Campaign Trail - Foreign Labour and Population Policy
Foreign Labour and Population Policy (FLPP) still remains as the SUPER HOT TOPIC on the ground when we went around CCK.
Interesting enough, I have met FIVE different groups of people so far, putting up their grievances about this FLPP.
1) The first group of people is of course Singaporeans who are EXTREMELY Angry of Singaporeans being displaced by cheaper foreign labour and forced to drive taxi or suffers "underemployment". These people will not show up in government statistics as "unemployed" but the truth is, these PMETs are UNDEREMPLOYED.
2) This group of Singaporeans are angry about the crowding effect of overpopulation and the cultural conflicts caused by excessive foreign population growth. This is a big potential time bomb and it has become BIGGER than a mere problem of "integration".
3) This group of Singaporeans are those with foreign spouses. PAP government has refused citizenship/PRs to their foreign spouses or give long term visit passes to their foreign parents to come to Singapore so that they could take care of their children. This is due to the "low income" criteria that ICA set for such cases. The irony is that while PAP government discriminated against lower income earners in marrying foreign spouses but to the lower income earners, the only option for them to get married is to marry foreign brides!
4) This group of Singaporeans were born in Singapore but they have siblings who are born elsewhere (eg. Malaysia). They wanted to get their siblings to come and live with them, even willing to be their sponsors but ICA has ruled against it! This is basically inhumane!
5) This group consists of SMEs owners who are "victims" of people pressuring PAP government to tighten FLPP. They seems to blame "opposition parties" for it but I have to explain to them that it is PAP's mismanagement of the FLPP and quota system that created their problems.
I also explain to them that they should take active steps to review their company or factories' processes to increase productivity while cutting down dependency on extensive labour. MOM should coordinate and monitor such improvement made to SMEs. SMEs may lack access to technology or expertise which are used in other countries and MOM or SPRING should be playing a more active role in consultancy work to help them to further improve processes. Productivity growth continues to be low because PAP government only throw money after tons of paper work and bureaucracy. If a SME has really reached a high level of automation but still have difficulties in employing local operators, then MOM should allow them to increase their quota. This should be done case by case basis.
MNCs and GLCs hardly have any problems in employing Foreign Labour and some have extremely favourable quota to start with. The irony is that these jobs are mainly PMET jobs which Singaporeans desire and want to do but PAP government has allowed them to be displaced by loose quota.
Ironically, PAP government has set very high workers' levies on jobs which Singaporeans shun away (eg. Construction)
I also find it extremely CRUEL and Inhumanely inconsiderate for ICA to make it extremely difficult for middle-lower income Singaporeans to get PRs or citizenship for their foreign spouses. It is ironic that some of them whom are from lower income household, could not get citizenship for their foreign spouses and ended up paying more for everything just because their PRs or just long term visiting pass status.
I am not entirely against FLPP but I believe, we should do it responsibly and with a right direction. I would want to GROW ORGANIC local families with foreign spouses and would not mind giving citizenship to these foreigners who are married to Singaporeans.
It would be totally ironic to see foreign labour from India or PRCs allowed to bring their whole family to Singapore to reside and getting PRs so easily just because they earn higher income or subject to the liberal FTAs signed with their home countries while our local Singaporeans' foreign spouses were discriminated against, due to the lower earning power.
Foreign spouses of Singaporeans will integrate into our society much easier than those foreign labour who bring in their whole family from foreign land. I really cannot understand the rationale behind such discrimination against our own Singaporeans at all.
Last but not least, we should set up a "Recovery from Underemployment" mechanism to help those who are really underemployed (eg PMETs turn taxi drivers) to get back to work in the field of their expertise again.
Goh Meng Seng
Saturday, August 29, 2015
Thursday, August 27, 2015
United We Fight
PAP is really fearful of OPPOSITION UNITY and they have taken unprecedented rule to ban opposition leaders to speak on each other parties' rallies!
I remembered JBJ and Chiam See Tong had stood on the SAME RALLY stage to give speeches!
Why would we, Opposition leaders be BANNED from speaking on any other parties' rallies just because we are opposition party members? Why are our RIGHTS to Freedom of speech be ROBBED away just like that, citing some excuses?
We will challenge PAP to state clearly the rationale of such new rules!
I have told all opposition leaders that I am prepared to speak at any party's rallies as long as they invite me to and it doesn't clash with my own rallies.
In fact someone in the Unity Meeting has suggested that we put up a combined list of Speakers so that we can speak on each other rallies!
It seems that PAP is extremely FEARFUL of OPPOSITION UNITY. The more they are fearful, the more we should stick together and stay UNITED!
Goh Meng Seng
Wednesday, August 26, 2015
民主同路人
道不同不相为谋的说法，恕我无法苟同。我深信各个反对党，无论规模大小，都是在这条新加坡民主路上的同道中人。
我们这个非正式的反对党联合阵线，会秉持海纳百川，有容乃大的宗旨和精神，广结努力争取新加坡真民主的同路人，以团结的力量，突破一党专政的局面。
而且在政治上，我们永不说不合作。合作的大门还是会为真正的民主斗士而开着的。
吴明盛
我们这个非正式的反对党联合阵线，会秉持海纳百川，有容乃大的宗旨和精神，广结努力争取新加坡真民主的同路人，以团结的力量，突破一党专政的局面。
而且在政治上，我们永不说不合作。合作的大门还是会为真正的民主斗士而开着的。
吴明盛
Tuesday, August 25, 2015
Campaign Trail - A Clean Gentleman Contest
Campaign Trail - A Clean Gentleman Contest
We were at Nanyang and as usual, PAP's candidate My Yee who was redeployed from Punggol East to CCK Nanyang came to greet us.
After exchanging formal greetings, I was a bit surprised that he took the time and trouble to sit down and has a small chat with me.
I have done a bit of research on Mr Yee after the announcement of his candidacy in CCK Nayang. And as expected, he is indeed an unassuming and down to earth person.
In fact we share some common traits. He jokingly says that although he was from RI but he is just a "farmer", not a scholar or elite.
He started serving Ren Ci after Mingyi left. I told him that I used to serve a Buddhist welfare organization as well in fund raising during Hungry Ghost month. He also shared his visits to the three famous Buddhist temples in Taiwan.
After finishing up the drink he has treated me, it was time to go. But before leaving, he has left his name card with me. I promised him that no matter what is the outcome of this contest, we shall meet again for tea.
This encounter with Mr Yee leaves me thinking. PAP may have numerous MPs or Ministers whom we dislike but there are also some, though few, who are the ones with humility and sincerity to serve the Nation.
Mr Yee may be one of them but unfortunately, we are now opponents doing a face off in this GE.
Nevertheless, as gentlemen, we contest aggressively against each other's political views and ideas but will definitely keep the sparring CLEAN from malicious smearing.
May the better man wins.
Goh Meng Seng
We were at Nanyang and as usual, PAP's candidate My Yee who was redeployed from Punggol East to CCK Nanyang came to greet us.
After exchanging formal greetings, I was a bit surprised that he took the time and trouble to sit down and has a small chat with me.
I have done a bit of research on Mr Yee after the announcement of his candidacy in CCK Nayang. And as expected, he is indeed an unassuming and down to earth person.
In fact we share some common traits. He jokingly says that although he was from RI but he is just a "farmer", not a scholar or elite.
He started serving Ren Ci after Mingyi left. I told him that I used to serve a Buddhist welfare organization as well in fund raising during Hungry Ghost month. He also shared his visits to the three famous Buddhist temples in Taiwan.
After finishing up the drink he has treated me, it was time to go. But before leaving, he has left his name card with me. I promised him that no matter what is the outcome of this contest, we shall meet again for tea.
This encounter with Mr Yee leaves me thinking. PAP may have numerous MPs or Ministers whom we dislike but there are also some, though few, who are the ones with humility and sincerity to serve the Nation.
Mr Yee may be one of them but unfortunately, we are now opponents doing a face off in this GE.
Nevertheless, as gentlemen, we contest aggressively against each other's political views and ideas but will definitely keep the sparring CLEAN from malicious smearing.
May the better man wins.
Goh Meng Seng
Monday, August 24, 2015
The Mother of All Problems - Unchecked Population Growth
Reporter called to ask me on my view of PM Lee's NDR speech. The key point lies on the "sensitive" Foreign Labour-Population growth policy.
I have issued a SERIOUS warning to PM Lee and his PAP team. This "sensitive" issue of unchecked population growth has reached a dangerous social boiling point. It is no longer about simple trade offs but rather, when will there be social uprising against this senseless GDP growth at all cost which resulted in explosive population growth if there is no immediate measures to moderate it.
It will no longer be whether we can have good economic/GDP growth but whether our social fabric will rupture and social disgruntlement will turn ugly, creating instability.
PAP ruling elites should stop running the country by burying themselves in their world of digits and economic theories.
PAP has made two critical mistakes in managing the population growth:
1) Inadequate corresponding infrastructure development to cope with sudden rapid population growth. It is definitely amazing for the supposed top talents who are paid millions every year to make such amateur, common sense mistake. Take hospital beds for example. for the last decade, there is a growth of over 1 million population but there was only an increase of 500 beds. It will take more than another decade before another 2000 beds to be added in the immediate future. However, PAP is planning to have another more than 1 million population growth! This is totally unacceptable.
2) Disastrous management of population growth whereby there is practically no proper checks done on the qualifications of those who wanted to come to Singapore to work. MOM has the gull to say that it is the responsibility of employers to do due diligence on the qualifications of their employees! Furthermore, the FTAs signed with other big third world countries have put in terms of allowing "UNLIMITED NUMBER" of people from these countries to come to Singapore to work! For example, India has over 1 billion people. Singapore, as a tiny little red dot, has actually signed CECA which allows unlimited number of Indians to come to Singapore to work in 127 professions! Can we accommodate even 1% of Indian population of 10 million people? Here again, I do not know why such intelligent breed of PAP leaders could have such simple common sense escape them!
My take is, if PM Lee and his team still continue to ignore all the disturbing signs from the ground while keep talking about "painful trade offs", it will be just a matter of time before social unrest blew up right in front of their faces.
Goh Meng Seng
I have issued a SERIOUS warning to PM Lee and his PAP team. This "sensitive" issue of unchecked population growth has reached a dangerous social boiling point. It is no longer about simple trade offs but rather, when will there be social uprising against this senseless GDP growth at all cost which resulted in explosive population growth if there is no immediate measures to moderate it.
