Party Interests vs National Interests

Party Interests vs National Interests

It is kind of strange that there are people who actually “blame” the planned alliance for causing “credible parties” to lose votes. It is even more strange when the very people would claim that the planned alliance is just too insignificant, alliance of “mosquito parties”, alliance of “fringe parties”....

People who know me would know that I hate and dislike hypocrisy.

I decided to work for an alliance not because I can “make credible parties” to lose votes. Right after GE2015, I did a deep reflection to understand why opposition as a whole, lost the elections with such great margin.

Voters were afraid to have PAP losing power while the opposition as a whole, did not have a coherent agenda or common policy platform to replace PAP as a ruling party. The messaging among opposition parties were disorganized, confusing, sometimes even contradictory and lack clarity. Most importantly, opposition as a whole has not put up a coherent and convincing showcase of good economic policies and strategies since 1965.

Singaporeans have voted PAP as ruling government with great mandate for past 6 decades despite of the injustice done to political opponents, increasing cost of living, sometimes annoying unfair practices etc basically because they have shown that they were able to bring food to the table, roof over the heads and relative prosperity to the masses while the opposition didn’t even have a credible ability to scrutinize some of the bad PAP policies like Asset Enhancement Scheme!

The only time voters gave opposition a good decent support was when PAP or rather LKY had made a grave mistake in its graduate mother priority policy back in 1984. Subsequently, Chiam See Tong challenged PAP on HDB pricing in 1988 and 1991... etc.

Some people ignorantly, mistakenly or deliberately misinterpreted the result of GE2015 to only focus on the first part of the reason, voters are afraid of PAP losing power but failed to recognize the second part of the problem.... the lack of common policy platform and disarray policy messages.

In contrast, in 2011, opposition performed much better because after I started the debate and fire on HDB issues, it became the KEY issue of the whole campaign. All opposition parties attack MBT and his mismanaged HDB policies and WP became the biggest beneficiary of such unintended coherent attacks on HDB.

Of course in 2015 GE there were other factors like AHTC saga and death of LKY which both directly influenced and enhanced the fear of PAP losing power and ended up with incompetent opposition running the country.

My conclusion of the GE2015 reflections includes two important points. The whole opposition as a whole, must unite and give confidence to voters that we have a common policy platform, not merely an alliance. This is especially so for Economic policies.

We still face a BIGGER impact of AHTC saga in the coming GE when the verdict is out and expecting more actions to be taken by the authorities. All these, we really do not have any control over the state of affairs with regards to AHTC saga. We just need to minimize its impact on all other opposition parties.

The only thing we can do is to unite and present a coherent force with a common policy platform and Manifesto. The best option is to form a grand alliance which can put up a credible economic policy platform. This will address the fear of PAP losing power with no viable option for better transition to change of power due to the disarray of opposition parties.

I repeatedly say that as a whole, opposition is not lack of talents. With regards to economics, the planned alliance has 3 individuals with good Economic and Finance knowledge. We can handle all economic policy issues quite competently. In fact, from my various engagements, I find that it is really easier to discuss economic policy issues with Tan Jee Say and KJ Jeyaratnam, as compared to other opposition leaders or candidates. Their grasp of economics is superb and I do not need to explain any economic terms theories to them at all, unlike my other experiences.

Thus, I always hold the view that many opposition leaders and candidates are actually grossly undervalued when we do not unite. People may sneer, smear and mock at our current planned alliance as an alliance of “mosquito parties”, but do remember, even mosquitoes can kill as well.

I believe this is a good healthy development for opposition as well as the Nation. A good government can only be sustained when you have effective opposition with competent knowledge and skill sets to scrutinize and debate important policies, especially economics policies in parliament.

Just like the HDB issues. Even though I am not elected into parliament, but my complete views on HDB has made PAP Lawrence Wong to take serious considerations and come up with subsequent policy changes and initiatives based on the problems and solutions raised by me. Although these policy changes and initiatives are not qute complete, but it is a good start as I have performed an effective role as opposition which effect good governance that benefits the country.

Thus, I cannot understand why these people are skeptical about the planned alliance. It is ok if they do not like it or support. But to further accuse the alliance will reduce the votes and support of their so call “credible opposition parties”, that’s a great insult and deliberate blame game.

We are acting on what voters expect us to do and the past GE has shown this is key point which resulted in our unsatisfactory results.

In fact, it is in the Nation’s interests for the opposition to regroup and reorganize ourselves in unity.

But it seems that most of these people are only concerned about individual “party interests” instead of looking at the big picture.

I do not like blame game and definitely not hypocrisy. When opposition parties as a whole failed to form alliance, the very same people would accuse us, the “mosquito parties” of having ego problems and reluctant to unite. The truth is, it is never so. We have started discussing about alliance way back in 2015 and we were excited when SDP invited Dr Tan to meet over opposition unity in July 2018. We waited patiently since then, even seek to meet the only existing alliance platform, SDA. We waited for months for SDA to agree to meet up but no reply.

So what else can we possibly do?

We invited Dr Tan PSP to join the alliance and lead us. But no reply.

Thus, we decided to build the platform first and would still welcome others to join later.

If all these will make other parties to lose support and votes, that’s really not our fault at all. It is hypocritical and unethical to put blame on us for other people’s problem due to their own decisions.

You either believe in Opposition Unity or you do not. That’s just extremely simple.

For people to comment that I don’t like this guy, so do not want to play with him, I say that’s pretty amateurish.

For the record, there was mutual dislike among PAP pioneer leaders. But as true politicians and statesman, they still chose to work as a core team because what they only care about is whether the other person could bring value to the governance of the Nation. Personal emotions of likes and dislikes were put aside. They weren’t going to get married to each other and live their lives together forever anyway!

That’s true meritocracy that had worked for PAP as well as SINGAPORE in the pioneer years. Look at strength, weaknesses and facts to make the best decisions for the country.

It is only when political players in Opposition start to change their extremely narrow mindset to think like a statesman, instead of thinking like a petty lot, then we can see some light in the development of opposition politics.

I respect other people’s decision not to join the planned alliance but ultimately we will have to live with consequences of our own decisions, instead of putting blame on others. We must always learn to be responsible for our own decisions and actions.

Goh Meng Seng

TOTD: The Final POISONOUS Death Dagger stabbed into Alternative Media.

Thought of the Day - The Final POISONOUS Death Dagger stabbed into Alternative Media.

Most people like me, would look at the Fake News Law at superficial level on first sight. This is always the tactic used by PAP controlled Mainstream Media to mislead and misguide people into looking at the big punch while avoiding the poison darts and daggers hidden in that thick legislation.

While we are busy criticising why political appointees like Ministers were given such huge power to decide what's true and what's false, we miss the whole poisonous intent of this law.

Hidden within this legislation is the vicious intent to force the closure of all alternative media by taking aim at advertisers and sponsors of alternative media, instill FEAR into them while putting an "exemption clause" so that it could be used to exempt PAP's Mainstream media.

The reason why Facebook and other international internet media platform are so against this law is basically because not only the owners of these platforms would be criminally liable but advertisers on their platforms as well as sponsors will be criminalized by PAP government as "supporting fake news"!

The proposed law and with no single doubt, would be passed, says that if a website or internet platform has been found guilty of DELIBERATE spreading "fake news" or information (for 3 times within 6 months), those who donated or sponsored these sites, or advertise on these sites, will be charged in Singapore court as well!

Now you know why there is an "exemption" clause which gives PAP great power to exempt SPH, Mediacorp and media under its control from this law because, even these media outlet could not be sure that each and every news they broadcast could only be True but not Fake!

On the other hand, who would dare to advertise on alternative media like TOC or Independent SG if this law is passed? Who would dare to donate to these entities to face the risk of being prosecuted by PAP government if these media get into trouble with Fake News legislation?

This law is a total Farce. It is making use of the excuse of curbing "Fake News" to empower PAP Ministers with enormous Judiciary and Executive power to thumb down internet media which they don't like!

It goes against the spirit of Rule of Law whereby the Judiciary will be totally by-passed and smack of Rule by Law of a dictatorial power which will decide who will be exempted while who will be persecuted!

The potent poison actually lies within the details. If Singaporeans do not wake up to such blatant facts but chose to believe in PAP's sweet talk of its weak justification to empower themselves with such dictatorial powers, I fear Democracy will leave us eventually one day.

Goh Meng Seng

TOTD: What matters most in Politics?

Thought of the Day - What matters most in Politics?

I have put up a teaser just not too long ago, asking my FB friends to guess what I had replied a reporter's query on "when are you going to do ground work?".

My answer shocked him. I said, I am not going to "walk the ground", so to speak. Not going to knock on doors, shake hands and kiss babies.

His reaction is quite "normal" as this is the "default thinking" that politicians, be it PAP or opposition, should "walk the ground" in order to "win votes".

I explain to him clearly, I am not going to play the games according to the "indoctrinated rules" set by PAP.

PAP has not only drawn the electoral boundaries but also the "invisible political boundaries" for Opposition, to its own advantage, of course. PAP has always been trying to "mislead" and "misguide" political engagement via subtle "brain washing".

It all started way back in 1981, right after JBJ won the Anson by-election. The almighty PAP has lost its very first seat in one and a half decade. Naturally, the late LKY jumped with anger.

