SINGAPORE scores highly in areas like infrastructure and stability, but fares poorly in culture and living environment indices. As a result, it was ranked the 53rd most liveable city in the annual survey by the The Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU), which compared 140 cities worldwide. Vancouver again topped the list, followed by Vienna and Melbourne in Australia. Three other Australian cities also made it to the top 10 list – Sydney, Perth and Adelaide.

Source: ST

The Republic scored better than culture capitals New York and London, which lost out because of crumbling infrastructure, but lagged behind other Asian capitals like Hong Kong, Tokyo and Osaka. I guess Singapore’s low ranking in culture could be attributed to our lack of history (and on-going difficulties in establishing a common national identity, exacerbated by a continual influx of foreigners to the mix).

Anyway, the top 10 ranking cities are as follow:

1. Vancouver, Canada

2. Vienna, Austria

3. Melbourne, Australia

4. Toronto, Canada

5. Calgary, Canada

6. Helsinki, Finland

7. Sydney, Australia

8. Perth, Australia

9. Adelaide, Australia

10. Auckland, New Zealand

PM Lee said: “For the opposition, it’s a change – one scholar or two you think “wow” this is a luminous transformation. Well, it is a significant development … but finally let’s look at the person, not what degrees he has, but what he is able to do for Singapore.  “I can tell you, we interview many scholars and each time we field a few of them. And we interview other people too and we often field people who are not scholars. It is good to see it in perspective.

Source: CNA

PM Lee was responding to a question at the Singapore Perspectives Forum on recent reports about ex-government scholars joining the opposition.  Mr Tony Tan Lay Thiam and his wife, Ms Hazel Poa, both 39, are former government scholarship holders who have become members of the opposition Reform Party. They currently run a chain of tuition centres.

PM also said: “We hope that anybody who enters politics is somebody of not just ability but integrity and commitment. These are young people who have got good records academically and been in the civil service.”

The first sentence is fair, and logical.  But when taken together with the second, it appears to suggest that Tony and Hazel only have good academic records to show for.  Did PM just take an oh-so-subtle dig at the couple?  Could integrity and commitment be wanting in these 2 ex-scholars?  Well, perhaps so from the perspective of the PAP.  The duo left the service (’no commitment’) and perhaps broke a bond (’lack of steadfast adherence to the civil service ethnical and moral codes’).  

 PM goes on to say:  “We wish them well, but we hope Singaporeans will judge individuals like that as rigorously as they would judge individuals who join the PAP side. In other words, it’s not just what degree you have, but what sort of person are you and what can you do.”

Well, we will certainly do that and maybe we can do better than the PAP.  Chances are, they never thought the 2 would leave the service, or even join an opposition party.  To clarify, the duo’s actions do not disqualify from being good politicians.  We should applaud them for doing what they thought was right. 

Now the ball is in their court.  And ours.  We are watching you, Mr Tan and Miss Poa. 

 

Another contribution by our reader.  Download it here (in mandarin).

SINGAPORE has moved up a notch to become the world’s third least corrupt nation, after New Zealand and Denmark, according to the annual ranking released by graft watchdog Transparency International (TI) on Tuesday. Singapore was ranked the fourth least corrupt last year. This year it shares the third spot with Sweden, which tied in first place with New Zealand and Denmark in 2008. The other country in the top five spots is Switzerland.

Source: ST

To the layman:  Definition of corruption - dishonesty for personal gain: dishonest exploitation of power for personal gain

In this light, this accolate may appear ironic to some.  One such person is likely to be the very vocal Singapore dissident Gopalan Nair:

• 20 years ago, when Lee spoke of his achievements in his 3 hour speeches to the people, they were all ears, because they were not aware of the truth. Now, even if Lee pays you to listen, you might still refuse since we are no longer as gullible. Perhaps you might tell him to go tell the sailors. In the minds of the discerning, we now know that he is nothing more than a ruthless corrupt money grabbing dictator, no more no less.

Are his views merely brought upon by a personal vendetta against the Lees?  After all, he does making very sweeping generalisations about how you and I feel about the government:

• Locally in Singapore, every single Singaporean has lost respect for the very foundations of society, namely the Judiciary being corrupt, Lee and his Ministers being corrupt in paying themselves millions of dollars, the Civil Service being corrupt for refusing political critics their normal rights, and the list of infamy goes on. Lee Kuan Yew and his government has, to put it bluntly, been discredited.

But now thanks to the internet and the democratisation of information, we laypeople have access to a whole host of information on how corrupt our Government is (or not).  Don’t rely on ‘international’ indices (who ensures Transparency International is transparent in its assessment?) or the vocal minority (which appears to be growing in size, I believe).  We are now empowered to read, understand and make our own assessments.  We owe it to ourselves and our children to vote wisely.

Well, after slogging out the bad times and enjoying some of the good times for over 15 years, my time has finally come. Yes that’s right, on August 28^th at 3:15, or there abouts. I will become a full fledged oath taken Singapore Citizen and Botak Jones will be a Singaporean company to its very core. It’s a huge step for me, maybe not such a big deal for you.