It will no longer be whether we can have good economic/GDP growth but whether our social fabric will rupture and social disgruntlement will turn ugly, creating instability.
PAP ruling elites should stop running the country by burying themselves in their world of digits and economic theories.
PAP has made two critical mistakes in managing the population growth:
1) Inadequate corresponding infrastructure development to cope with sudden rapid population growth. It is definitely amazing for the supposed top talents who are paid millions every year to make such amateur, common sense mistake. Take hospital beds for example. for the last decade, there is a growth of over 1 million population but there was only an increase of 500 beds. It will take more than another decade before another 2000 beds to be added in the immediate future. However, PAP is planning to have another more than 1 million population growth! This is totally unacceptable.
2) Disastrous management of population growth whereby there is practically no proper checks done on the qualifications of those who wanted to come to Singapore to work. MOM has the gull to say that it is the responsibility of employers to do due diligence on the qualifications of their employees! Furthermore, the FTAs signed with other big third world countries have put in terms of allowing "UNLIMITED NUMBER" of people from these countries to come to Singapore to work! For example, India has over 1 billion people. Singapore, as a tiny little red dot, has actually signed CECA which allows unlimited number of Indians to come to Singapore to work in 127 professions! Can we accommodate even 1% of Indian population of 10 million people? Here again, I do not know why such intelligent breed of PAP leaders could have such simple common sense escape them!
My take is, if PM Lee and his team still continue to ignore all the disturbing signs from the ground while keep talking about "painful trade offs", it will be just a matter of time before social unrest blew up right in front of their faces.
Goh Meng Seng
Sunday, August 23, 2015
What am I fighting for Singapore?
What am I fighting for Singapore?
Many concerned supporters have come forward to urge me not to hit on the MOB who go around smearing other opposition political leaders. They are extremely worried that I will lose support of the Mob supporters of certain political party if I continue to criticise them for their dirty underhand tactics.
My response is as follows:
I decided to join opposition politics not just because I want to get elected as MP. It is more of my vision and hope for Singapore, to develop a REAL Democracy for our future generations, breaking out of the current system of authoritarianism.
I hold true to my values of Democracy and I do not believe in MOB RULE. I believe in healthy contest of elections based on contest of ideas, ideals and policy views, instead of dirty underhand smearing tactic. That is not I want for Singapore and my future generations.
In this adverse political landscape manipulated by PAP's Gerrymandering and GRC system, opposition parties may try their best to negotiate and come to consensus of not having multi-corner fights so that we opposition as a whole, can have better chance to break PAP's monopoly of power by holding more than two third of the seats. Our aim is to break the two third majority held by PAP.
But if some of us failed to resolve conflicting interests and claims, then so be it. We should respect the democratic process and allow voters to judge, based on candidates' strength, values and political discourse, instead of going into madness of political assassination via smearing campaign.
Singapore deserves better than that. We have been complaining against PAP of using such smearing tactic each and every elections but we must also be mindful of supporters of opposition party doing exactly what we detest of PAP's deeds.
This mindless smearing campaign will only hinder the development of a healthy Democracy for Singapore. It will also prevent more good people from stepping forward to serve as opposition candidates for fear of being smeared by the MOB.
Thus in my view, if I do not voice out against such destructive MOB rule just for FEAR of losing my elections, then I would rather quit politics altogether. If such MOB Rule is able to convince Singaporeans of not voting me just because I am against them, then so be it. I shall respect the will and decision of Singaporeans, thus not serving the country as a parliamentarian.
I have embarked on this bumpy journey of opposition politics about 15 years ago and I have seen all sorts of madness along the way. But I am determined to stick to what I truly believe in and not sway by such madness of Mob rule.
Vote me if you believe in me and my vision for a truly Democratic Singapore with the functioning system embedded with Separation of Powers. If you believe in such MOB rule, then you have the right not to support nor vote for me.
Goh Meng Seng
Many concerned supporters have come forward to urge me not to hit on the MOB who go around smearing other opposition political leaders. They are extremely worried that I will lose support of the Mob supporters of certain political party if I continue to criticise them for their dirty underhand tactics.
My response is as follows:
I decided to join opposition politics not just because I want to get elected as MP. It is more of my vision and hope for Singapore, to develop a REAL Democracy for our future generations, breaking out of the current system of authoritarianism.
I hold true to my values of Democracy and I do not believe in MOB RULE. I believe in healthy contest of elections based on contest of ideas, ideals and policy views, instead of dirty underhand smearing tactic. That is not I want for Singapore and my future generations.
In this adverse political landscape manipulated by PAP's Gerrymandering and GRC system, opposition parties may try their best to negotiate and come to consensus of not having multi-corner fights so that we opposition as a whole, can have better chance to break PAP's monopoly of power by holding more than two third of the seats. Our aim is to break the two third majority held by PAP.
But if some of us failed to resolve conflicting interests and claims, then so be it. We should respect the democratic process and allow voters to judge, based on candidates' strength, values and political discourse, instead of going into madness of political assassination via smearing campaign.
Singapore deserves better than that. We have been complaining against PAP of using such smearing tactic each and every elections but we must also be mindful of supporters of opposition party doing exactly what we detest of PAP's deeds.
This mindless smearing campaign will only hinder the development of a healthy Democracy for Singapore. It will also prevent more good people from stepping forward to serve as opposition candidates for fear of being smeared by the MOB.
Thus in my view, if I do not voice out against such destructive MOB rule just for FEAR of losing my elections, then I would rather quit politics altogether. If such MOB Rule is able to convince Singaporeans of not voting me just because I am against them, then so be it. I shall respect the will and decision of Singaporeans, thus not serving the country as a parliamentarian.
I have embarked on this bumpy journey of opposition politics about 15 years ago and I have seen all sorts of madness along the way. But I am determined to stick to what I truly believe in and not sway by such madness of Mob rule.
Vote me if you believe in me and my vision for a truly Democratic Singapore with the functioning system embedded with Separation of Powers. If you believe in such MOB rule, then you have the right not to support nor vote for me.
Goh Meng Seng
Say No to Third World Dirty Smearing Politics!
I find it distasteful and downright despicable for supporters of some political party to utilize underhand smearing tactic to attack their opponents.
We won't be able to achieve "First World Parliament" with such Third World despicable dirty politics.
First the mob attack SDA Desmond Lim, harassing him to the max with all kinds of insinuation and smearing. Then they turn against NSP Sebastian Teo and Steve Chia.
We want a CLEAN fight, not dirty smearing Third World politics. We want First World Democracy which we have more debates on policy matters and views, instead of such smearing and mudslinging.
General Elections is about the Contest of ideas, ideals and policy views. It is NOT a smearing or mudslinging contest.
I hereby strongly condemn the mob behind all these dirty smearing which hit under the belt. Opposition politicians have taken the risks and sacrifices to come to the front to contest. Freedom is NOT Free and definitely NOT CHEAP. For every contest, we are spending tens of thousands of dollars and we do not have the whole machinery behind us. Whether you like it or not, opposition politicians deserve respect, not smearing.
Supporters have the freedom to support or not to support any political parties. If there is three corner fight, so be it. Let voters decide in the democratic way.
People who disrespect the rights of others (to contest), do not really believe in democracy. I really fear for Singapore if such a mob really run Singapore.
You just can't achieve First World Parliament with Third World dirty smearing politics!
Goh Meng Seng
We won't be able to achieve "First World Parliament" with such Third World despicable dirty politics.
First the mob attack SDA Desmond Lim, harassing him to the max with all kinds of insinuation and smearing. Then they turn against NSP Sebastian Teo and Steve Chia.
We want a CLEAN fight, not dirty smearing Third World politics. We want First World Democracy which we have more debates on policy matters and views, instead of such smearing and mudslinging.
General Elections is about the Contest of ideas, ideals and policy views. It is NOT a smearing or mudslinging contest.
I hereby strongly condemn the mob behind all these dirty smearing which hit under the belt. Opposition politicians have taken the risks and sacrifices to come to the front to contest. Freedom is NOT Free and definitely NOT CHEAP. For every contest, we are spending tens of thousands of dollars and we do not have the whole machinery behind us. Whether you like it or not, opposition politicians deserve respect, not smearing.
Supporters have the freedom to support or not to support any political parties. If there is three corner fight, so be it. Let voters decide in the democratic way.
People who disrespect the rights of others (to contest), do not really believe in democracy. I really fear for Singapore if such a mob really run Singapore.
You just can't achieve First World Parliament with Third World dirty smearing politics!
Goh Meng Seng
Saturday, August 22, 2015
Do We want Political Elitism?
Do We want Political Elitism?
Are voters supporting Political Elitism? Most of the time, opposition supporters detest the PAP's Elitism and opined that these ruling elites are out of touch of the ground for far too long.
However, when it comes to opposition candidacy, supporters and Singaporeans at large have went back to their nurtured "elitist" mind of looking at opposition candidates' paper qualifications and superficial outlook.
I notice that some people are harassing SDA and its leader, Desmond Lim, even go to the extend of "heckling" him at his company's FB page, to "pressure" him not to contest at Punggol Pasir Ris GRC. These people opined that he is "no good" or lack "caliber" etc. They prefer some other party without even asking what candidates they will field in replacement.
These people laugh at Desmon Lim's spoken English but I can say that most Singaporeans do not speak perfect English as well.
I have known Desmond Lim for quite sometime now. He is definitely not some "elites" whom you will find in PAP. He is just a typical Singaporean. But he is definitely unassuming and his people's skills are definitely above average.
As a matter of fact, Desmond Lim and I had a quarrel back in GE2011 out of some misunderstanding. However he was the one who took the initiative to extend his olive branch when we met at a mutual friend's wedding dinner.
Many people expect opposition candidates to be like super elite scholars like Chen Show Mao before they would swing their votes towards opposition parties. As I say, although Singaporeans dislike those ruling elites very much but somehow, this subconsciousness of wanting "elites" to be their political leaders is very deep rooted.
But I can safely say that "elites" are not necessary desirable. We need elites with the HEART to serve. Chen Show Mao is one of the few we could find.
Having said that, does it mean that any "lesser mortal" is undeserving to be opposition candidates and MPs? Of course not.
Just for example, Desmond Lim has his strength which many so call "elites" do not have.