The often DULL parliament sittings had suddenly become all fiery with exchanges of missiles and dramas. It was apparent that the total dominance of PAP in the past immediate decade had made it complacent and lost the art of debate in the face of a strong and fiery opponent, JBJ. Parliament in the past could be an "empty rubber stamp" without the need of any real debates or even the need of attendance of MPs and Ministers. JBJ had changed all that. Even LKY himself had to make it a point to attend parliament whenever JBJ was making his speeches of criticisms.

In 1984, PAP lost another seat in Potong Pasir and this led to a serious rethinking of political strategy. Town Council Management entrusted to MPs was the solution.

It was an attempt to divert voters and politicians attention from the REAL CORE RESPONSIBILITY of an MP in parliament to drain their energy and attention into municipal issues.

In the Westminster system, municipal issues are taken care by District Councillors, who are also voted in by residents. An MP is never expected to manage the estate or be bothered by municipal issues because they are voted in to speak up on policy matters in parliament.

But PAP, knowing that they do not have strong MPs in parliament while having all the resources to take care of municipal issues by subcontracting out to professional estate management companies, tried to change the focus and direction of political engagement towards municipal matters instead of policy debates and law making in parliament.

PAP has successfully to mislead and brainwash both voters as well as opposition politicians to think that they should put most of their energy in knocking doors, convincing voters they can run town councils instead of putting up strong debates, policy ideas and scrutiny in parliament. After opposition won some seats, they will compete with PAP which has the whole machinery of People's Association (PA), in conducting durian tours, temple tours, organizing events etc... instead of spending most of their time in policy research and debates.

In the end, we have political parties doing Charity Work, giving out goodies, organizing events .... instead of doing the REAL political work of analysing, researching and commenting on Real political issues. Political parties are more like Charity Organization or Event Organizing companies or simply Social Clubs nowadays.

Voters are judging the "quality" of candidates by looking at whether they "serve" them by "knocking doors" or "visit" them. Or whether they attend wakes or temple dinners and such. Or organize any events for them...etc. The most illogical thing is, they even expect opposition who have not won any seat to do all these!

Instead of looking at the political views, ideologies or ideals of political candidates, we have voters basically "voting blindly" according to "party branding" or whether candidates "walk the ground"! These totally misguided perception and concept of politics is the direct result of PAP's subtle brain washing.

It always irks me when people start talking about "I only vote XXX party and not small parties" or "if you are contesting under XXX party, I will vote for you". I consider that as an expression of political immaturity. One who cannot discern good candidates from bad but resort to some "fuzzy branding", he must be too lazy to really study and understand each and every choices presented to him.

This is the reason why we ended up with lots of empty chairs and empty tables in Parliamentary sittings most of the time. When voters and politicians have WRONG and misguided priorities in politics, that's the end result we will get.

I will vote or support a person or a team for only two reasons:

1) Not PAP because I do not want them to be complacent when they get too high votes.

2) In the event of multi-corner fight, I will support the candidates who make good sense and have good political ideals or ideology which resonate with my belief, regardless of which party he or she is from.

I have gone through 3 General Elections. GE 2006 WP made great progress up from the devastating state of 2001 GE. This is partly because we played according to the brainwashed setting of PAP configurations, doing house visits, shaking hands and kissing babies.

In GE 2011, I changed the methodology subtly. I didn't knock on all the doors in Tampines but decided to ignite the fire on policy issues, mainly HDB issues. It set on a fire which ran wild and benefited all opposition.

I thought Singaporeans have evolved and matured politically. Finally they understood the importance of checks and balances, with a desire to vote in more opposition MPs. The path of Democratic Development should be on the right track of no return.

I was proven totally wrong in GE 2015. Voters are basically more Emotional rather than politically matured with the determination of making progress for Democratic Development.

I decided to stop all "political wayang" which is totally misleading, misguided and even detrimental towards REAL political Democratic progress for Singapore.

What we need is more public political discourse and education, not more door knocking saying Hi and Bye, shaking hands, kissing babies and making people "feel good" so that they will vote for you.

I decided to spend most of my time writing on my FB and copy some of the postings to my blog as an archive. I hope more people will be enlightened and provided with better reasoned ideas for them to talk about in their daily lives so that they could convince more people in their real life circles. Share the public discourse, ideas and ideals through FB or real life chats with friends and strangers.

This is a slow and painful process. It needs consistent commitment, nothing less than sweating out in knocking doors.

All political movements always start with evangelism of alternative ideas and ideals, not with knocking doors and kissing babies. When the seeding of ideas and ideals take root in the minds and hearts of voters, their emotional sway will be dampen and hopefully, what happened in 2015 GE will not repeat again.

Dr Sun Yat Sen had done that all his life, in order to convince people that a change of regime from Monarchy to Republic was a necessity. He changed China, not by knocking doors, kissing babies or doing charity work or organizing tours. He did it through endless and continuous evangelism of his political ideas and ideology, which were so alien to his people of his time.

Thus, I decided to break through the walls and boundaries set by PAP's political brainwashing. I will not play into their game of political patronage and wayangism. I will do what is MOST important in politics, the evangelism of political ideas, ideals and discourse.

If you expect me to knock doors, kiss babies, do charity work or organize events, then don't vote for me. If you only want to vote for some "big party with big brand", then I am not for you.

But if you want an MP who will put 101% in parliamentary work, scrutinize each and every policy and laws which PAP wants to pass, then I will be an extremely good choice for you.

My "Track Record" has nothing to do about how many blocks of flats I have "walk and knock", has nothing to do about whether I have run a town council before, definitely nothing about whether I am a good organizer of events or involve in giving out goodies as charity.

My "Track Record" is my consistency in providing my political views, ideas and ideals. Ideas and views which PAP would even adapt quietly without giving due credits, even million dollar "elite" ministers would read and adapt in their policies.

So next time, anyone of you start to talk about "walk the ground", "start campaigning" or "track record", think again.

I have never stopped "campaigning" since I graduated from university, against bad PAP policies. I "walk the hearts and minds" and my "Track Record" of policy ideas and ideals are thick.

Anyone who wants to be in politics, must have some policy views or policy ideas to start with. If you have none, sorry, I won't even bother.

Goh Meng Seng

Trespasses of Judiciary

Trespasses of Judiciary

When PAP enacts a law to give its own Ministers the power to Judge, Decide and give out punishment to "fake news" publishers or propagators, it is a serious trespass of Judiciary power by the Executive!

This is a serious attempt to destroy the fundamentals of Democracy in Separation of Powers.

Judgement on "falsehood" is definitely not the same as a straight forward breach of rules like parking offences or speeding. It requires an objective and independent entity like the court to make judgements.

I would think that such law is totally unconstitutional as it basically made political appointees like Ministers empowered with judiciary powers! Ministers will have great potential conflicts of interests involved when they are making such judgement call.

To say that people could go to court and challenge the Ministerial decisions doesn't erase the fact that Ministers have been given powers that trespass and undermine the judiciary system.

Goh Meng Seng

TOTD: PAP's Irresponsible Embarrassment

Thought of the Day - PAP's Irresponsible Embarrassment

When the Maritime Dispute was flared up back in late 2018, PAP Ministers, MPs and even IBs were making war cries all over.

PAP government even went to the extend of "demonstration of war preparation" by inviting the Main Stream Media to do the First of the kind of report on the Open Mobilization of the Airforce.

Live Firing exercises were carried out subsequently.

Along with the Main Stream Media and its IBs, PAP went on whipping up Nationalistic sentiments against Malaysian's "Intrusion of Singapore's Water".

PAP government has put it in no uncertain terms that the area in dispute is within our maritime boundary.

I was curious about that and did a series of research which I have posted on my Facebook here. It turns out that there is no Internationally recognized Maritime Boundary in that area of dispute!

In fact, the delimitation negotiation which Singapore held with Indonesia has stated very clearly that they could not confirm the maritime boundary which borders Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore basically because Singapore has yet to negotiate and confirm with Malaysia government the exact maritime boundary between the two countries. Thus, the maritime boundary between Singapore and Indonesia stopped short at the western part of Singapore.

It basically means that PAP government actually KNEW that we do not have an official boundary drawn and confirmed with Malaysia in that area of dispute.

I would regret to say that Malaysia was right to say that the disputed waters should be considered as "International Waters" as there isn't any recognized boundary confirmed by any party.

Due to some strange unknown reasons, after more than 50 years of independence, PAP government did not initiate any formal negotiations with Malaysia on delimitation of the maritime boundary in that area.

If PAP knew these facts but yet, went on a series of actions to make war cries, then I have to ask, is that what a responsible ruling party should do?

Many people attacked me for "siding with Malaysia" but the truth is, it is always easier to be populist by hitting the Nationalistic drums rather than looking at the issues objectively and do our own research on these issues to come to a sensible conclusion.

I have stated very clearly in my previous FB posts, the only rational thing to do is to start negotiation with Malaysia to determine and finalize the maritime boundary in that disputed waters, instead of doing war cries which will result in irreparable damage to bilateral ties between the two people across the causeway.

Well, finally PAP comes to their senses and stop their irresponsible nonsense of Nationalistic adventure.

But I have this to say, PAP always tries to portray Opposition parties as "populist", "extremist" or even "irresponsible" but it seems that PAP is guilty of all these traits and Singaporeans should remember this, without a strong, rational, reasonable and critical opposition in parliament, any ruling party like PAP might just goes rogue and become irresponsible, endangering the safety of this nation with their nonsensical self-serving stunts.