Source: BotakJones

Congratulations to Bernie Utchenik for taking up citizenship in Singapore.  In an earlier ST report, he said, ‘I’ve told my friends this is one of the few times they’ll see me in a suit, so they should come support me… My wife is a Singaporean, my business is here, so rather than feel like an outsider who just happens to live here, I should lend my support and allegiance to the country.’   Bravo Bernie. 

I do recall coming across some comments on Bernie earlier this year in Sammyboy.  In Feb 2009, he wrote to a local forum to request that MOM review its policies for S-Pass holder.  In essense, his local managers were being paid less than his S-Pass workers after the company’s pay review, thanks to MOM’s minimum pay requirement for the foreign workers.  In typical fashion, netters in Sammyboy and 3in1 Kopitiam called for a boycott of Botak Jones.

Bernie’s defence was that “Singaporeans do not want these jobs, which was why we resorted to S-Pass employees in the first place.”   This is a very real problem for local business and I hope Bernie has managed to solve his problems.  And with him now being a citizen, I think there will be less insinuations that he is siding with the foreigners.  But then again, Sammyboy will always be Sammyboy, just as how they’d probably view ex-American Bernie.

Mr Lee also paid tribute to Muis’ work in looking after the religious needs of Muslim Singaporeans since 1968 and its leadership role on difficult issues such as organ donation and terrorism. He noted that the statutory board had challenging beginnings. It faced sceptical segments of the community who wondered if Muis could give religious guidance and deliver results. ‘Muis has worked hard over the years to win over the trust and confidence of the Muslim community,’ said Mr Lee, in outlining its achievements.

Source:  ST

Mr Lee also paid tribute to Muis’ work in looking after the religious needs of Muslim Singaporeans since 1968 and its leadership role on difficult issues such as organ donation and terrorism.  I don’t really follow what the muslim community has been doing for the last 40 years but I suppose they have played their part in Singapore’s nation-building.

It is interesting though that the Islamic Religious Council of Singapore (Muis) is a Statutory Board.  It is really as good as being a government department, the CEO being the Minister of muslim affairs.  So are we celebrating 40 years of PAP governance of of the muslim peoples?  If we really believe in our muslim community and trust their loyalty to the state, then we should let Muis be truly independent.  Let the muslims plan and run their own community, and let’s celebrate what they have done for themselves.  Enough of all this PAP shadowplay and wayang anniversaries.

THE grave of Singapore’s wartime hero Lim Bo Seng may become a national monument one day.  His family has approached the National Heritage Board to accord the grave such a status.  Said Brigadier-General Lim Teck Yin, 47, grandson of the national hero: ‘We want to make sure that someone will look after it when we are gone.’

Source: ST

In order to be gazetted, a building must have historical, traditional and architectural merit. Fifty-five buildings have been gazetted as national monuments.  Last week, a reader wrote to bilingual newspaper mypaper about the ‘deplorable’ state of the grave at MacRitchie Reservoir Park, saying it needed ‘proper maintenance’.  When The Sunday Times visited the grave, it spotted corrosion on the steps of the grave and a carving had broken off.

The Public Utilities Board maintains the area around the tombstone. The latter belongs to the family.  Such is the treatment the government gives to the nation’s war hero.  It is absolutely shameful and cold-hearted.  Who visits this tombstone?  Not just family members but members of the public, those who wish to pay respects to Singapore’s best known hero.  This is hardly a personal tombstone, but one of historic significance that concerns all Singaporeans this generation and the next.  What the government does for Lim Bo Seng’s tombstone should be no less than whatever they have planned for Lee Kwan Yew’s.

We help ourselves. Don’t expect others to help

Tom Wright painted a bleak picture of Singapore’s property sector going forward at The Wall Street Journal. His article ended with the following:
“I’m yet to see the light at the end of the tunnel [for Singapore],” says Mr. Tan, the high-end broker.
We would expect people to continue to dig the dirt and tell it to [...]



Our skin isn’t as thick as it should be

The Institute of Policy Studies (IPS) organised a seminar on March 4 to discuss Singapore’s political blogosphere.  Tan Tarn How, Senior Research Fellow and Research Assistant Tan Simin presented their paper on trends observed in the blogosphere.  As reported in the TOC, the researchers identified the following limitations:

The online-offline firewall, while somewhat alleviated by offline [...]



Singapore and Lee Kuan Yew – The answer to the African problem?

Recently, I followed a thread “Democracy and Economic Growth” which started in PoliticsForum.org.   Apparently, members there often question the role of democracy in a developing nation. “During the wave of democratization in Africa during the 90s, many people had renewed hope for the continent, immediately equating newly established democracies to economic growth. Are these democracies [...]



Tell Singapore government: Ask them a question or give a suggestion

We informed people about the “Tell Singapore Government” subsite and have received some interesting reaction at some forums.
See: 3in1 Kopitiam, Sam’s Alfresco Coffee, Singapore Kopitiam, SgForums
Our responses to some of the comments are listed below. If we are not answering some other specific questions, that is because we do not know how.
 

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To observe, analyse, present our position, and call for action. Read our articles, give your views, and learn together with us.