First of all, People skills. The ability to connect with the people on the ground is very important. Many "elites" whom I have met and seen, lack such basic skills.
Secondly, his experience in running the Potong Town Council. Many elites may be highly qualified lawyers, doctors, scholars etc but they may not know how to run a Town Council efficiently and effectively.
Another important skill Desmond has is his Mandarin capability. He may have some deficiency in his spoken English due to some reasons, but so far, I would say that he is one of the few opposition politicians who can speak fluent Mandarin. Many people thought that this skill is less important but the truth is this, there are many New Citizens who come from China. They feel better connected to politicians who can speak fluent Mandarin. In order to swing these New Citizens' votes, opposition parties will need an extremely strong Mandarin anchor.
Thus my message to opposition supporters, especially those who look down on some other politicians for the reason that they aren't the "elites" they are yearning for, each opposition candidate has made enormous sacrifices to walk to the front line to fight the battle. They don't deserve to be ridiculed in such a rude and hurting way. They are just trying to serve the nation in their own little ways.
We are not looking for elites to contest as opposition candidates. We are looking for people who would put their hearts and souls in serving the people. One thing for sure, everyone should recognize the resolve and determination of people like Desmond Lim. Most people would have broken down in spirit or just given up for good but at the very least, he perseveres.
Let us be more grateful and appreciative of what others have sacrificed to offer Singaporeans the chance to vote and change Singapore for the better.
For the matter of fact, we don't really just need political elitism or "Ministerial caliber". We also need people from different background to represent the voices of people.
As it stands now, we are going into full gear of electoral preparations and I urge those people who are going around to harass SDA and Desmon Lim to stop doing so.
Goh Meng Seng
Are voters supporting Political Elitism? Most of the time, opposition supporters detest the PAP's Elitism and opined that these ruling elites are out of touch of the ground for far too long.
However, when it comes to opposition candidacy, supporters and Singaporeans at large have went back to their nurtured "elitist" mind of looking at opposition candidates' paper qualifications and superficial outlook.
I notice that some people are harassing SDA and its leader, Desmond Lim, even go to the extend of "heckling" him at his company's FB page, to "pressure" him not to contest at Punggol Pasir Ris GRC. These people opined that he is "no good" or lack "caliber" etc. They prefer some other party without even asking what candidates they will field in replacement.
These people laugh at Desmon Lim's spoken English but I can say that most Singaporeans do not speak perfect English as well.
I have known Desmond Lim for quite sometime now. He is definitely not some "elites" whom you will find in PAP. He is just a typical Singaporean. But he is definitely unassuming and his people's skills are definitely above average.
As a matter of fact, Desmond Lim and I had a quarrel back in GE2011 out of some misunderstanding. However he was the one who took the initiative to extend his olive branch when we met at a mutual friend's wedding dinner.
Many people expect opposition candidates to be like super elite scholars like Chen Show Mao before they would swing their votes towards opposition parties. As I say, although Singaporeans dislike those ruling elites very much but somehow, this subconsciousness of wanting "elites" to be their political leaders is very deep rooted.
But I can safely say that "elites" are not necessary desirable. We need elites with the HEART to serve. Chen Show Mao is one of the few we could find.
Having said that, does it mean that any "lesser mortal" is undeserving to be opposition candidates and MPs? Of course not.
Just for example, Desmond Lim has his strength which many so call "elites" do not have.
First of all, People skills. The ability to connect with the people on the ground is very important. Many "elites" whom I have met and seen, lack such basic skills.
Secondly, his experience in running the Potong Town Council. Many elites may be highly qualified lawyers, doctors, scholars etc but they may not know how to run a Town Council efficiently and effectively.
Another important skill Desmond has is his Mandarin capability. He may have some deficiency in his spoken English due to some reasons, but so far, I would say that he is one of the few opposition politicians who can speak fluent Mandarin. Many people thought that this skill is less important but the truth is this, there are many New Citizens who come from China. They feel better connected to politicians who can speak fluent Mandarin. In order to swing these New Citizens' votes, opposition parties will need an extremely strong Mandarin anchor.
Thus my message to opposition supporters, especially those who look down on some other politicians for the reason that they aren't the "elites" they are yearning for, each opposition candidate has made enormous sacrifices to walk to the front line to fight the battle. They don't deserve to be ridiculed in such a rude and hurting way. They are just trying to serve the nation in their own little ways.
We are not looking for elites to contest as opposition candidates. We are looking for people who would put their hearts and souls in serving the people. One thing for sure, everyone should recognize the resolve and determination of people like Desmond Lim. Most people would have broken down in spirit or just given up for good but at the very least, he perseveres.
Let us be more grateful and appreciative of what others have sacrificed to offer Singaporeans the chance to vote and change Singapore for the better.
For the matter of fact, we don't really just need political elitism or "Ministerial caliber". We also need people from different background to represent the voices of people.
As it stands now, we are going into full gear of electoral preparations and I urge those people who are going around to harass SDA and Desmon Lim to stop doing so.
Goh Meng Seng
Wednesday, August 19, 2015
NUSS Forum : Elitism, SAP schools and Singapore Inc.
Elitism, SAP schools and Singapore Inc.
SAP schools should be more inclusive. That's one of the points I have made during the NUSS Forum.
This is not really a "NEW POINT" which I have made, just that it was not emphasized in the past. I have made this point way back in GE2011 during my Tampines Election Rally. I have this view since I was 13 years old when I was enrolled into River Valley High, a SAP (Special Assistant Program) school.
When I first walked in to RV, I was quite disturbed because there was no Malay or Indian students. We are a Multi-Racial, Multi-Ethnic country and it is regrettable that I was not able to grow up in a learning environment together with other races.
Such deficiency has negative impact on the overall outlook and perspective of a SAP school student. Luckily for me, I took extra effort to make more Malay friends and try to understand them, their religion and culture. I even took the effort to read part of the English translated Koran back in secondary school.
I always feel that we should make an effort to include Higher Malay and Higher Tamil (last time we termed it as "First Language") in SAP schools so that our fellow Top Malay and Indian students who have done well could have the opportunities to enjoy the same system with excellent resources which provides good education to our Top Chinese students in Singapore.
The lack of Malay and Indian students will deprive these Top Chinese students the lifetime opportunity to mingle around with other ethnic groups and thus, reduced their ability to integrate and understand these ethnic groups better. If these Top Chinese "elites" were to become future leaders in all fields of the society, including politics, then there could be a problem of disconnection with other ethnic groups. This is totally unhealthy.
I raise this point of SAP school when a participant asked about "Elitism" in Singapore. I feel that the main problem is not "Elitism" but rather how we could form a cohesive leadership generations after generations if our SAP schools lack inclusiveness of the other ethnic groups of the society.
Furthermore, with regards to political leadership, the main problem with PAP government is not just about the ruling elites being disconnected from the ground but rather, they run Singapore like a company instead of a country.
There is a vast difference in perspective here. A company only cares about profits and bottom lines (i.e. GDP growth at all cost) and it could just get rid of people who are unproductive. But for a country like Singapore, there will be people who are unproductive for various reasons but could we as a Nation throw them away into the sea? Of course not! We should just stop this nonsense of Singapore Inc.
Goh Meng Seng
SAP schools should be more inclusive. That's one of the points I have made during the NUSS Forum.
This is not really a "NEW POINT" which I have made, just that it was not emphasized in the past. I have made this point way back in GE2011 during my Tampines Election Rally. I have this view since I was 13 years old when I was enrolled into River Valley High, a SAP (Special Assistant Program) school.
When I first walked in to RV, I was quite disturbed because there was no Malay or Indian students. We are a Multi-Racial, Multi-Ethnic country and it is regrettable that I was not able to grow up in a learning environment together with other races.
Such deficiency has negative impact on the overall outlook and perspective of a SAP school student. Luckily for me, I took extra effort to make more Malay friends and try to understand them, their religion and culture. I even took the effort to read part of the English translated Koran back in secondary school.
I always feel that we should make an effort to include Higher Malay and Higher Tamil (last time we termed it as "First Language") in SAP schools so that our fellow Top Malay and Indian students who have done well could have the opportunities to enjoy the same system with excellent resources which provides good education to our Top Chinese students in Singapore.
The lack of Malay and Indian students will deprive these Top Chinese students the lifetime opportunity to mingle around with other ethnic groups and thus, reduced their ability to integrate and understand these ethnic groups better. If these Top Chinese "elites" were to become future leaders in all fields of the society, including politics, then there could be a problem of disconnection with other ethnic groups. This is totally unhealthy.
I raise this point of SAP school when a participant asked about "Elitism" in Singapore. I feel that the main problem is not "Elitism" but rather how we could form a cohesive leadership generations after generations if our SAP schools lack inclusiveness of the other ethnic groups of the society.
Furthermore, with regards to political leadership, the main problem with PAP government is not just about the ruling elites being disconnected from the ground but rather, they run Singapore like a company instead of a country.
There is a vast difference in perspective here. A company only cares about profits and bottom lines (i.e. GDP growth at all cost) and it could just get rid of people who are unproductive. But for a country like Singapore, there will be people who are unproductive for various reasons but could we as a Nation throw them away into the sea? Of course not! We should just stop this nonsense of Singapore Inc.
Goh Meng Seng
Monday, August 17, 2015
CNA Censored PPP's Challenge to Minister Gan
Since PAP prefer its type of smearing and mudslinging kind of Elections....
I was told CNA actually changed their news title as well as content to leave out my CHALLENGE to Mr Gan to have a public debate on Healthcare issue!Below is the original news report.
It reported that Goh Meng Seng wanted to challenge Gan Kim Yong to a public debate.
http://sgtalk.org/mybb/Thread-Goh-Meng-Seng-challenges-Gan-Kim-Yong-to-come-for-healthcare-debate
http://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/singapore/ppp-s-goh-meng-seng/2054074.html
People's Power Party (PPP) secretary-general Goh Meng Seng on Sunday (Aug 16) said he is open to engaging in a public debate with Health Minister Gan Kim Yong on healthcare issues.
On a walkabout near Teck Whye in Chua Chu Kang GRC, Mr Goh said he was looking forward to taking on the People's Action Party (PAP) team of Mr Gan, MPs Low Yen Ling and Zaqy Mohamad and newcomer Yee Chia Hsing in the coming General Election. "I feel great because basically Mr Gan is staying as contestant in this GRC.