Goh Meng Seng

https://www.todayonline.com/world/malaysia-and-singapore-agree-revert-original-port-limits?fbclid=IwAR3Z_ZAmmI0oSrzR-r4G1iq27l7bQ-lbu0xOdK_NgQhoYQ7803ugxRgdxUU





PUTRAJAYA — Within a month from Thursday (March 14), Malaysia and Singapore will revert to their original port limits after both governments agreed to suspend the previous extensions of their port limits.

They also agreed not to authorise and to suspend all commercial activities in the area as well as not to anchor any government vessels in the area.

These were among the five recommendations by a bilateral working group that both countries will implement with effect from Thursday, announced Singapore's Foreign Affairs Minister Vivian Balakrishnan and Malaysia's Foreign Affairs Minister Saifuddin Abdullah in a joint press statement on the same day.

The other two recommendations are: Vessels of both countries will operate in the area based on international law including the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.

Relevant government agencies on both sides will "work out practical modalities to avoid untoward incidents in the area", said both ministers.

In the last of the five recommendations, both sides will set up a joint committee chaired by the permanent secretary of Singapore's Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) Chee Wee Kiong and Malaysia’s foreign ministry secretary-general Muhammad Shahrul Ikram Yaakob.

This committee will look at the "boundary delimitation", which will ensure that the other recommendations be implemented within one month. Once that has been done, negotiations for maritime boundary delimitation in the area will commence within the following month.

“These measures taken by both countries shall be without prejudice to Malaysia's and Singapore's respective maritime boundary claims in the area,” said the joint press statement.

In the event that the committee is unable to reach an amicable solution on delimitation, the ministers added that both countries “may mutually agree to resort to an appropriate international third-party dispute settlement procedure on terms to be mutually agreed by the parties”.

“Both Foreign Ministers agreed that these measures were vital to de-escalate the situation on the ground and pave the way for maritime boundary delimitation of the area,” the statement said.

“These measures also demonstrate the commitment of both countries to work together to preserve a strong and positive bilateral relationship on the basis of equality and mutual respect, and to resolve bilateral issues amicably in accordance with international law.”

People's Power Party New Year Message 2019

People's Power Party New Year Message 2019

2018 is a terribly challenging year for Singapore’s Democratic development. Although 2018 is coming to an end but we believe the Democratic situation will further worsen in 2019.

The Online Citizen and The Independent have been targeted by the PAP Administration and its proxy, NTUC, which has claimed to have “symbiotic relationship” with PAP. On the other hand, while we would support the Prime Minister to sue States Time Review (STR) and its editor for the criminal defamatory report which it has put up, we have reservations over the use of the Administrative power to geo-block the site altogether. This has created a precedent for PAP to geo-block any site which is critical of it. We also have great reservation over the Prime Minister’s decision to sue someone who has been misled by the report and had mistakenly shared it. The Prime Minister should take legal actions against STR and its editor instead.

We believe that the various acts are aimed to send chilling fear to Singapore dissidents and opposition supporters to curb their sharing of legitimate criticisms and anti-PAP commentaries. PAP’s intention to pass the “Fake News” law in 2019 is also an attempt to curb freedom of speech and expression. Any narrative that is contrary to PAP’s version could well be classified as “Fake News” and this law will give PAP the power to charge anyone who dare to put up such narratives!

On the other hand, we are also extremely concerned of the competency of the 4G leaders of PAP in dealing with important and sensitive diplomatic issues with our neighbouring countries. The recent unnecessary over-reaction to the sea boundary dispute as well as the dispute over airspace control has exposed the pure diplomatic incompetency and potentially dangerous political posturing of PAP’s 4G leaders. While Singaporeans understand the need to close rank and stand united when we face external threats but we will always want to stand on the higher moral grounds. There is absolutely no necessity to fan frenzy Nationalistic feelings when such fire may get out of control and translate into mindless agitations on the ground which in turn result in irreparable damage on bilateral relationship.

It is well known to the world that Singapore has the strongest arm forces in this region and there is absolutely no necessity to flex our muscle in demonstration of protest towards any surrounding country over any issues. Diplomacy has always been the pillar of our success as a small Nation in establishing a network of strength and support in both mutually beneficial economic and political development with other countries in the world. The 4G leaders of PAP must be reminded that our military might is established to prevent war and provide stability instead of starting any war or for bullying others into submission.

Looking forward into 2019, we hope that PAP will garner the wisdom and help from people with more experience in diplomacy to deal with bilateral disputes with Malaysia.

We do not expect PAP to change its strategic attempt to curb Freedom of Expression on the New media but we believe that only a good beating of PAP in the coming General Elections in 2019 or 2020 will send a strong message to PAP that it doesn’t pay to do more harm to the Nation’s Democratic development. PAP’s broken promise of “Light Touch” on internet chatters has turned into “Deadly Touch”.

We also foresee a dark economic cloud over the horizon for 2019 but under PAP’s rule, cost of living and business cost have increased tremendously over the past few years. They have just increased public transport fares despite of lower fuel price and the millions of indirect subsidies given to public transport companies! Singapore has remained as the most expensive city in the world for a few years now. This is the result when Singaporeans gave PAP too much of a mandate in GE 2015.

We believe that a combination of High Cost and Economic Downturn will hit Singaporeans very hard if PAP doesn’t change its High Cost policies soon.

Singapore is going to face a very challenging time ahead in 2019. We hope that Singaporeans will stand united and keep PAP in checks in order to get it on to the right path of Democratic and Economic development for Singapore.

Wishing Every Singaporean a Happy New Year 2019

Goh Meng Seng
Secretary General
People’s Power Party

TOTD: The Great Asian Political Idealist 12 Nov 2017

Thought of the Day - The Great Asian Political Idealist

Today is the Birthday of a Great Politician of Asia in 20th Century, Dr Sun Yat Sen.

In remembrance of this Great man, I shall dedicate my Thought of the Day to talk about his greatness.

Many people would have mistaken the source of greatness in Dr Sun. Rightfully, he is credited for bringing the fall of Imperial rule in China, although in actual fact, the success of 1911 mutiny and revolution wasn’t part of his deliberate efforts at all.

It was his inspiration, undaunted effort in advocating the topple of the Imperial Qing Dynasty that gained him great respect among his contemporary revolutionists.

However, his greatness in politics didn’t stop at that. He wasn’t exactly the top politicians in politicking and in fact, he had failed in his politicking efforts when he conceded his position to Yuan Shi Kai who tried to reinstate Imperial rule to modern China again.

His main contribution to the world, especially to the Asian political arena, lies in his political ideology of Separation of Five Powers and the Three Principles.

The concept of Separation of Five Powers is especially profound and herein lies the main difference he had against the Western Democratic ideology.

Although he was against the Imperial rule in China but he recognized the strength of the political administration which was installed and implemented by the Imperialists. This is a five thousand years legacy of Chinese wisdom in political management. He recognized that throughout history, China had always been the country which possessed the most sophisticated and advanced political management system as compared to their contemporaries. Many foreign states wanted to emulate its complex political administration and in fact, its neighbors were greatly influenced by its system. These include Japan, Korea and Vietnam.

The scholar system which Chinese dynasties had implemented throughout history ensured basic competency of the control and management of the country regardless of who was the Emperor. Even when the Emperor was just a 10 yea old kid, the scholar system would ensure basic competence in the running of the Empire.

The Chinese dynasties also valued the importance of Checks and Balances. There would always be periodic Audit checks carried on various local governance by Special Envoys empowered by the Emperors themselves.

In the inner court, they Emperor would appoint special officials empowered with the Power of Impeachment. They were allowed to speak up their mind and criticize court officials and even against Emperors without any dire consequences.

The most important institution of the scholar system was the Board of Examination. The Chief examiner would make sure the selection process for the brightest scholars from the country was done properly.

These selected students would then be fielded into the respective departments of the Empire administration.

The Western countries didn’t have such complex system of political administration until much later in the 18th or early 19th century. The idea Checks Andy Balances was actually first implemented in the Chinese dynasties as far back as 4000 years ago!

Thus even Dr Sun was heavily influenced by the western ideology of democracy, he realized that China itself had a much superior system of political administration.

However, the most common problem faced by past dynasties was the corruption of powers via full concentration of powers by One or few court officials, other than the Emperor himself.

Thus, he had raised the importance of the Separation of Five Powers, instead of the Three powers advocated by the Western world. Other than the Three powers of Executive, Judiciary and Legislation, he added two more powers that were inherently the most critical for superior political administration..... Power of Impeachment and Examination.

The Power of Impeachment is equivalent to the modern days Corrupt Practice Investigation Bureau and Audit General. The Power of Examination was catered towards the important Board of Examination which was the gate keeper of selection and appointment of scholars to civil service positions. Basically it refers to the power of selecting, appointing and promoting those who work for the government. These two are the critical powers for clean, effective, efficient and competent government.

The contribution of Dr Sun in raising the significance of these two powers should not be underestimated. Many of the problems we are still facing right now, even in 21st century, is how incompetency creeps into the political management of countries when the Power of Impeachment is lacking coupled with cronyism infestation when the Power of Selection and Appointment is totally corrupted.

This is the reason why my comrades and I decided to form People’s Power Party using Dr Sun’s profound ideology of Separation of Five Powers as the pillars of our Core Value.

PPP will strive to pass on the legacy of Dr Sun’s greatest political ideology which will always be relevant to good governance in all centuries ahead.

