up to the job from day one. Asked when he had started thinking about stepping aside, Heng, who will retain his post as Coordinating Minister for Economic Policies, replied, “I started thinking about it when I was appointed. I do not want to take on any job which I cannot deliver…And therefore, I’ve been thinking about it as to whether am I the right person?”
To further complicate matters, despite singing his praises amid a show of unity, Heng’s 4G colleagues have yet to choose a new successor and said in a joint statement that his decision was an “unexpected turn of events”. Even more confusingly, Senior Minister and Coordinating Minister for National Security Teo Chee Hean will be acting PM whenever PM Lee is on leave, despite Heng remaining as DPM for now.
The average Singaporean could be forgiven for thinking: what is going on? For there is no other way to call it but for what it is: a leadership crisis.
Something does not add up
Yahoo News Singapore contributor PN Balji, a former editor of The New Paper and Today, covered two prime ministerial successions in his career: from the late Lee to Goh Chok Tong to the current incumbent. Now, he said, Singapore’s well-choreographed leadership succession has gone “topsy turvy”, even though Lee, 69, had already pledged to stay on till the end of the pandemic.
“The Singapore system is such that everything is well planned. Now Mr Heng steps aside and we don’t know who is going to take over. He is not going to be Finance Minister, but he’s still going to be DPM for a while. It’s all very intriguing and unsettling for Singapore,” Balji said.
Balji was also unconvinced by the 4G leaders citing the pandemic as a reason for the disruption in leadership succession. “COVID-19 has been here for a year. Is it worse than what it was a year ago? And PM Lee has already said he will not hand over until COVID-19 is over. So what is the pressure on Heng Swee Keat?”
All this does not bode well for the People’s Action Party, in the wake of last year’s election that saw the opposition making historic gains and the PAP’s vote share falling by almost nine percentage points. Since then, the ruling party has stumbled from one setback to another, whether it be the TraceTogether debacle or its apparent U-turn on the contentious tudung issue.
Come the next election, what would the PAP say if the Workers’ Party, which ran Heng to the wire in his East Coast ward, or any other opposition party were to contest the GRC and tell residents there: you were duped into voting for a man who was supposed to be PM, are you going to be duped yet again?
First among equals?
With the benefit of 20/20 vision - no pun intended - Heng’s unease in his role had been apparent for some time. One of the clearest signs that he might not be primus inter pares was his fumbling performance in a November 2019 parliamentary session.
Having proposed a motion that called on WP Members of Parliament Low Thia Khiang and Sylvia Lim to recuse themselves from financial matters relating to the Aljunied-Hougang Town Council (AHTC), he was meant to carry the ball. This reporter wrote at the time, “Instead, just minutes into the debate on the motion, Heng had to call for a time-out. He hummed and hawed, flipping through his folder like a student stumbling through his class presentation.”
Tellingly, clips of PM Lee looking exasperated and instructing Heng on what to say in the session had been circulating online. The latter’s reputation has always been that of a genial technocrat, and not a political street fighter.
Then came the 2020 election, when Heng made his infamous “East Coast Plan” gaffe and led his East Coast team to a less than convincing victory with just 53.41 per cent of the vote share. And despite delivering five pandemic Budgets, he was not at the front and centre of the government’s efforts to combat the coronavirus, raising questions about whether he inspired confidence among his own colleagues.
Who will be next?
National broadsheet The Straits Times, without citing any polls or individuals in the know, has already anointed four men as potential successors to Heng.
They are: Transport Minister Ong Ye Kung and Trade and Industry Minister Chan Chun Sing, both of whom have often been spoken of as potential PMs; Education Minister Lawrence Wong, who has impressed with his handling of the pandemic; and National Development Minister Desmond Lee, the youngest of the quartet at 44.
With a Cabinet reshuffle due in two weeks, matters will hopefully become clearer.
But the damage has been done with Singapore’s leadership succession in disarray. The PAP must move quickly and decisively if it is to reassure stakeholders on the domestic and international fronts.
It is uncertain if Heng will even be around to contest at the next GE.
Once upon time, the late Lee declared “I will now play goalkeeper” as he handed over to Goh Chok Tong. In Heng’s case, he has called for his own substitution long before the 90 minutes are up. Who will emerge to see Singapore through the game?
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Originally Posted by
kuasimi
https://psp.org.sg/ncmp-leong-mun-wa...pa-budget2021/
NCMP Leong Mun Wai questions the PA’s huge budget of S$796 million for 2021
During the recent debate in Parliament about Singapore’s Budget for 2021, PSP NCMP Leong Mun Wai noted that the People’s Association (PA) budget was surprisingly high yet again, while many Singaporeans are still unsure about the PA’s exact role in society.
NCMP Leong expressed his concerns surrounding the PA’s staggering budget of S$796 million, an amount that is higher then other Government Agencies with more obvious functions, like IRAS or Govtech.
In 2020, PA spent $199m on events, but more than $441m on administrative costs. NCMP Leong sought clarity on how PA money is spent, in line with PSP’s belief that transparency in Government is an important tenet of a modern society that honours the democratic process.
Finally, NCMP Leong also sought answers about the political affiliations of PA management and volunteers. As a body that receives public funds, it is imperative that the PA remains politically neutral – both in its internal structures and its external activities in the different communities of Singapore.
As PSP continues to strive towards transparency of Government, our NCMPs will continue to seek clarity on issues such as the true role of organizations like the People’s Association (PA) that receive and use taxpayer money.
The Video for Mr Leong’s speech can be viewed here:
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Originally Posted by
jaccy
political always effect economic of country and living cost of people that is us
Quote:
Originally Posted by
jaccy
please consider on your people life. What will happen if expenses always increase without increase of salary?