“My strategy is minister-specific in a sense. So I'm going to raise issues on healthcare, MediShield - MediShield Life particularly, as well as the hospital bed crunch. I hope we have a good debate and I would like to invite Mr Gan to a public townhall debate. I am looking forward to having a robust debate over the period."
Mr Goh also said the PAP has fielded “a good slate of candidates” in Chua Chu Kang GRC and is not planning to change his line-up for the constituency. “We expected more or less on that. There are no surprises from them, but hopefully we will have some surprises,” he said, adding that PPP may introduce its candidates for the four-member GRC in the coming week.
Asked if his team is ready to take on the challenge from the PAP, he said: "Yes, gloves off."
This is the MODIFIED News Content:
Below is the changed news report.
There is no mention of Goh Meng Seng challenging Gan Kim Yong for public debate anymore.
http://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/singapore/ppp-s-goh-meng-seng-to/2054074.html
People's Power Party (PPP) secretary-general Goh Meng Seng on Sunday (Aug 16) said he would like to tackle healthcare issues in his campaign for the coming General Election.
On a walkabout near Teck Whye in Chua Chu Kang GRC, Mr Goh said he was looking forward to taking on the People's Action Party (PAP) team of Mr Gan, MPs Low Yen Ling and Zaqy Mohamad and newcomer Yee Chia Hsing in the coming General Election. "I feel great because basically Mr Gan is staying as contestant in this GRC.
“My strategy is minister-specific in a sense. So I'm going to raise issues on healthcare, MediShield - MediShield Life particularly, as well as the hospital bed crunch. I am looking forward to having a robust debate."
Mr Goh also said the PAP has fielded “a good slate of candidates” in Chua Chu Kang GRC and is not planning to change his line-up for the constituency. “We expected more or less on that. There are no surprises from them, but hopefully we will have some surprises,” he said, adding that PPP may introduce its candidates for the four-member GRC in the coming week.
Asked if his team is ready to take on the challenge from the PAP, he said: "Yes, gloves off."
I guess this is not the FIRST time local Main Stream Media has censored their own original news posting which may sound "embarrassing" to the PAP govenrment. But I just find that all these censorship is totally unnecessary.
I am pretty sick of the Third World electioneering we have here in Singapore for the past few decades. General Elections are supposed to be a period whereby every political parties will contest based on their political ideas and ideals.
Policy debates should be welcome and the main focus of a First World Democracy but apparently, Singapore is far from being a First World Democracy.
Our past and present Genearl Elections are full of petty political bickering and mudslinging. For the current "Elections Hot Period", ever since the Electoral Boundaries Report has been announced, our main stream media is flooded with sensational smearing and mudslinging news. Even a simple photo of an opposition MP eating food in some constituency can become a spat between politicians!
So far, nobody has talked about any meaningful discourse of policy views or issues. Nobody is interested in Policy Debates which will give voters a clearer picture and information on each party's policy views.
It is really regrettable that PAP Minister Gan has declined to take up my challenge to debate on such an important issue which Singaporeans have indicated having great concerns in various surveys.
I hope PAP should grow up so that Singapore could mature into a First World Democracy.
Goh Meng Seng
Healthcare AFFORDABLE?
The last time when I brought up the issue of HDB prices, Mah Bow Tan also sing the tune that HDB is "Affordable" but is it really so?
As long as you have Restructured Hospitals which aim is not just cost recovery but also profit making, there is no guarantee that medishield life or pioneer package can help to lower actual payment by Singaporeans via cash or their medisave.
The truth is, once Pioneer Package is given out, even Government polyclinics have raised prices immediately! It is just a matter of left pocket in right pocket out and eventually in the long term, we will have a runaway medical cost.
The truth is, If we look and compare carefully of some of the charges included in polyclinics or restructured hospitals, initial prices were inflated so much so that they were more Expensive than private clinics and hospitals! Eg. Polyclinics consultation fees can be very much higher than private clinics before subsidies!
Such tactic is used to hoodwink Singaporeans to believe that PAP Government has given us hefty subsidies but in actual fact, such figures are grossly inflated.
Goh Meng Seng
As long as you have Restructured Hospitals which aim is not just cost recovery but also profit making, there is no guarantee that medishield life or pioneer package can help to lower actual payment by Singaporeans via cash or their medisave.
The truth is, once Pioneer Package is given out, even Government polyclinics have raised prices immediately! It is just a matter of left pocket in right pocket out and eventually in the long term, we will have a runaway medical cost.
The truth is, If we look and compare carefully of some of the charges included in polyclinics or restructured hospitals, initial prices were inflated so much so that they were more Expensive than private clinics and hospitals! Eg. Polyclinics consultation fees can be very much higher than private clinics before subsidies!
Such tactic is used to hoodwink Singaporeans to believe that PAP Government has given us hefty subsidies but in actual fact, such figures are grossly inflated.
Goh Meng Seng
Campaign Trail - Meeting & Challenging Minister Gan
Campaign Trail - Meeting & Challenging Minister Gan
Today was supposed to be like last weekend whereby we would just go around CCK greeting residents and introducing our relatively new party. Although a few reporters called up the previous day but I assumed it was just a routine call as they have done for past two weeks.
I didn't expect any reporter, lest CNA camera man to turn up at our area of ops. But unexpectedly, TNP reporter and the team of CNA camera men turned up. Most likely they were there because they have just covered the incumbent Minister Gan's walk about or announcement of PAP's CCK candidates.
Well, the smell of CCK is really sweet and our small campaigning team was pretty encouraged. I am personally surprised by the warm response from the residents at CCK.
We paused for a media interview by the TNP reporter with the camera on. I have issued a challenge to Minister Gan for a Town Hall debate on his healthcare policies as this has been my consistency in applying my "minister specific" strategy since 2011.
I wanted a very different type of campaign for not only my party PPP but for Singapore as a whole. Whenever I read the online and offline news, there were too much petty inconsequential bickering between some opposition parties and PAP. Imagine that even a simple photo and caption of someone having some good food at a perceived HOT SMC could become the focus of bickering and media attention! Do we seriously lack of anything more important or substance to report on the media other than such petty bickering?
If we seriously reflect on the past elections in last 50 years, how many of them really focus on important current issues of the day? How many serious debates have been made over various policy issues or how many insightful public discourse and policy views have been made during the elections hustling?
Past elections have been marred by endless smearing, mud-slinging, character assassination and inconsequential petty politicking and bickering.
I had wanted to change this bad electioneering culture of Singapore/PAP once and for all. Let's debate on serious stuffs. General Elections should be an open contest of political ideas and ideals. This is what a First World Democracy should be.
Thus, I have been trying to get PAP Ministers to debate on pertinent current issues since last elections GE2011. But it seems that even though PAP Ministers would have tremendous advantage as they have the whole army of civil servants to back them up in research and as a huge think tank, they have repeatedly declined to take up such challenge. I was disappointed when Mr Mah Bow Tan refused to hold a public debate with me on HDB housing issues back in GE2011.
I was hoping that Mr Gan Kim Yong would react differently and agree to have such debate.
Nevertheless, I have my answer right from the horse mouth not so long after I have issued my challenge to Mr Gan via the MSM. I met Mr. Gan right at the end of our activity when we were resting and preparing to leave the coffeeshop.
Mr Gan was game enough to come to our table and shake our hands when he saw us resting and drinking tea at a table. I took the opportunity to request to have a Town Hall debate with him. He said I could go ahead and hold a Town Hall meeting and he will respond when needed. It means that he would rather not to sit down face to face and have a live debate with me but prefer to go through my points raised and then decide whether to respond through the media! Well, that would be most advantageous to him tactically as he could get his army of think tank and civil servants to formulate any response if need to.
I asked again why not we hold such debate. He gave a weak excuse that the election rules don't allow us to do so! I said we could do BEFORE the elections is called as this is POLICY Debate and it is not some "combined rally" or whatever. As far as I know, there are no rules against policy debates outside of parliament!
And even if it is within the Elections period, I do not think there is a ban on political debate in public space.
Well, anyway, I guess that is the final answer from Minister Gan and I am really very disappointed. Ministers should always be ready to defend their own policies at all times, be it in or out of parliament. This is especially important during elections time because it is the time where the ministers should convince voters that they deserved their votes and support because they have come up with good policies! Running away from such public debates or challenge is totally unhelpful for us to mature into a First World Democracy.
Policy debates during election time are very common all over the world. This is not something new. If PAP is confident that their brains are the best and their policies are good, then it should not shy away from such challenge! It seems that PAP isn't that confident of their own policies and ministers at all.
I still hope Minister Gan would reconsider to take up this challenge. No matter who wins or loses, we will change and up the level of political contest many notches to achieve the REAL First World Democracy.
Goh Meng Seng
Today was supposed to be like last weekend whereby we would just go around CCK greeting residents and introducing our relatively new party. Although a few reporters called up the previous day but I assumed it was just a routine call as they have done for past two weeks.
I didn't expect any reporter, lest CNA camera man to turn up at our area of ops. But unexpectedly, TNP reporter and the team of CNA camera men turned up. Most likely they were there because they have just covered the incumbent Minister Gan's walk about or announcement of PAP's CCK candidates.
Well, the smell of CCK is really sweet and our small campaigning team was pretty encouraged. I am personally surprised by the warm response from the residents at CCK.
We paused for a media interview by the TNP reporter with the camera on. I have issued a challenge to Minister Gan for a Town Hall debate on his healthcare policies as this has been my consistency in applying my "minister specific" strategy since 2011.
I wanted a very different type of campaign for not only my party PPP but for Singapore as a whole. Whenever I read the online and offline news, there were too much petty inconsequential bickering between some opposition parties and PAP. Imagine that even a simple photo and caption of someone having some good food at a perceived HOT SMC could become the focus of bickering and media attention! Do we seriously lack of anything more important or substance to report on the media other than such petty bickering?
If we seriously reflect on the past elections in last 50 years, how many of them really focus on important current issues of the day? How many serious debates have been made over various policy issues or how many insightful public discourse and policy views have been made during the elections hustling?
Past elections have been marred by endless smearing, mud-slinging, character assassination and inconsequential petty politicking and bickering.
I had wanted to change this bad electioneering culture of Singapore/PAP once and for all. Let's debate on serious stuffs. General Elections should be an open contest of political ideas and ideals. This is what a First World Democracy should be.