Goh Meng Seng

TOTD: WP's Struggle & Impact on Opposition Dynamics

Thought of the Day - WP's Struggle & Impact on Opposition Dynamics

Many people maybe confused by the statements made by WP SG LTK. First, he changed his previous stance about WP not going to form the alternative government made just a few years ago to proclaim that "WP has the foundation to form the alternative government if voters support it".

Then he announced he will be stepping down as SG of WP next year.

Why would a party leader making such an optimistic proclamation not so long ago would want to announce his retirement as the leader of the party?

Many hardcore WP and opposition supporters jumped in joy when LTK said "WP has the foundation of forming the alternative government" without much thought.

For me personally, I was stunned when LTK uttered such words about "forming the alternative government".

In Singapore's opposition politics, we cannot win solely based on hardcore anti-PAP-opposition supporters. We will need to win the middle ground voters over as well. But sometimes, there are differences in perspective the hardcore opposition supporters vs the middle ground voters. The views on opposition party forming alternative government is one of the biggest differences.

Most of the hardcore opposition supporters would very much like to kick PAP out and have opposition party to form the alternative government. But most of the middle ground voters would frown or even frighten off by such idea. The GE2015 results is one of the most indicative preferences of the middle ground voters who had swung their votes against opposition parties across the board for fear of a "Freak Elections result". Although they would like to see more opposition voices in parliament but they do not want PAP to lose power as ruling party!

Thus, we always thread very carefully on this fine thin line and the LTK whom I know, WILL NEVER MAKE SUCH CLAIMS or mention anything about forming alternative government because he knows this will be unhelpful and will not win him any votes from the middle ground!

And it is EXCEPTIONALLY STUNNING for LTK to talk like that from a position of WEAKNESS instead of Strength. The circumstances surrounding the AHTC saga is extremely unfavorable to WP and WP has exposed its pure incompetency at the very least in this whole saga. Would anyone in his right mind, from the middle ground, believe that WP is suitable to form the alternative government at all?

It is obvious that LTK is just playing to the gallery of hardcore opposition supporters instead of trying to gain trust and confidence from the middle ground. This may mean that he has already given up hope of winning back the support of the middle ground voters since the razor thin victory over Aljunied GRC with a margin not more than 1% in GE2015.

This could work to put up a sympathy bid of being politically persecuted by PAP in the AHTC saga. But the most important intention lies in his words. He said "WP has the FOUNDATION to form the alternative government". What exactly does that mean?

It basically means that WP has the resources to contest AT LEAST HALF of the seats in Singapore. That's what it means. It is a show of WP's intention to contest at least half of the seats for the next GE!

But why would WP under such bad conditions wants to contest MORE seats instead of focusing on less seats and trying to defend AHTC and Hougang?

The political calculation is simple. They have come to the conclusion that they will not be able to win Aljunied GRC, maybe NOT EVEN Hougang for the next GE no matter how hard they try. This is because they have lost all the goodwill, trust and support of the middle ground voters. That is the reason why they are turning to the hardcore supporters to consolidate their support by making such "bold statements".

This is also why LTK announces his retirement from the SG post in such early stage. The next OPC elections of WP's CEC is 9 months later in July 2018, why would he make such early announcement?

The situation may be very harsh on the AHTC saga. They might even launch their third legal attack on WP over AHTC. LTK may be hit very badly and as a seasoned veteran politician who has accumulated huge amount of political capital and legacy, he would sure not want to end his legacy in a defeat at the polls. Thus, I guess that he will not contest in the next GE at all.

But since the chance of winning next GE is so slim with the anticipation of the total destruction of WP's middle ground support, why would the party considering contesting more than 50% of the seats?

The answer lies in the 12 NCMP seats. The only way to ensure that WP continues to dominate the opposition presence in parliament is to win all the 12 NCMP seats. The only way of doing that is to spread the leaders to fight different GRCs so that hopefully, they could win enough votes to gain one or two NCMP seats each for each GRC or SMC battles.

This would mean that the recent announcements made by LTK should be viewed with great pessimism. The party is over for opposition like WP to win seats in next GE. The only thing left to fight among opposition parties are the 12 NCMP seats.

WP's intended "expansion" of contest has nothing to do with the hope of forming alternative government but rather, a desperate struggle to win the 12 NCMP seats.

Thus, we will be seeing a lot of three corner fights mainly with WP in the next GE and they are embarking on an early campaign to solidified hardcore opposition supporters' support by giving false hope, singing the tune of "alternative government" when there is seriously no way they could achieve that under the current circumstances, under the curse of AHTC saga.

Goh Meng Seng

Open Letter to Halimah

Open Letter to Halimah

Dear Madam Halimah,

At this very moment when I pen this letter to you, I still have the opportunity to address you as Madam Halimah instead of Madam Kelong President Halimah and I hope NOT to have that unfortunate opportunity to address you as such.

There is absolutely No Glory nor Dignity for you to become our First Lady President under the current circumstances. Your eventual "acceptance" of such farce arrangement of "Reserved Presidency", apparently meant for you, by submitting your nomination papers tomorrow, will be seen as an dishonorable act which will undermine the Presidency even before you begin your tour of duty.

Most important of all, your nomination and eventual acceptance of this Presidency now will cause more hurt and damage to the very Malay community which you claim to represent and lead. The implicit humiliation and hurt suffered by the Malay community will never recover fully due to the disgraceful ways of political manipulation by the power that creates unfavorable inferences upon the Malay community throughout the process.

You have said that you want to be the unifying figure for ALL Singaporeans but ironically, if you accept the "reserved appointment" of Presidency under such circumstances, you will not gain any substantial respect from any Singaporeans from any race. Your role of unification of Singaporeans would ironically be a figure head that every Singaporean stand in unity to disrespect or even despised!

The damage to our foundation of Core Values based on Meritocracy is just too great to quantify. This is one of the biggest damage your acceptance of such reserved appointment would do to our nation.

I would urge you to reconsider on submitting your nomination papers on 13 Sep 2017 because such move would only bring damaging consequences to everyone, to the whole Nation because it would be seen as the ultimate sophistry of rigging a simple electoral progress that would bring shame and disgrace to our Nation. A President-to-be who would put the whole Nation to shame and anger, is definitely not a good start for your six-years term which would be void of any legitimacy in the eyes of Singaporeans and the whole world at large.

I would urge you NOT to submit your nomination papers tomorrow so to trigger the mechanism to open up the Presidential Elections to contest by ALL qualified individuals from all races. Then you should contest in a fair and open elections to exemplify the values of meritocracy we hold so dearly for the success of this Nation.

Respect, dignity and legitimacy are earned, not Reserved in appointment. You will do yourself no justice as well as harm and damage to your Malay community as well as the Nation at large if you do not really understand this simple value.

Regrettably,
Goh Meng Seng

#MadamKelongPresident
#NotMyPresident

People’s Power Party (PPP) Statement on Singapore Presidential Elections 2017

Date: 12 Sep 2017

For Immediate Release:

People’s Power Party (PPP) Statement on Singapore Presidential Elections 2017

The Elections Department announced on 11th of September 2017 that Madam Halimah Yacob is set to be the 8th President of the Republic Singapore, having been the only potential candidate to have been issued both the Malay Community Certificate and the Certificate of Eligibility.

This means that the other two presidential hopefuls, Mr Mohamed Salleh Marican and Mr Farid Khan were not successful in their application to stand although both gentlemen had also been issued the Malay Community Certificate each. Both had failed to satisfy the ridiculously stringent criteria imposed upon private sector applicants.

The People’s Power Party (PPP), first of all, would like to express gratitude to both gentlemen who had bravely stepped forward to provide an opportunity for Singapore citizens to choose their next Elected President reserved for the Malay community. Mr Salleh and Mr Farid had subjected themselves to be scrutinised by the public with regard to their “Malayness” since they are of Indian and Pakistani by descent respectively. Madam Halimah, though technically an Indian by descent, have had her “Malayness” certified four times over in general elections previously.

PPP views this latest development of PE2107 as opportunity denied to both private sector candidates since the Presidential Elections Committee (PEC) has discretionary powers. We also note the administrative manipulation of what could have been a participatory democracy.

First and foremost, the virtue of Reserved Presidential Elections had been eclipsed by the notion that the Malays are not capable of winning in an open contest. The Malays of Singapore are actually sick of such tokenism. To add salt to injury, the “Malayness” of Presidential hopefuls are being questioned by the general public and subjected to a special committee to certify that they are Malays.

Mr Salleh and Mr Farid should be lauded as successful self-made men who are truly non-partisan and independent. That cannot be said of Madam Halimah, who, despite of her claim to not be serving any political party after stepping down as Speaker of Parliament just about a month ago, would always be seen to be beholden to her supposedly erstwhile political masters. This indebtedness would forever be etched in the memory of Singapore for generations to come should she submit her nomination forms this Wednesday, 23rd of September 2017.

When victory is declared on a battle not fought, there is no glory nor dignity.

While we could grudgingly accept that this may be a Reserved Presidential Elections for the Malay but we definitely could not agree with the blatant political ploy to turn it into Reserved President for PAP’s Halimah!

While Dr Tony Tan was not the President of 64.8% of Singaporeans who voted against him in PE2011, at the very least he fought a battle and won by 0.35% margin against his closest contender, Dr Tan Cheng Bock.

PPP is disappointed without reservation that the office of the Elected Presidency is once again tweaked in forms and eventually, it denies robust electoral challenge that is the essence of our Democratic guarantee. In our view, Mr Salleh and Mr Farid who are prominent individuals of the Malay community with the exceptional capabilities to perform the role of the Elected President with full competency. The denial of their candidacy is really regrettable.