Thus, I have been trying to get PAP Ministers to debate on pertinent current issues since last elections GE2011. But it seems that even though PAP Ministers would have tremendous advantage as they have the whole army of civil servants to back them up in research and as a huge think tank, they have repeatedly declined to take up such challenge. I was disappointed when Mr Mah Bow Tan refused to hold a public debate with me on HDB housing issues back in GE2011.
I was hoping that Mr Gan Kim Yong would react differently and agree to have such debate.
Nevertheless, I have my answer right from the horse mouth not so long after I have issued my challenge to Mr Gan via the MSM. I met Mr. Gan right at the end of our activity when we were resting and preparing to leave the coffeeshop.
Mr Gan was game enough to come to our table and shake our hands when he saw us resting and drinking tea at a table. I took the opportunity to request to have a Town Hall debate with him. He said I could go ahead and hold a Town Hall meeting and he will respond when needed. It means that he would rather not to sit down face to face and have a live debate with me but prefer to go through my points raised and then decide whether to respond through the media! Well, that would be most advantageous to him tactically as he could get his army of think tank and civil servants to formulate any response if need to.
I asked again why not we hold such debate. He gave a weak excuse that the election rules don't allow us to do so! I said we could do BEFORE the elections is called as this is POLICY Debate and it is not some "combined rally" or whatever. As far as I know, there are no rules against policy debates outside of parliament!
And even if it is within the Elections period, I do not think there is a ban on political debate in public space.
Well, anyway, I guess that is the final answer from Minister Gan and I am really very disappointed. Ministers should always be ready to defend their own policies at all times, be it in or out of parliament. This is especially important during elections time because it is the time where the ministers should convince voters that they deserved their votes and support because they have come up with good policies! Running away from such public debates or challenge is totally unhelpful for us to mature into a First World Democracy.
Policy debates during election time are very common all over the world. This is not something new. If PAP is confident that their brains are the best and their policies are good, then it should not shy away from such challenge! It seems that PAP isn't that confident of their own policies and ministers at all.
I still hope Minister Gan would reconsider to take up this challenge. No matter who wins or loses, we will change and up the level of political contest many notches to achieve the REAL First World Democracy.
Goh Meng Seng
Saturday, August 15, 2015
Campaign Trail - Understanding PAP Supporters
Understanding PAP Supporters
I have a few talks with some of my school mates and classmates recently. Most of them are doing pretty well in life, have good jobs, good business and families. More than half of them are PAP supporters while I am the only opposition politician among my cohort.
Almost all of them are well traveled all over the world or have lived and worked in other countries, both developed as well as underdeveloped countries in the world. The PAP supporters will feel that Singapore is the best because in other countries, even for developed countries, their efficiency sucks. Bureaucratic system makes simple task like getting electricity or telephone land lines a big headache.
I know of such things too, way back in the 1990s. Singapore and Hong Kong are the most efficient cities in the world and that is the basis of our success. But for me personally, in most of the aspects, Hong Kong is far more efficient than Singapore while in some instances, Hong Kong may need to learn from Singapore.
While my well-to-do friends appreciate the efficiency we have in Singapore as well as the "safety" they enjoy (at least they don't need to watch over their back or employ bodyguards for the rich ones), they also think that PAP has managed Singapore well in terms of economy. The huge influx of foreign labour doesn't seem to worry them at all and they would even defend the need of such influx of foreign labour.
Apparently they are not affected by the crowded public transport nor the bed crunch in public hospitals. Neither would they mind to pay higher price to drive a car nor understand how increase of food prices affect other middle lower class.
Most probably they won't know how the poor live their lives with foreign labour displacing them while thinking that all of them are lazy that is why they are in poverty. They won't support minimum wage because they are made to believe minimum wage is bad.
All these are inconsequential to them. Some may even think that running a country like Singapore as a company is perfectly the right thing to do....
It actually makes me think hard after these meetings. After graduation, we have moved on very different paths. I would say my cohort would make up the "elites" because we come from some "top schools" in Singapore, but I am definitely not the elite whom I was supposed to be.
Perspective is very different between me and my friends, even though some of them have similar background as me, from poor families. They are thankful to PAP for their "success" in life while I am less of a material person.
Although all of us, including me, have traveled to different parts of the world, but yet, we view things very differently. They may feel that it is a great thing for PAP to make such a tiny red dot success in such a short time while I think it is precisely we are small, it is easier to gain success in such a short period of time. In fact for a city like Shenzhen or even Shanghai which may be bigger in size than Singapore, they gain success within 30 years to catch up with us or Hong Kong!
Of course if we compare to Malaysia, we are better in much better shape. And naturally, Malaysians or New citizens who were Malaysians, would definitely feel that PAP is remarkable and Singapore is a paradize to them. The compare and contrast are too great.
My point is simple. I do not take what we have now for granted and I am definitely not out to destroy it either. A system without a counter balance will eventually be a system full of frauds, abuses and corruptions.
Chinese are made to believe that all those in power are saints and expect them to be saints. Thus they are comfortable with a system with high concentration of powers. But the Westerners have a more pessimistic but realistic view of human beings; human beings will become crooks if absolute powers were given to them.
Thus, Democratic concept of separation of powers come from the westerners. I believe in that just as Dr Sun, the father of New China, did. In this post-LKY era, there will be more reasons and urgency to reform our political system of governance to install real separation of powers to assure us of stability and sustainability.
The fundamental difference between Hong Kong and Singapore is that, despite the fact Hong Kong does not have universal suffrage for the Chief Executive, the British has installed a good system with effective separation of powers in governance. The Free Press is one of the key to the Impeachment power.
My PAP-supporter friends and I may have very different political views but at the end of the day, we have one consensus: we want stability, sustainability and prosperity for our country. We just differ on how we could achieve that.
Goh Meng Seng
I have a few talks with some of my school mates and classmates recently. Most of them are doing pretty well in life, have good jobs, good business and families. More than half of them are PAP supporters while I am the only opposition politician among my cohort.
Almost all of them are well traveled all over the world or have lived and worked in other countries, both developed as well as underdeveloped countries in the world. The PAP supporters will feel that Singapore is the best because in other countries, even for developed countries, their efficiency sucks. Bureaucratic system makes simple task like getting electricity or telephone land lines a big headache.
I know of such things too, way back in the 1990s. Singapore and Hong Kong are the most efficient cities in the world and that is the basis of our success. But for me personally, in most of the aspects, Hong Kong is far more efficient than Singapore while in some instances, Hong Kong may need to learn from Singapore.
While my well-to-do friends appreciate the efficiency we have in Singapore as well as the "safety" they enjoy (at least they don't need to watch over their back or employ bodyguards for the rich ones), they also think that PAP has managed Singapore well in terms of economy. The huge influx of foreign labour doesn't seem to worry them at all and they would even defend the need of such influx of foreign labour.
Apparently they are not affected by the crowded public transport nor the bed crunch in public hospitals. Neither would they mind to pay higher price to drive a car nor understand how increase of food prices affect other middle lower class.
Most probably they won't know how the poor live their lives with foreign labour displacing them while thinking that all of them are lazy that is why they are in poverty. They won't support minimum wage because they are made to believe minimum wage is bad.
All these are inconsequential to them. Some may even think that running a country like Singapore as a company is perfectly the right thing to do....
It actually makes me think hard after these meetings. After graduation, we have moved on very different paths. I would say my cohort would make up the "elites" because we come from some "top schools" in Singapore, but I am definitely not the elite whom I was supposed to be.
Perspective is very different between me and my friends, even though some of them have similar background as me, from poor families. They are thankful to PAP for their "success" in life while I am less of a material person.
Although all of us, including me, have traveled to different parts of the world, but yet, we view things very differently. They may feel that it is a great thing for PAP to make such a tiny red dot success in such a short time while I think it is precisely we are small, it is easier to gain success in such a short period of time. In fact for a city like Shenzhen or even Shanghai which may be bigger in size than Singapore, they gain success within 30 years to catch up with us or Hong Kong!
Of course if we compare to Malaysia, we are better in much better shape. And naturally, Malaysians or New citizens who were Malaysians, would definitely feel that PAP is remarkable and Singapore is a paradize to them. The compare and contrast are too great.
My point is simple. I do not take what we have now for granted and I am definitely not out to destroy it either. A system without a counter balance will eventually be a system full of frauds, abuses and corruptions.
Chinese are made to believe that all those in power are saints and expect them to be saints. Thus they are comfortable with a system with high concentration of powers. But the Westerners have a more pessimistic but realistic view of human beings; human beings will become crooks if absolute powers were given to them.
Thus, Democratic concept of separation of powers come from the westerners. I believe in that just as Dr Sun, the father of New China, did. In this post-LKY era, there will be more reasons and urgency to reform our political system of governance to install real separation of powers to assure us of stability and sustainability.
The fundamental difference between Hong Kong and Singapore is that, despite the fact Hong Kong does not have universal suffrage for the Chief Executive, the British has installed a good system with effective separation of powers in governance. The Free Press is one of the key to the Impeachment power.
My PAP-supporter friends and I may have very different political views but at the end of the day, we have one consensus: we want stability, sustainability and prosperity for our country. We just differ on how we could achieve that.
Goh Meng Seng
Wednesday, August 12, 2015
What You are Voting For!
When you vote for a candidate or a team of candidates, you are not just voting for some "estate managers" which PAP would like you to think so. This is because PAP wants you to think SELFISH, think of SELF INTERESTS first rather than the BIGGER PICTURE.
You are voting for an MP or a group of MPs who are legislators. These people are going to make laws, scrutinize the laws which the ruling party and government are making which will affect EVERYBODY living on this island. Sometimes, even affect Singaporeans living overseas! (eg. Medishield Life)
You are voting for MPs who will shape what yours and your children's future. You will be voting MPs who will make sure that your jobs are not compromised, healthcare is taken care of, retirement is secured, housing is affordable....etc.
If you continue to vote for the same bunch of PAP MPs, you will continue to suffer job insecurity due to PAP's FT policy, Healthcare compromised due to bad planning which causes shortage of hospital beds, inadequate and illogical Medical coverage for your future and your CPF money will no longer be yours only but subject to "death tax" if you died early due to CPF Life, you may not even see your CPF money before you die! Your children will suffer unaffordable housing and they will not have job security to think about having more children.... You may face increase in GST and squeezed off in this tiny island if PAP has its way to go for 6.9million or even 10 million with the talk of "living in underground city"!
Think carefully before you vote. It is not just about your estate management. It is YOUR Future and My Future you are voting for!
Vote For Change!
Vote for Your and My Future!
Goh Meng Seng
Monday, August 10, 2015
Campaign Trail - 10 Aug 2015
Campaign Trail - 10 Aug 2015
We did a low profile outreach to the "far outpost" of CCK GRC at Nanyang which has common boundaries with Pioneer, Hong Kah SMCs as well as West Coast GRC.
This part of CCK is pretty tricky as it has several shared community amenities with other surrounding wards. It makes campaigning very tricky as there will be overlapping interests.
Anyway, we met a couple of groups of retired uncles having coffee and they were pretty angry about the No-alcohol rule after 10pm as well as CPF minimum sum. The anger is real and I guess these will become some issues which must be addressed during the coming GE.
When we were about to end the outreach, suddenly a Malay lady called out "Mr Goh!". I didn't recognize the lady but she was very happy to see me. She was with her daughter and son-in-law. Her daughter happened to be our helper at Tampines in 2011 as counting agent!
This Malay lady told me that she has learned about the "bad" of HDB while attending my rally at Tampines! She said that she didn't know about the problem of HDB until she learned about it during my rally back then.
I realize that it is important to have rallies not only for the rah rah and political rhetoric but most importantly, political rallies can be an important avenues to better inform voters and Singaporeans about the Real problems of policies and how such flaws are affecting us as a whole.
I told her that I am glad she has learned something about such important policy such as HDB from my past rally. I told her that I am going to talk about our Healthcare policies and Medishield Life in the coming General Elections and hope that she could attend even though she isn't my voter in CCK.
I met my friend after my outreach today and he was very concerned why I am continuing to do all these things which have wasted much of my time, effort and resources for the past 15 years. I told him about the Malay lady's little happy learning from my rally and I said, it is really all worthwhile, even though if it means that I have to sell off my HDB flat just to do this.
Most important, Lim Peh Happy!
However, I hope that Singaporeans should also try to share our burden of carrying on this fight and providing such political exercise which will help to increase political awareness of our citizens. I hope you guys and gals out there will donate generously to our cause and help us sustain this political movement.
We should not take the existence of good opposition for granted and we need to do our part to sustain it and make sure good people are sent into parliament from the opposition. I will do my part to persuade good people to fight the good cause but I hope others would help us to sustain our effort.
Donate to People's Power Party!
(Please PM us)
We did a low profile outreach to the "far outpost" of CCK GRC at Nanyang which has common boundaries with Pioneer, Hong Kah SMCs as well as West Coast GRC.
This part of CCK is pretty tricky as it has several shared community amenities with other surrounding wards. It makes campaigning very tricky as there will be overlapping interests.
Anyway, we met a couple of groups of retired uncles having coffee and they were pretty angry about the No-alcohol rule after 10pm as well as CPF minimum sum. The anger is real and I guess these will become some issues which must be addressed during the coming GE.
When we were about to end the outreach, suddenly a Malay lady called out "Mr Goh!". I didn't recognize the lady but she was very happy to see me. She was with her daughter and son-in-law. Her daughter happened to be our helper at Tampines in 2011 as counting agent!
This Malay lady told me that she has learned about the "bad" of HDB while attending my rally at Tampines! She said that she didn't know about the problem of HDB until she learned about it during my rally back then.
I realize that it is important to have rallies not only for the rah rah and political rhetoric but most importantly, political rallies can be an important avenues to better inform voters and Singaporeans about the Real problems of policies and how such flaws are affecting us as a whole.
I told her that I am glad she has learned something about such important policy such as HDB from my past rally. I told her that I am going to talk about our Healthcare policies and Medishield Life in the coming General Elections and hope that she could attend even though she isn't my voter in CCK.
I met my friend after my outreach today and he was very concerned why I am continuing to do all these things which have wasted much of my time, effort and resources for the past 15 years. I told him about the Malay lady's little happy learning from my rally and I said, it is really all worthwhile, even though if it means that I have to sell off my HDB flat just to do this.
Most important, Lim Peh Happy!
However, I hope that Singaporeans should also try to share our burden of carrying on this fight and providing such political exercise which will help to increase political awareness of our citizens. I hope you guys and gals out there will donate generously to our cause and help us sustain this political movement.
We should not take the existence of good opposition for granted and we need to do our part to sustain it and make sure good people are sent into parliament from the opposition. I will do my part to persuade good people to fight the good cause but I hope others would help us to sustain our effort.
Donate to People's Power Party!
(Please PM us)
Campaign Trail - National Day 2015
Today is National Day and there was a big celebration carried out in a huge tentage near the CCK MRT station. There was a sea of red with happy families and children but there was a small contingent of "WHITEs" among the reds. Obviously, they are from PAP.
Those participants were given some goody bags and stuffs like that but we were glad that some of them are willing to stop and talk to us openly. At least they were open to discussion and friendly talk!
Well, sure enough, PAP MP Zaqy led a group of PAP members wearing White to our site to give out National flags to passers by. He has done so on Saturday with a few grassroot leaders wearing civilian clothing. We exchanged our friendly greetings and move on to do our own campaigning.
We were persistent in our effort on handling out our flyers, despite of the numerous "spies" sent to monitor us. Of course there are some annoying interruptions due to some politicking but that doesn't really matter to us. We are pretty used to such tactic.
We met our supporter Timothy who stays in CCK. He was there to chat with us and give us moral support. He drew a diagram which represents his perspective of what he understands from our party message. It is quite interesting and we may use that diagram!
We met a group of "beer uncles" in one of the coffeeshop. They are presumably opposition sympathizers. However the most common question still pops up: What can you give me if I vote for you?
To me, this is the MOST AGITATING question. I told them straight, one of the main reason which made me went into opposition politics was the Pork Barrel politics practiced by PAP during 1997 GE @ Cheng San. PAP under Goh Chok Tong has used the HDB upgrading as the carrot and stick to lure and threaten the voters. Hey, we are human, we are not donkeys!
I told them that PAP's such tactic is extremely bad example for our children and future generations. They are basically showing our children that EVERYTHING can be bought over! Do I want my children to live and grow up under such bad influence? This is the reason that I decided to step into politics to get it right.
I told the beer uncles that I will take care of the people with all reasonable means but I am against making such blatant "vote buying" promises.
Most people will be offended when I made such reasoning but surprisingly, these beer uncles seems to agree with me that we should not just promise anything so easily! Eventually some of them ask me to give them our nice looking party uniform so that they an wear it while walking around the neighbourhood so that they can help us to promote our party!
Goh Meng Seng
Sunday, August 09, 2015
National Day Message: The Tears of a Patriot
The Tears of a Patriot
Singapore’s National Day is always remembered by the teary Proclamation of Independence and Declaration of Separation from Malaysia by the late Mr. Lee Kuan Yew.
Fifty years from that teary declaration of Independence, I have seen another Teary expression of patriotism on the morning of our 50th National Day. I saw my comrade and Chairman of our party, in tears uncontrollably when he walked out of Chua Chu Kang MRT station. I asked him whether something terrible has happened? He said this is not about him. After recomposing himself, he said that when he took the MRT, it was packed with people whom he doesn’t understand. There were people speaking loudly in foreign language. There was hardly any Singaporean around him. He felt terrible that this is not a country which he used to know. Thus, he was shedding tears for Singapore on this very National Day.
We started off 50 years ago to build a nation for a multi-ethnic population which aimed to create a strong National Pride and Identity. But 50 years later, we are crying for a country which we no longer recognize nor understand as One People.
We have served National Service with great pride and commitment to protect a country which we pledged to defend and die for. But in the end, we were subtly discriminated by employers who preferred to employ cheaper foreign labour substitutes because our yearly National Service call ups have become our liability instead of strength for the Nation.
On this 50th National Day, we ponder on what makes us a Nation, A United People.
This is also the first National Day we are celebrating without Lee Kuan Yew around. We also ponder on whether the current system of governance is sustainable without Mr Lee Kuan Yew around. Can this system of high concentration of powers in the hands of the few ruling elites survive well beyond Lee Kuan Yew’s death? Can Singapore prosper for another 50 or 100 years with minimum corruptions in post-LKY era?
We in PPP believe that there must be a drastic change in the system of governance whereby the separation of powers should be institutionalized in order for Singapore to ensure that we could avoid the massive abuse of power and corruptions which have destroyed many states and empires in history.
While every patriotic Singaporean is celebrating our National Day today, we also hope that we as a Nation and people could reflect on what we really want our future to look like. Do we really want 6.9 million or even 10 million population whereby some or most of us will live in underground towns? Do we really want to continue with a system of governance that allows high concentration of power? Do we want to continue with the strategy of GDP growth at all cost?
These are just some solemn points which we hope Singaporeans will ponder and reflect while we celebrate our 50th National Day.
Majulah Singapura!
Goh Meng Seng
Pro-tem Secretary General
for PPP
Campaign Trail 8 Aug 2015 - Vote For Your Future
Campaign Trail 8 Aug 2015
Met a man in his forties, most probably about the same age as me. Apparently, he is middle ground voter who has leaning towards PAP. But the good thing was, he was willing to raise questions and listen to my point of views while standing there for more than half an hour. He was accompanied by his young son.
He raised the point that Gan Kim Yong is a good minister and how PAP has done good. I told him that Mr Gan Kim Yong may be Mr Nice Guy and low profile, but that doesn't mean that he is a good minister. He was a bit taken back when I told him that.
I spent quite some time to show him how Gan has not addressed a lot of pressing issues while he was the Minister of Manpower. The resident did not realize that MOM didn't act as the gatekeeper to keep out "Foreign Talents" who made it to Singapore with fake degrees and qualifications. He thought that this was done by MOM!
I told him how PAP government has sold off our Singaporeans' jobs to cheap Third World countries by signing FTAs, particularly the CECA with India, in order to get access to their various markets for GIC, Temasek Holdings and GLCs! I told him that while these entities could earn good profits by gaining access to these markets, but these profits are irrelevant to us because our CPF interest rates are still fixed at 2.5% or at most 4%! Only those running these entities will get fat million dollar salaries and bonuses from such profits! It has absolutely nothing to do with us but our jobs are sacrificed and out for competition to a country which has 1 Billion population as compared to Singapore's 3.5 million!