PPP shares the sentiments of Singapore Malays who feel insulted that they been taken for a ride. The community sees themselves, yet again, as a scapegoat for the political agenda of the Powers That Be. They are the ones paying the ultimate political price. They rightly feel used, betrayed, played out and stupefied now that they bear witness to political gains built upon Malay dignity.

Last but not least, PPP further reiterates that we should not allow electoral rules to be manipulated in such divisive way and the Constitution should not be changed so frequently by the ruling party just to suit their own political agenda. An Independent Commission appointed by the Elected President should look into every attempt of amendment made to the Constitution and the Elected President should also be vested with Veto power to such amendment with the advice of the Commission.

Most importantly, we hope that Singaporeans should realize that giving PAP 70% mandate with overwhelming power via the dominance of parliamentary seats will not work in the interests of our Nation. We should deny PAP Two Third Majority in the next General Elections so that they could not just bulldoze any amendment to our Constitution at their fancy. This will ensure a truly fair electoral process and this will enhance the independent role of the Elected Presidency above and beyond partisan politicking.

Syafarin Sarif
Chairman
People’s Power Party (PPP), Singapore For CEC

TOTD: Sympathy to Madam Kelong President

Thought of the Day - Sympathy to Madam Kelong President

My deepest Sympathy to the Madam Kelong President to be. No matter how you try to prove yourself capable of being independent of PAP, you will always be FOOT noted in the History of Singapore as the Kelong President who is beholden to PAP for getting this disgraceful position of Presidency.

It may not be your fault but you are one who made the choice to play right into the hands of PAP and thus, rightfully so, you will have to be responsible for your decision to play the puppet of the power that be.

The circumstances under which you become the President bring no glory or pride to you, your family or your clan but only insults, shame and anger to the Malay community.

You have already been addressed as "Madam President" by your powerful colleagues even before the race and now, being made the Madam President as "planned" through administrative means. We cannot help to feel that this is all Kelong or an elaborated set up of a wayang.

Your colleagues have helped to set up barriers to all competition by making Reserved Presidential Election... yes, make no mistake about it, it is indeed RESERVED for you and nobody else. By doing so, your Malay community has suffered humiliation not only once but twice throughout the whole farce process. One, they have set on record that any Malay Presidential candidate, including you Madam Kelong President, will not be able to win in a fair and open Presidential Elections because you are a minority despite the fact that not so long ago, an Indian PAP candidate has just won a by elections against the Secretary General of the second largest opposition party in Singapore!

The Malay community is further insulted when their two very successful self-made millionaires were denied Presidential candidacy even though they have created their own business empires which are worth multiple hundreds of millions. Do they lack any business, economics or financial capabilities to perform the role of the Elected Presidency when they have basically built their own business empires through their own merits? Obviously not and I believe they are better qualified in business, economics and financial capabilities than you do, Madam Kelong President!

You are only qualified on the technicality of being the PAP appointed Speaker of Parliament which doesn't involve in managing any big business, lest a $500 million paid up capital entity!

These are the Business Elites of the Malay community but they were put down as not good enough to be the Elected President?! Only people like you who are beholden to PAP by working for PAP could be qualified as Kelong President?

How hurtful could that be to your Malay Community, which you proclaim to represent and belong to?

Madam Kelong President, you may think that you have brought glory to yourself and the Malay community but no, you have instead brought shame, hurt and anger to the Malay community.

I would have even more sympathy to you if you really think it is something great to become the Kelong President as you wish because you are living in a dream that lacks legacy and dignity. Even your predecessor Tony Tan has more dignity than you do despite the fact that he had won only by less than 35% but at the very least he fought the battle till the very end! But you? You will always been seen as appointed by the 16 persons and PAP and nobody else.

My heart felt thanks to the other two Malay candidates, Mr Salleh Marican and Mr Farid Khan for stepping forward to offer yourself to serve Singapore as President. Don't feel bad to be rejected by the political sophistry of PAP because it is not the people like us who have rejected you. Only 16 people plus the PAP have rejected you. All the best to both of you. Thank you.

Goh Meng Seng

#MadamKelongPresident

#NotMyPresident

PAP's Political Miscalculation on Reserved Presidential Election

Political Miscalculation of the Day

So the cat is out of the bag, there will be no contest for the Presidential "Elections" because by the latest straw poll, PAP won't have the confidence of having Halimah winning the PE!

CCS has said that PAP "is prepared to pay the political price" but we all know all PAP cares is winning by all means, never to lose an election, especially the Presidential Elections whereby the one who is not endorsed by them may give them trouble and headache like what OTC had done to them!

The so call "short term political price" is merely the price of negative public opinion in the short term which may be overcome by giving goodies when GE comes!

This sudden groundswell against PAP's Reserved Presidential Elections strategy is totally unexpected turn of event for PAP. Instead of talking about how good the Reserved Presidential Elections is, people are instead debating on "spoiling the vote" vs "vote against PAP, anyone but Halimah"! This debate has taken over the public discourse and it will only snowball and cannibalizes on the support of PAP Halimah.

Although both sides of the camps are against each other and even evolves into calling each other PAP moles, BUT it has unexpected impact on the quiet majority middle ground swing voters. Both sides have a common belief that this RPE is BAD although we just have different approaches towards showing our unhappiness against it.

This unhappiness is contagious and has started to spread like wild fire. Our reasoning against REP is the same, it is against our Core value of Meritocracy and Racial Equality. The pathetic attempt by PAP Ministers to explain and justify their RPE has failed miserably to impress lest convince Singaporeans because their arguments are full of loopholes based on false premises or even untruthful "facts"!

PAP is pressing the panic button and making calculations on the least damaging options now. No matter what option it is, they are not prepared to lose the seemingly unimportant post of Electec Presidency but in actual fact, it is a small dagger hanging over their heads.

Thus, the only logical conclusion is, there shall not be a contest, at all cost... this cost is cheaper of having a non-conforming President sitting on their heads.

Goh Meng Seng

TOTD: Democracy in Destruction, Dictatorship in the Making

Thought of the Day - Democracy in Destruction, Dictatorship in the Making

Many people have spoken about bits and pieces of Conflicts of Interests in the appointment of AG and DAG, appointments of key positions in civil service and GLCs which are dubious with signs of cronyism and of course the "rigging" of the Elected Presidency by turning it into race based election which rules out potential strong contest from non PAP approved candidates etc...

Most people could only see the trees but not the whole forest. I was having dinner with a couple of friends and I explain to them that this is in fact a Dictatorship in the making but they couldn't really understand the whole picture.

As stated in PEOPLE's Power Party constitution, the fundamental principle which determine a Democracy is the Separation of 5 Powers. Most people would only know or familiar with the basic 3 Powers of Judiciary, Legislative and Executive but not the other two Powers. True enough my friends ask me what are the other two Powers?

I explain to them it is Power of Impeachment and Power of Appointment of civil servants (Examination).

In Singapore's context, the President who is supposed to safeguard our foreign reserves, is the key institution of Power of Impeachment together with CPIB. PSC which takes care of the civil service recruitment and appointment is the institution empowered with the function of Examination Power.

If we take a good look at what PAP is trying to do, we will realize that they are CONCENTRATING ALL THE FIVE POWERS under them by appointing their own people to the key positions.

They have controlled both the Executive and Legislative powers by default, then they started to influence heavily on the appointments of key personnel to civil service and a GLCs, sometimes even put their own family members in these important positions. Then they start to meddle with the whole judiciary system by appointing their own people to the AGC!

IF all these Five Powers are separated and independent of each other, we would have a good functioning Democracy with proper checks and balances. But the reverse would mean a total interdependent Powers tightly controlled by a centralized figure or organization. This would basically mean a total concentration of powers which in effect, turning our system into a live dictatorship!

Singaporeans should wake up to this fact that the Post LKY era will mean a tightening control of all Five Powers and the destruction of Democracy for Singapore will be completed without any effective system of checks and balances.

The Post LKY ERA is turning into a total nightmare for Singapore Democratic development...

Oxley Temple Saga: Lessons on Separation of Powers And Good Governance

WARNING: This is going to be a "LONG BORING POST" if you are not interested in learning more about what is "Conflict of Interest" or "Separation of Powers". 

In this post, I am not interested on the Oxley House  itself but what came out from the whole saga; especially on the issue "Abuse of Power" and such.

Mr. Lee Hsien Yang and Dr Lee Wei Ling had made serious accusations of "Abuse of Power", among other things. PM Lee Hsien Loong claims that he has "answered" all these allegations in parliament and concluded that these are "baseless".

Many Singaporeans seem to be "convinced" that these are "baseless allegations" and even our opposition MPs in parliament seemed to think that these are just "calculated allegations" (sic) without much substance or substantial evidences made to undermine the Prime Minister. (Anyway, I do not think it is the job of opposition to defend the Prime Minister himself.)