There will always be CHEAPER foreign labour to displace our Singaporeans. I have shown him examples of how these were happening and why our wages were not growing as fast as it should.
I told him that Gan did absolutely nothing to stop the huge madness influx of foreign labour, especially those with doubtful qualifications. During Gan's time, control of Foreign labour was extremely lax and MNCs have unfair advantage in employing hordes of foreign labour to displace Singaporeans through the loop hole of "Internal Transfers" while Singapore SMEs are forced to follow the strict quota.
His job will be threaten by foreign influx and if he loses his job at the age of 40 plus, he will have a hard time to find similar job with similar pay again! (That's why many PMETs become Taxi Drivers!)
I told him that he is lucky his parents are lucky that they didn't face the problem of being asked to wait for 36 hours for a bed and ended up sleeping along corridors of the ward! And the problem of shortage of beds is not so simple. There is a great shortage of healthcare professionals in Singapore and we have to import foreign nurses and doctors who hardly know local lingo or Singlish or dialects.
He said that this is because locals don't want to do nurse job. I told him that in Hong Kong, nurses are more well paid than Singapore! It is about the paying enough to get locals to work as nurses, instead of trying to use third world wages to get locals to work as nurses. And how about doctors? If foreign doctors cannot communicate effective with patients, how can they carry out their diagnosis effectively?
I also told him the flaws of Medishield Life which has no coverage of foreigners working in Singapore. The aim of having such a huge foreign workers force in Singapore because we need them to help our ageing population. But if these young working foreigners are not made to pay Medishield coverage, how could they contribute to the pool of premiums which could help to cover the expenses of our elderly Singaporeans? I told him that this argument was brought up by WP LTK in parliament but PAP has given an absurd answer that if we made these YOUNGER foreigners to be covered by Medishield, we will be "cross subsidizing" their medical bills! How can that be?
And the problem of Medishield is that the payout rate if FAR too low than industry standards! i.e. compared to private medical insurance, Medishiled is earning MORE money every year in percentage!
I brought up the HDB prices and how MBT has restrained on building BTOs when population was increasing with tremendous rate. Such act only pushed up property prices and who benefited? Those rich people who invested in properties, not HDB heartlanders who cannot just sell off their HDB flats and end up without a roof over their heads!
While some people like him may enjoy "making money" from the sales of their HDB flat and such, but this is really not "real profits" because the burden of high property price will fall on his son. This is just basically a "inter-generation transferred of burden". i.e. he is basically earning "profits" at the expense of his son's future!
And if this went on, his son may never be able to afford even a HDB in future! Even if they could "afford" to buy any HDB flat, they may end up with a 30 year mortgage or more! And they have to make sure that within this 30 years, they will not lose their jobs! This is impossible when they will be facing endless influx of cheap foreign labour because our PAP government has signed all those FTAs with those huge third world countries!
I told him that our father's generation had given up their land at dirt cheap price to the government knowing that this is only good for the development of this nation by providing PUBLIC GOODs like cheap HDB housing, schools and such. They didn't expect that after they had given their land but ended up their grandchildren or great grandchildren will be reaped off by this government!
And the fact that PAP government has put up "cost-recovering" and market pricing of land for even schools, polytechnics and universities at 30 years lease, it means that his son and future generations will have to face higher and higher education fees!
In short:
Has Minister Gan been a good minister who can address those problems related to his ministries, past and present?
Has PAP done well so far?
For his parents' sake, he has to Vote For Change, Vote Them Out.
For his son's and future generation's sake, he has to Vote For Change, Vote Them Out.
For his Own's sake, he has to Vote For Change and Vote Them Out!
After this lengthy discussion, I can see that his confidence and support for PAP has been shaken tremendously. I told him to google search my name and get to my Facebook or blog Singapore Alternatives. Make the decisive decision for his parents, his son and his own future.
Goh Meng Seng
#VFC #VTO
Campaign Trail @ CCK - Hospital Beds & Medical Tourism
I have met an elderly PAP supporter today at CCK. He questioned me why should he vote for me and what I have done to convince him to support me (in contrast to PAP ).
He sounded quite hostile initially but I kept my patience.
I told him at his age, he must be very fortunate to have such a good health, unlike my own mother who was warded three times in hospital during the past three years. Each and every time she was told to wait for 36 hours for a bed.
This elderly man retorted that no bed of course need to wait lah! "Are you VIP or what? "
I wanted to retort back that of course I am not some PAP MP or Minister or like LKY lah! But I kept that to myself.
I told him that people are made to wait for so long because there is a shortage of hospital facilities due to bad planning and the over population problem caused by PAP.
On top of that, even when public hospitals are having problem of Shortage of beds, they are engaged in medical tourism to make money!
I told him that if these are private hospitals, I don't really care but these are PUBLIC HOSPITALS which are supposed to serve our people first! I asked him, do you think this is good?
He said in a soften voice Is that so? If it is so, of course bad lah!
I told him don't just believe me because I said this to him. Go and find out yourself whether this is true or not.
And who is the Minister of Health? His MP Gan Kim Yong.
Of course I have told him that I have contested against MBT in Tampines on the topic of HDB and that is why he is no longer Minister for MND.
A healthy Conversation with hardcore PAP supporter to make them rethink what they are voting for.
Goh Meng Seng
Friday, August 07, 2015
Politics of Negotiation
In any negotiation,everybody will put up reasoning and persuasions to justify their positions or claims. Examples, hypothetical comparisons and illustrations will be used to make a point.
During the discussion of the Marine Parade GRC, an illustration of the undesirability of 3 corner fight was made using the example of Aljunied GRC, to make a point that 3 corner is totally unhelpful. Unfortunately this was quoted out of context and deliberately leaked to the media to make a big hoo-haa over it.
Subsequently, a secret ballot was called to show which side has a more convincing argument over Marine Parade. This voting has nothing to do with "small parties against WP" mentally but rather, was made in good spirit to register the perception of those in attendance on the matter, since it was the major deadlock of the meeting. This secret voting was non-binding but for the WP representatives to convey the opinion expressed by those who were present to their leaders.
It is with deep regret that such misinformation was exploited to make opposition as whole look very bad.
The truth is, we have made tremendously progress in good spirit with almost all opposition parties participating actively in making the necessary compromises so that our aim of eliminating multi-corner fights could be achieved. When you first see the mind-blogging charts of competing claims, don't panic or assumed that there is a massive disagreement. That is not true at all.
Every party needs to take a breather from the first meeting to discuss with their own CEC members to decide how to proceed from the negotiation. Each party knows exactly what transpired and how other parties think or what were their preferences and desires. It would take some time for everyone to digest and rethink on their own positions. Some might even call up each other for bilateral talks. This will help everyone to resolve the conflicting claims in the second meeting.
True enough, the second meeting was pretty smooth as compared to the first one, using only 1 hour to resolve all differences (save and except for WP who did not turn up) in contrast to the 3 hours used in the first meeting.
I have attended two such previous "Unity Meetings" (yes, TWO and you may wonder which two! ;) ) and I understand how it works. Thus, I was pretty confident that things could work out well. Unfortunately, the Main Stream Media has preyed on the first meeting to present "Opposition fighting each other", which we have denied repeatedly! The meetings were cordial, sometimes fun (yes, we did crack jokes from time to time) and most importantly encouraging with all of us clapping whenever any party relented on their claims to make ways for others!
I am very glad that it is within my expectation that most conflicting claims have been resolved (saved and except for WP because they did not send any representatives for second meeting) and all are well!
My sincere and heart felt thanks to ALL participants/leaders of opposition parties to make this possible. Special thanks to SDP for making the critical compromise which allows us to resolve many entangling conflicts in double quick time. Thanks to SingFirst which has shown great Wisdom in accepting good reasoning so much so that it would agree to give way in good faith.
Last but not least, special thanks to NSP which has made PPP's contest in CCK a clear shot without 3 corner fight.
I hope that with this clarifications, we can put all the bad press behind us and work together to fight against one common opponent, PAP.
Goh Meng Seng
Thursday, August 06, 2015
People's Power Party SG's Message
Secretary General's Message
I had a dream when I first joined opposition politics way back in 2001, a Democratic Dream. No matter where I venture politically, this Dream has never left me. Democracy is a very large word indeed and many have different views on what Democracy really is. Checks and balances are important aspects in a Democracy but most as it seems, only stop at the parliamentary level.
Many of the problems with the policies we face right now are partly, or wholly, due to the lack of necessary Democratic system in the governance of our country. From the deliberate inflation of HDB prices, the signing of Free Trade Agreement which affect Singaporeans to the unchecked opening of floodgate to excessive foreign labour, all these done with absolutely no systematic and analytical checks nor consultation.
I believe Real Democracy is built upon a good system of governance which institutionalizes the necessary Separation of Powers within the establishment. It is not just only about having more opposition MPs in parliament but devising a system that would prevent the over concentration of powers into the hands of a few ruling elites.
There is no doubt we have at this point, a system where power play is highly concentrated amongst the PAP ruling elites. It might have worked during LKY’s era but at this time and age since his departure, nobody can be certain that such high concentration of powers will not lead to corruption or the abuses of power in the management of our country’s affairs. We have already seen in the recent AGO report on the government that there had been numerous lapses which were mostly attributed to the mishandling in not averting conflict of interests within the system.
Singapore has gone through more than 5 decades of one-party rule and our development path is a totally skewed one. PAP’s obsession in maintaining its one party rule together with its mindless pursuit of Economic Growth at all cost, has resulted in a total blockage of Democratic development and cultivation. We have also neglected our country’s Social and Cultural Development for far too long, despite its diverse population possessing richness in heritage.
With a new Post-LKY era dawning on us, Singaporeans should no longer take good governance for granted. We should rethink on what kind of system of governance we want for Singapore in order for us to prosper and sustain a quality government that could be inherited over generations. We need to make this happen for our future generations to come. We should demand a better and balanced development for our country, in all the Four Pillars of our Nation; Politics, Economics, Social and Cultural development. We should reject the continuation of the present system of high concentration of powers in governance.
The High Concentration of Powers and Imbalance of Nation building are as important as the bread and butter issues like healthcare, housing, over population, unchecked influx of foreign labour that cheapens our mid tier work force, Free Trade Agreement, high cost of living, public transport, CPF, etc. The People’s Power Party is formed to address the two issues of the High Concentration of Powers and Imbalance of Nation Development. We will provide a Vision for Singapore on how we should strive and prosper in this Post-LKY Era.
Goh Meng Seng
Monday, August 03, 2015
致淡滨尼选民公开道歉信
君子不强夺人所好
敬致淡滨尼选民：
在2011年大选过后，我和我的团队曾经对您们承诺我们将会在下一次大选回到您的选区再战。我也了解在这几年来，有一些淡滨尼选民也表达了希望我和我的团队能继续到淡滨尼集选区竞选。
但是我们也了解反对党支持者都希望有好的人选进入国会，而也希望在这届大选不要有三角或多角战。我本人认为目前国民团结党有很好的人选到淡滨尼集选区竞选，而我们也非常希望他们能在有利的条件下，能拿下淡滨尼，走进国会。我们也了解到国民团结党在淡滨尼区也投入了不少资源和功夫去耕耘。
因此，我的团队经过了深思熟虑后，为了国家民主的健全发展，最后决定作出最痛苦的抉择，放弃竞选淡滨尼集选区。
所谓君子不强夺人所好。就有如有些人猜测我本人会到凤山或麦波申单选区竞选，但我认为我不应该强夺别人在这一些选区的耕耘果实。之前国民团结党决定派队伍到马林百烈集选区竞选，并不是仓促的决定。这是因为党魁张培源先生之前已经在麦波申选区积极耕耘，但是这区最后被划入马林百烈集选区。为了不让这几年的努力白费，于是团结党就派佘雪玲等人到马林百烈集选区竞选。所以严格来说，佘雪玲的队伍能得到亮丽的成绩并非偶然的，部分原因是张培源先生以往耕耘的结果。所以我是绝对不会到麦波申单选区竞选的。
同理，既然团结党在过去几年里也在淡滨尼努力耕耘，我的团队觉得我们不应该强夺团结党的耕耘果实，以此坐享其成。
我知道我们这决定将令许多对我的团队有所期望的选民感到非常失望，但是我在此呼吁大家，继续支持团结党的队伍，因为他们也有优秀的人选，请你们把他们送入国会。
我在此代表我的团队，向你们致以万二分的歉意，请原谅我们无法兑现先前的承诺。
吴明盛启
在2011年大选过后，我和我的团队曾经对您们承诺我们将会在下一次大选回到您的选区再战。我也了解在这几年来，有一些淡滨尼选民也表达了希望我和我的团队能继续到淡滨尼集选区竞选。
但是我们也了解反对党支持者都希望有好的人选进入国会，而也希望在这届大选不要有三角或多角战。我本人认为目前国民团结党有很好的人选到淡滨尼集选区竞选，而我们也非常希望他们能在有利的条件下，能拿下淡滨尼，走进国会。我们也了解到国民团结党在淡滨尼区也投入了不少资源和功夫去耕耘。
因此，我的团队经过了深思熟虑后，为了国家民主的健全发展，最后决定作出最痛苦的抉择，放弃竞选淡滨尼集选区。
所谓君子不强夺人所好。就有如有些人猜测我本人会到凤山或麦波申单选区竞选，但我认为我不应该强夺别人在这一些选区的耕耘果实。之前国民团结党决定派队伍到马林百烈集选区竞选，并不是仓促的决定。这是因为党魁张培源先生之前已经在麦波申选区积极耕耘，但是这区最后被划入马林百烈集选区。为了不让这几年的努力白费，于是团结党就派佘雪玲等人到马林百烈集选区竞选。所以严格来说，佘雪玲的队伍能得到亮丽的成绩并非偶然的，部分原因是张培源先生以往耕耘的结果。所以我是绝对不会到麦波申单选区竞选的。
同理，既然团结党在过去几年里也在淡滨尼努力耕耘，我的团队觉得我们不应该强夺团结党的耕耘果实，以此坐享其成。
我知道我们这决定将令许多对我的团队有所期望的选民感到非常失望，但是我在此呼吁大家，继续支持团结党的队伍，因为他们也有优秀的人选，请你们把他们送入国会。
我在此代表我的团队，向你们致以万二分的歉意，请原谅我们无法兑现先前的承诺。
吴明盛启
Sunday, August 02, 2015
A Public Apology to Tampines Voters
We had our first public walkabout this morning at Chua Chu Kang Lot One. I have made the official declaration that People's Power Party will contest in CCK GRC.
On top of that, I have made a PUBLIC APOLOGY to Tampines Voters:
My team and I have promised to return Tampines to contest right after GE2011.
Throughout the past few years, there were Tampines voters who have been asking about me and my team to go back and contest Tampines GRC. They have expressed their wish and expectation of us to continue our fight in Tampines.
However, we also know that NSP has been working very hard on the ground in Tampines. For each elections contest, a lot of time, efforts and money will be spent. It would not be right for us to get into this ground without any good reason. Furthermore, we also think that NSP's A team has very good candidates whom we think deserve to be sent into parliament.
Taking the example of Macpherson SMC. Some have speculated that I will be contesting in this SMC. I will never do that because I know the President of NSP, Sebastian Teo, had spent a lot of efforts on ground work there prior to GE2011 before it was redrawn into Marine Parade. He had done more than 3 rounds of door knocking there until it was considered a "danger zone" so much so that PAP government decided to redrawn it into Marine Parade.
In fact I decided to persuade and support Nicole Seah and her team to contest in Marine Parade in GE2011 because my confidence of getting a good result was based on the massive ground work Sebastian Teo had done in Macpherson. To be fair, the extraordinary result which Nicole Seah's team achieved in Marine Parade was partly due to the hard work Sebastian Teo has put in Macpherson.
It will be totally inappropriate for me to wrestle my way into contest in Macpherson. Similarly for Tampines GRC.
Thus, it is with deep regret that I and my team have to make this difficult decision to withdraw from the contest in Tampines GRC in the coming GE.
We hope that Voters in Tampines could forgive us for breaking our promise to return to Tampines this GE. We also hope that our supporters in Tampines will continue to support NSP's effort in the coming GE because we believe that we should send in good and deserving candidates into parliament.
Goh Meng Seng
On top of that, I have made a PUBLIC APOLOGY to Tampines Voters:
My team and I have promised to return Tampines to contest right after GE2011.
Throughout the past few years, there were Tampines voters who have been asking about me and my team to go back and contest Tampines GRC. They have expressed their wish and expectation of us to continue our fight in Tampines.
However, we also know that NSP has been working very hard on the ground in Tampines. For each elections contest, a lot of time, efforts and money will be spent. It would not be right for us to get into this ground without any good reason. Furthermore, we also think that NSP's A team has very good candidates whom we think deserve to be sent into parliament.
Taking the example of Macpherson SMC. Some have speculated that I will be contesting in this SMC. I will never do that because I know the President of NSP, Sebastian Teo, had spent a lot of efforts on ground work there prior to GE2011 before it was redrawn into Marine Parade. He had done more than 3 rounds of door knocking there until it was considered a "danger zone" so much so that PAP government decided to redrawn it into Marine Parade.
In fact I decided to persuade and support Nicole Seah and her team to contest in Marine Parade in GE2011 because my confidence of getting a good result was based on the massive ground work Sebastian Teo had done in Macpherson. To be fair, the extraordinary result which Nicole Seah's team achieved in Marine Parade was partly due to the hard work Sebastian Teo has put in Macpherson.
It will be totally inappropriate for me to wrestle my way into contest in Macpherson. Similarly for Tampines GRC.
Thus, it is with deep regret that I and my team have to make this difficult decision to withdraw from the contest in Tampines GRC in the coming GE.
We hope that Voters in Tampines could forgive us for breaking our promise to return to Tampines this GE. We also hope that our supporters in Tampines will continue to support NSP's effort in the coming GE because we believe that we should send in good and deserving candidates into parliament.
Goh Meng Seng
People's Power Party Vision
Secretary General's Message
I had a dream when I first joined opposition politics way back in 2001, a Democratic Dream. No matter where I venture politically, this Dream has never left me. Democracy is a very large word indeed and many have different views on what Democracy really is. Checks and balances are important aspects in a Democracy but most as it seems, only stop at the parliamentary level.
Many of the problems with the policies we face right now are partly, or wholly, due to the lack of necessary Democratic system in the governance of our country. From the deliberate inflation of HDB prices, the signing of Free Trade Agreement which affect Singaporeans to the unchecked opening of floodgate to excessive foreign labour, all these done with absolutely no systematic and analytical checks nor consultation.
I believe Real Democracy is built upon a good system of governance which institutionalizes the necessary Separation of Powers within the establishment. It is not just only about having more opposition MPs in parliament but devising a system that would prevent the over concentration of powers into the hands of a few ruling elites.
There is no doubt we have at this point, a system where power play is highly concentrated amongst the PAP ruling elites. It might have worked during LKY’s era but at this time and age since his departure, nobody can be certain that such high concentration of powers will not lead to corruption or the abuses of power in the management of our country’s affairs. We have already seen in the recent AGO report on the government that there had been numerous lapses which were mostly attributed to the mishandling in not averting conflict of interests within the system.
Singapore has gone through more than 5 decades of one-party rule and our development path is a totally skewed one. PAP’s obsession in maintaining its one party rule together with its mindless pursuit of Economic Growth at all cost, has resulted in a total blockage of Democratic development and cultivation. We have also neglected our country’s Social and Cultural Development for far too long, despite its diverse population possessing richness in heritage.
With a new Post-LKY era dawning on us, Singaporeans should no longer take good governance for granted. We should rethink on what kind of system of governance we want for Singapore in order for us to prosper and sustain a quality government that could be inherited over generations. We need to make this happen for our future generations to come. We should demand a better and balanced development for our country, in all the Four Pillars of our Nation; Politics, Economics, Social and Cultural development. We should reject the continuation of the present system of high concentration of powers in governance.
The High Concentration of Powers and Imbalance of Nation building are as important as the bread and butter issues like healthcare, housing, over population, unchecked influx of foreign labour that cheapens our mid tier work force, Free Trade Agreement , high cost of living, public transport, CPF, etc. The People’s Power Party is formed to address the two issues of the High Concentration of Powers and Imbalance of Nation Development. We will provide a Vision for Singapore on how we should strive and prosper in this Post-LKY Era.
Goh Meng Seng
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