From recent events in the appointment of Deputy Attorney General, Attorney General to this Oxley Temple Saga, it is clear that Singaporeans didn't really see any problems with the massive potential conflicts of interests as well as the breach of the simple rule of Separation of Powers. I personally feel that this is the main weakness of Singapore. Singaporeans lack a clear understanding of the importance of Separation of Powers and what constitutes "Conflicts of Interests". It is also apparent that even our opposition MPs have weak understanding or even lack of understanding of Separation of Powers and Conflicts of Interests; else they won't be found or criticized for the lack of proper handling of potential "conflicts of interests" in the management of their Town Councils. They have tried to make a case of Conflicts of Interests in parliament against the appointment of Hri Kumar and Lucian Wong as Deputy AG and AG but it wasn't forceful nor "convincing" at all. And it is not surprising that they did not see the case made out by PM Lee's siblings as convincing and important enough to call for investigations of any sort, but pass these allegations off as "baseless" or "lack substantial evidence" and conclude these as "calculated accusation to undermine the PM". They even gave the PM "benefit of doubts" over these issues!

Let me go through the various issues one by one, giving a contrast by putting up examples from Hong Kong. Why Hong Kong? Well, both Singapore and Hong Kong adopted the Common Laws as the basis of our legal systems. It is comparable in many sense.

Inappropriate Appointment of AG and DGA

It is a fact that the appointed AG Lucian Wong was PM Lee's personal lawyer as stated by LHY and LWL. It is a fact that the appointed Hri Kumar was a PAP MP. PM Lee tried to brush away the accusation of him appointing his own personal lawyer as AG as non-issue because he opines that Lucian has "provided good service" to him!

Now some people pointed out there is "Conflict of Interests" but didn't know exactly how interests could be "conflicted". This is why PAP could get away with such blatant act.

There are actually TWO GREAT Problems here, instead of One. Conflict of Interests is only one of the problems. The other is the breach of the Democratic Principle of Separation of Powers.

Let me give you an example and you will see clearly why there is a potential conflict of interests here.

If you are the Director of a Stats Board or department in the civil service. You made the recommendation of a lawyer as the legal advisor of the department, without declaring that he is your personal lawyer, would that be permissible? Obviously not.

In the world of good governance in public sector, all related interests must be declared before the decisions for any position or any contract is offered. Else that would be considered as a breach of proper procedures and the omission of such declaration of interests or relationship would be considered an attempt to hide critical information and will automatically trigger criminal investigation procedures.(Remember the NEA Brompton Bike case?)

Why would that be considered as "Conflict of Interest" in the first place? Well, as long as there is a relationship (close relationship) or business dealings between the Director and the lawyer, there will be a possibility of transfer of tangible or intangible interests which may be suspected to result in the favorable decision to appoint or give the contract to the lawyer. For example, hefty discounts or even "Free Service" provided to the Director for his personal matters and in return, the Director decides to appoint him as legal adviser to the department. These possible events may not have happened but as long as there is such possibility, the relationship must be declared. i.e. If there is nothing to hide, you should declare such relationship.

Now, regardless of whether there is any "favors" transacted between the PM and his lawyer, which means, we do not need to prove there is such transactions of goodwill or favors, PM should declare such interests or relationship when he proposed and made decision to appoint him as the office holder of Attorney General.

The question now is, did PM Lee make such declaration in the process of appointing Lucien Wong as AG?

I believe that after the Hotel Property saga which PM Lee was implicated, PM Lee should now be extremely careful to accept any "discount" or even "free" service from anyone, but still, in the system of good governance, such potential conflict of interests should be dealt with proper declaration in the process of selection and appointment. This is especially so when there is no indication that PM has recused himself from this decision of AG appointment.

Thus, what Opposition MPs in parliament should ask is, did PM Lee declare this critical potential conflict of interests in the process of appointment? He did not mention it nor make proper declaration of such relationship when the previous parliamentary sitting had a debate on the appointment of Lucien Wong as the AG! 

The second aspect of such appointment of Lucien Wong as AG, together with Hri Kumar as DAG, is the breach of the Democratic Principle of Separation of Powers.

In People's Power Party's concept of Separation of Powers, there are Five Powers. This is more stringent requirement but even for the normal concept of Separation of Powers which involves mainly Three powers or maybe even the forth state of Freedom of Press, it is important to note that the Executive, Judiciary and Legislative powers should observe a strict separation to effect Independent functioning of these institutions of the Democratic system, without fear nor favour.

AG office is an important part of the Judiciary system and it must not only act Independently but also SEEN to be Independent of the Executive and Legislative arm.

The appointment of Lucien Wong as the AG has breached the rule of independence of the AGO from the Head of the Executive Arm, i.e. PMO! The appointment of Hri Kumar as DAG, who was ex-PAP MP (or what we call legislative member) is also a breach of the rule of independence of the AGO from BOTH the Executive arm as well as the Legislative arm! (PM is effective the leader of the ruling party PAP which dominates the parliament, the legislative arm).

Thus in any way we look at it, these appointments are totally inappropriate and smack of effecting a non-Democratic rule because the basic principle of Separation of Powers has been seriously breached!

Thus, the important question we should ask is, do we still want Singapore to be a developed Democracy or just regress into a system of authoritarian or dictatorship whereby Separation of Powers is basically non-existent? 

In Hong Kong, such situation will never happen, especially for appointments of important positions in the Judiciary system, be it AG or Chief Justice.

Even for positions which are less sensitive like Board of Directors of university, if the Chief Executive appoints people who have direct relations with him, the whole society will criticize such moves. It has happened before during CY Leong's term. But as this doesn't breach the Principle of Separation of Powers (Board of University is not part of the 3 powers) and such appointees are WELL KNOWN to be politically connected to the CE and no obvious transactions of service nor interests, no further actions were taken.


Obtaining Official source of Information for Private Use

LHY and LWL had accused PM Lee of obtaining the Deed of Gift via his official capacity as Prime Minister and (passed it to his lawyer) used it against them.

PM Lee had explained that as one of the inheritor of LKY's assets, he has the "right to know" or have the Deed of Gift.

However, whether the PM has the "right" to the Deed of Gift or not, is PRIVATE matters between him and his siblings. This is purely a PRIVATE matter.

To make use of his official capacity of PM to get the deed, which Minister Lawrence Wong has confirmed that LHL received the Deed via his official capacity as PM, and pass it to his PRIVATE lawyer to settle his private matters with his siblings, is already a breach of procedure and official protocol.

I believe there are laws governing the proper use of information obtained in official capacity as we have seen in recent cases, police officer was charged for accessing information in their official capacity but pass these information to his friends for their private use.

Any information obtained by any civil servants or political appointees in their official capacity, should only be used for official business instead of private matters! That's the basic protocol of any good governance for the civil service!

The evidence provided by LHY and LWL had clearly shown that LHL's PRIVATE Lawyer has indicated that LHL has passed the Deed of Gift to the law firm while Minister Lawrence Wong has confirmed LHL received the Deed via his Official capacity of PM. This is a clear breach of protocol.

The proper way for LHL to get the Deed of Gift to settle his private matter is to ask his lawyer to write in on behalf of HIS OWN CAPACITY as one of the inheritors of LKY's estate to get the Deed from National Heritage Board.

Having the right to the Deed doesn't mean that you can use the wrong channel or your official capacity as Prime Minister to get the Deed for your private use.

Thus, it is very disappointing to note that Opposition MPs didn't make this point clearly in parliament in objection to his flimsy and unconvincing defence.

In Hong Kong, there were cases of politicians or political appointees being charged and imprisoned for misusing information obtained in official capacity for private use. There is a clear cut line in maintaining good governance.
 

The "Secret Ministerial Committee"

Whether the Ministerial Committee is "secret" or not, or whether PM Lee recuse himself from this Ministerial Committee or not, does not clear the fact that such arrangement of having "direct subordinates" to meddle or investigate into the DIRECT Boss' matters is a total upheaval of hierarchical ethics! And obviously, it is a messy conflict of interests in itself!

We only have superior conducting investigation into subordinates' matters but direct subordinates investing and meddle in superior's matters is really hardly heard of! This is also a clear breach of Separation of Powers!

Besides the declared members of this Ministerial Committee are neither history experts nor heritage preservation experts! Thus on what basis or merits do they have to convene such a committee to determine the "options" for the Oxley house in terms of heritage preservation?

LHY and LWL had accused the committee of focusing on the attacks on the legitimacy of LKY's Last Will instead of the Options. And unwittingly, PM Lee has put up the summary of his Statutory Declaration which confirms that his main submission to the Ministerial Committee is all about putting doubts on the validity of LKY's Last Will.

How could anyone come to the conclusion that LHY and LWL have put up "baseless" allegation in this case? 

The proper place to question the validity of the Last Will is to challenge the probate of the Last Will in court. If PM Lee is reluctant to go to court for fear of tarnishing his father's good name, then why would he bring it up to his subordinates in this Ministerial Committee?

The proper way of dealing with determining the OPTIONS is to call in REAL INDEPENDENT EXPERTS from the academic field to look into it instead of the ministers! Why isn't this so? 

Thus the pertinent question should be asked in parliament is that why isn't an independent penal of experts set up instead of the Ministerial Committee which is bound to breach basic hierarchical ethics tainted with conflict of interests? 

In Hong Kong, when they are looking into heritage preservation of any buildings or landmarks or sites, they will convene an independent penal filled with REAL experts in the respective fields, instead of Ministers. Just simple as that.



Inappropriate Use of PMO Official Authority 

This is the MOST Ridiculous part of the whole saga. The Prime Minister Office  is neither the official owner of ANYTHING from the Estate of LKY although Lee Hsien Loong the son, is one of the inheritor. And Ho Ching, PM Lee's wife, has no official appointment in PMO but yet, she can be listed as the person for contact representing PMO to give away something that doesn't even belong to PMO!

And our dear Prime Minister just brush it off by saying that they were just excited to find something of "historical significance" to give it to NHB for its exhibition, without prior informing his own siblings! How could this be a convincing explanation of such lack of clear differentiation between what is Official and Private?

LHY and LWL had provided the clear documented evidence of such blatant misuse of official capacity in this case but yet, people are saying that they didn't provide "enough" evidence for this?

In Singapore, even if the Prime Minister wanted to sue anybody for defamation or anything, he cannot use the letter head of the Prime Minister Officer (PMO) or his title as Prime Minister! This is a clear cut between Official business vs Private matters.

Thus, apparently, the Prime Minster has totally ignored BASIC Official protocols and blurred the lines between his Official political appointment with his private matters! The PMO doesn't own any thing from the estate of LKY and it should not be used to process any things obtained from the LKY estate!

In Hong Kong, Donald Tsang who was former Chief Executive and Finance minister of Hong Kong, was chided for using official letterhead of his office to write to government departments to request for information and help for his private matters. This is a big taboo in Hong Kong.

Conclusion

Good Governance and Separation of Powers are inseparable.  All civil servants are expected to have a clear concept of "Official Capacity" vs "Private Matters" and what will possibly constitute conflict of interests. More so for top civil servants as well as political appointees like Ministers and Prime Minister. On top of that, the only why to avoid conflict of interests is to maintain proper Separation of Powers.

Conflict of Interest does not mean there must be real wrong doing of any sort but by virtue of POSSIBLE undue influence based on any close relationship of any kind, one must declare such potential conflicts.

Beside the consideration of Conflict of Interest, the OVERALL system of Separation of Powers must be maintained.

PM Lee clearly lacks the strong sense of "Separation of Powers" and most important of all, has blurred all lines between what is Official business vs Private matters. There is a CLEAR consistency demonstrated in all the issues brought up by PM Lee's siblings that suggests that PM Lee himself lacks clarity in differentiating what is "Official" vs "Private" matters.

He is setting a terrible example for the whole civil service and I have serious doubt that with such aptitude and attitude, he couldn't possibly maintain Good Governance without any concept of Separation of Powers and avoidance of conflict of interests.

If such things happen in Hong Kong, such evidence along with the self-admissions made by either the Ministers or the Chief Executive himself would be serious enough to trigger or warrant an immediate thorough investigation, either by an independent commission convened by the Legco or any appropriate authority, like ICAC.  But just too bad, this is Singapore which doesn't follow such strict and stringent rules set upon the civil service as well as political appointees.

For the Prime Minister to brush it aside by saying "no evidence" at all and to state that he himself will ask for investigation if there is evidence, is just totally unconvincing and ironically, lack of the very principle of Separation of Powers and avoidance of conflict of interests! It is not for him to decide whether there is enough evidence thrown against himself! It is should come under an independent panel to decide on that!

Separation of Powers and avoidance of conflict of interests must not only be maintained but must also be SEEN to be maintained. There are laws and mechanisms available within the system to make things transparent and these should be strictly followed. Sad to say, the TOP boss, the Prime Minister himself, is now seen to breach every important part of this system. 

The Prime Minister doesn't deserve any "benefit of doubts" because it is totally unacceptable to let any DOUBT on his own conduct and management to exist and linger in the minds of Singaporeans. All doubts should be cleared and none should left lingering. Else I would regard that as a sign of unfit for the top public office.

Thus, I maintain my call for Lee Hsien Loong to resign as Prime Minister for the sake of Singapore.

Goh Meng Seng

TOTD: Oxley Temple Saga - PAP, why?

Thought of the Day - PAP, why?

Many people have been "misled" in this Oxley saga that it is a "Private" matter but apparently, it is not.

The WHOLE Cabinet of PAP Ministers wanted the Oxley House to be preserved and no compromise on just having a garden, why?

While PM Lee and his siblings LHY and LWL may have called for a "cease fire" and wanted to "solve the issue in private", but to me, this issue cannot be solved without looking hard at what these PAP Ministers want.

First of all, why did the FIRST Will of LKY signed in Aug 2011 stated so clearly that he wanted the house to be demolished immediately after his death? This was done right after the 21 Jul 2011 Cabinet Meeting which he was "invited" (I would refrain from using "summon") to the Cabinet to "discuss" about the fate of the Oxley House.

It is in my view that this is part of PAP's reactions and "strategy" to cope with the bad GE result in May 2011. PAP has never been so "enthusiastic" about "Heritage Preservation". It has demolished quite a lot of important landmarks in Singapore without much consultation or even winking. These includes the National Theater (I doubt many younger generations know what it is!), National Central Library etc.

But why LKY's Oxley house suddenly become so important for them? It is only about PAP's history and not much of value as a "National Heritage".

Thus, it is my view that PAP has its own self vested interests in mind, in a direct response to the dwindling popularity of its rule. Someone must have come up with the brilliant idea that LKY's political capital, embedded in the Holy Temple of Oxley, could help PAP in retaining its perpetual rule! Thus, this is the reason why that Cabinet meeting was called and basically telling LKY that they need to preserve his Oxley house to create his temple.

LKY, though throughout his life, he has been no short of a dictator, didn't like the idea. He knew that his system of rule could only be sustainable with good people as "benevolent dictators" but apparently, this is almost impossible to get in real life. He didn't want his name to be linked to any foreseeable failure of PAP's dictatorial rule in future, or even become the political milking machine for these incompetent PAP Ministers who cannot even hold their own fort and ground without depending on him, as a dead man!

Thus, he decided to add that demolition clause into his First Will, right after that Cabinet Meeting. This is the response he made against these PAP Minions.

Thus, Singaporeans must really understand the FULL Context of this Oxley saga. I am rather worried to see some people being "indifferent" or even "supportive" of setting this Oxley Political Temple of PAP! People have been mistaken this issue as some "National Interest" but there is absolutely no "National Interest" in it, only PAP's interests of perpetual rule!

In fact, the REAL National Interest is to prevent the PAP from creating the Oxley Political Temple, making use of LKY as the idolized God in it. It is in National Interest to prevent ANYONE from continuously milking a dead man for political capital to sustain his rule.

Although I am not a fan of LKY but I guess on this point, I have to agree with his decision.

This is especially true that after PAP has tasted "success" in milking a dead LKY for all his possible political capital in GE 2015, right after his death and achieving an exceptional result of 70% in the polls, PAP's minions will definitely be more determined to use all means to preserve the house and turn it into a permanent Oxley Temple for them to milk the dead man indefinitely! They would even threaten to say, with total disrespect and disgraceful that they have the power to over write LKY's last wish through forceful land acquisition or gazetting that house!

This shows how desperate they are in wanting to create that Oxley Temple for their own political interests! But they just want to be seen "nice" and this is the only reason why they didn't act straight away. They are just trying to have the cake and eat it as well.

Thus, having this true context in mind, would you expect the Lee family could possibly settle this issue amicably in private? The answer is NO. Whether we like it or not, it is PAP's political will at play and it will become a "National Issue", no matter what superficial agreement could be reached between PM Lee and his siblings.

Many people cannot see the point why LHY and LWL had accused LHL and his wife of having this intention of making use of their father's name for "Dynastic Rule" because they do not see the whole context of this Oxley saga.

If you understand the full context why, in the first place, PAP has insisted of turning Oxley house into a Political Temple and why LKY resisted, you will understand why LHY and LWL would see LHL's anger and objection to the demolition plus attempts made to preserve the house, even to "rewrite" their father's history to achieve that, as an attempt to get his son to become a successor in future.

This is because, in LHY's and LWL's perspective, if LHL and wife didn't have that intention, why would he be so assertive and even emotional in wanting the house to be preserved as a "Heritage Site"? In LHY's and LWL's view, if LHL has nothing to gain from it, why would he be so anxious about the intended demolition of the house?

I would urge all Singaporeans to oppose PAP's intention of turning this Oxley house into PAP's Political Temple. It is LKY's foresight in not having it and I must admit, this time round, he got it right.

LKY knew that his system of political rule is not sustainable and it should be abused, definitely not in his name. He was prepared to subject PAP to a more democratic system after what he saw the true colors of his PAP Ministers, after that Jul 2011 Cabinet meeting.

We will just have to trust his political judgement for one last time and oppose this blatant attempt of PAP creating that Oxley Temple.

Goh Meng Seng

Who would expect The Black Irony?

Who would expect The Black Irony?

Some call it Straight Instant Karma, some would just call it Black Irony.

Once a powerful man on the island, feared even by his own political minions in the party, had eventually suffered great humiliation and disrespect, only to become a puppet political tool for his own son and party to milk to the fullest.

Who would imagine that such great shrewd politician of his time, who was exceptionally street smart to milk the political capital of his contemporaries like Lim Chin Siong, would end up nothing more than a "sacred political cow" to be milked eternally by his own party, against his own will after his death?

Who would imagine that a ruthless politician like him who had locked up thousands of his detractors and dissidents, breaking their families and soul in solitary confinement, forcing many others to run road as well, would end up with the very machinery or rather, Monster he created, instilling that same fear in his own son, forcing him to consider the Run Road option?

Who would expect a man who had undaunted will power that created Singapore under his will and likings, couldn't even get that little respect from the very party he created, to grant him that simple wish to demolish his own house?

Who would expect a man who had used his expertise in law, to create draconian laws which were deemed necessary for forceful land acquisition for urban renewal, would possibly end up at the end of this huge stick, to have his own Minister openly declare that his own house and property could be forcefully acquired by the government against his will?

Who would expect the mantra "for the greater Nation good" which he created to justify all bad policies against the people, be used against his will eventually?

Who would expect that a man renowned as the First among equals, top lawyer graduated with top grades from Cambridge, could be so blatantly insulted to be a senile fool who couldn't even understand his own Will that he has signed?

Who would expect a man with such great mastery of words, twisting and turning his words just to get what he wanted, could be subjected to such Third class wordy abuse of twisting himself?

Who would expect a man who had preached about Confucianism all his life ended up with filial piety treated as trash while his children fought among themselves under his name?

For all his life, he diligently worked hard and created his dream system of semi dictatorship and Asian authoritarian rule, but in the end, he was so helplessly turned into the victim of his own pet monster, under the control of his own son.

For those who are in the system enjoying every bit of that power of tyranny, don't be too happy yet. What can happen to him, could well befallen upon you one day.

That is Black Irony of the Day

Goh Meng Seng

TOTD: Are We Too Lenient to People Who Misappropriate Public Funds?

While Kong Hee has expressed "disappointment" over his conviction, many more Singaporeans were disappointed or even angry that he and his gang get their sentences halved!

Apparently the sentences meted out by the judges in reduction of their sentences by half, are totally out of expectation and out of sync with public sentiments.

While we expect the court to be independent from "populist" sentiments as well as any other interference but to have a judgement which is totally in reverse of public expectation would create a lot of unnecessary speculations and distrust of our judiciary.

It is of utmost important for the court to publicize and lay out the basis of their judgement and try to convince the public as well as the legal profession that their judgement is right with legal basis in granting a slash of half the initial jail terms meted out by the High Court. It is an important case which may have dire consequences for future similar cases as a precedence.

In contrast to the previous cases of Mingyi monk who was sentenced to jail of 10 months which was reduced to 6 months later for a the $50K illegal loan a close aide along with forgery of documents as well as TT Durai NKF case which he was sentenced to 3 months jail term for forging invoices, this case involves millions and far more complex financial arrangement. in channeling funds to benefit the spouse's singing career, an immediate family member, of Kong Hee. These three cases would become important case study for the law school and the legal argument should be properly set out.

Although in the CHC case, the sentences are seemingly relatively more severe than the previous two cases, but it begs the question of whether our court or legal system is just too lenient to people who misappropriate public funds.

Misappropriation of public funds as compared to private funds should be of more serious consequences as it involves public trust in public institutions. However, these three cases have somehow gave the public the impression or mis-perception that misappropriation of public funds is of lesser consequences to those found guilty of CBT in private companies.

As the saying goes, Justice needs to be done and seen to be done as well. The disparity between public expectation and the sentences meted out by our court may not be a good sign for Singapore and it needs to be resolved asap.

Goh Meng Seng

TOTD: "Racial Chauvinists", Religion, Humanity & Balance

Thought of the Day - "Racial Chauvinists", Religion, Humanity & Balance

This is going to be a "political incorrect" and sensitive topic but it sets me thinking for quite a long while.

What will happen when a "perceived" Chinese Chauvinist meets a "labeled" Malay Chauvinist?

A good friend of mine, a Malay, told me that his friend "warned" him about me being "Chinese Chauvinist" and wanted him to "stay away" from me. My friend replied "I am also a Malay Chauvinist, so what?"

Simple Labels are thrown around in politics as a means of divide and rule. I get this "Chinese Chauvinist" label ever since my first electoral contest in Aljunied GRC under WP because I played the role as "Chinese Anchor" by making more speeches in Mandarin during elections rallies. My SAP school background has also been played up to justify this label of "Chinese Chauvinist". But as far as I am concerned, technically speaking, I am not truly a Chinese educated person. I always tell others I am "half Chinese-educated" because SAP schools aren't really "Chinese Education" at all.

Yesterday at the Water Protest, I met a veteran Malay political activist/politician who has been labeled as "Malay Chauvinist" by PAP during one of the hotly contested elections. Guess what happens? Did the "fight" between the two "Chauvinist" figures occur? Nope.

He said to me that he has been following my various postings and find that I have been very fair in writing towards the Malays/Muslims issues.

Deep down in my heart, I regard everyone as a Human Beings first (unless you want to be a dog of some kind...) before you are racially or religiously classified. We have the same color of blood running in our veins. As human beings, we should have the same understanding of Humanity.

I just told him that sometimes, for some "sensitive Malay/Mulsim" issues or perspectives, it is better for Chinese or non-Malay/Muslim to speak up for them, else PAP people would use the opportunity to put labels on those Malays/Muslims who dare to utter those words. We are humans and Singaporeans, we look after and speak up for each other. Don't ever allow PAP to use "divide and rule" on us anymore.

PAP has always emphasized on the FEAR of racial disharmony and what not. It has always proclaimed that we need "racial balance" and it has always been playing the racial card whenever it suits their agenda. The Elected Presidency and GRC system the most prominent examples. Of course, at the same time, it will disallow others from "playing racial politics".

The curious thing is this. While PAP played the racial card well and regularly, it has always shy away from the topic of "religious balance" in politics. Religious political perspective is more sensitive than racial politics to PAP. The last opposition politician who touched on this "most sensitive" topic of "religious balance" in PAP government, got hammered and chased out of Singapore. This is none other than Mr Tang Liang Hong. He had two labels thrown at him, not one. "Anti-Christian Chinese Chauvinist". That was the exact label.

Despite the fact that Mr Tang can speak Fluent Malay and learned Indian Dance, the "Chinese Chauvinist" label was put on him.Yet some Singaporeans actually buy PAP's story! Just because he is really "Chinese educated" and also speak fluent Mandarin. The "Anti-Christian" label was put on him just because he mentioned about the imbalance of religious mix within the Cabinet in one of the dialogue sessions.

He had just poked at the sensitivity of PAP government, which was and still is factually correct.

Religion is of course, a sensitive and emotional issue. Some people could lose their sensibility and even human logical mind when discussing religious topic. Especially in politics, it makes people irrational, ignoring all other issues but focusing solely on their own religious beliefs.

I have met several people of such mindset in my FB. When it comes to the issue of "Israel", it seems that some people just went bonkus. They were "known" to be "opposition supporters" but when I try to make sense of the happening in Israel as an issue of atrocities against humanity, they will somewhat justify that as "Palestine is the God's promised land to Jews". Well, for people like me who do not believe in Abrahamic faiths, this is really a non-issue. The real issue of the day is that sufferings to humanity are happening in Palestine due to Israel's unreasonable doings.

At the end of the day, they would end up with "I will not vote for you" just because I am "against Israel"!

I raise this point to illustrate how religious faiths could greatly affect one's rational thinking and we should NOT pretend that such things don't happen. I would say that beside racial balance, religious balance in politics is an important key issue for Singapore as well. This is especially so when the Abrahamic faiths followers are somewhat affected by the tensions created in the Middle East.

Every religions will have its extremist factions. They might be the minority but their twisted teaching may affect a lot more people unknowingly. Even Buddhism has its fair share of cults created over the decades and centuries.

In Singapore's context, we have to eradicate and prevent such extremism from evolving in ALL religions in Singapore. And the best way to effect such preventive measures is to have a good balance of representation of people with different religious beliefs in parliament as well as the Cabinet. The religious moderates should dominate the political sphere, in prevention of any extremism from any religious faith from hijacking the platform.

However, comparatively, Buddhists and Taoists are rather inactive in the political sphere. Somehow, among the Buddhist community, there is a subtle inherent discouragement of political engagement or involvement due to our religious belief. Most of the Buddhists would just take a detached attitude towards politics. Their religious faith is personal and do not see the need or importance of political involvement.

Even more so for the "elites" in the Buddhist community. They view politics as "dirty" and it would hinder their own practice of mindfulness, gaining merits so that they could be reincarnated or reborn into better realms or even attaining Nirvana.

This is why in Singapore, even though the Buddhist/Taoist community is the largest among the various religions, we are "under-represented" in the political sphere.

But I think otherwise. Buddhists could well be the balancing force in Singapore politics when the tension between the Abrahamic faiths could well spill over from Middle East.

The reason why I could put up a FAIR position on the issue of Islam, Malay and Israel is not because I am Chinese but rather, I am a Buddhist and not bounded by the Abrahamic-faith mindset. I see things as it is, in modern context and I am not bounded by whatever past historical religious happenings in the Middle East.

Having said that, I personally feel that Catholics are generally more moderate in nature. They have a better understanding that Islam, has similar roots to their faith. It is a curious point because the Crusades and Jihads have been fought bitterly between the Muslims and Catholics centuries ago. But they have evolved.

I had a Catholic friend who said that Catholic encourages fasting for one month prior to Easter or Good Friday. They will fast for a meal a day and the money saved from this meal, they will donate out to charity. Doesn't that sound familiar? The only difference is that Muslims and Catholics chose to fast on different months but both believe that fasting is essential in keeping mindfulness about the cleansing of their body and mind.

Sometimes many people ask me to give up opposition politics altogether. Well, I will give up eventually and hopefully soon. Like all good Buddhists, I would like to have my last years of my life spent in seclusion and private practice to attain enlightenment. It would be a great blessing if I could become a monk in this life. But for the time being, I will have to continue to play my role and duty to my country.

Hopefully when the time is up, I shall know by Divine intervention. :)


Goh Meng Seng