PEKAN, July 4 (Bernama) — Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak said he leaves it to the authorities to take action against blogger Raja Petra Kamaruddin.  The prime minister said the people should not believe the claims made by the blogger who has fled the country to London.  “If Raja Petra is funded by the opposition, it means that his statements are politically-motivated. We should weigh them carefully and not merely accepting them,” he told reporters after opening the Pekan Umno meeting here Sunday.  He was asked to comment on the statement by Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Seri Mohamed Nazri Aziz yesterday that the government had proofs that Raja Petra was funded by Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR).

Source: Bernama

It’s an interesting position by the M’sian PM, one that is likely taken in Singapore too (can anyone recall a similar incident here?).  The premise is that if someone is financially obligated to the opposition, he or she is not speaking in a bona fide capacity of a concerned citizen.  In fact, the title of this report in Bernama is “Don’t Trust Raja Petra – Najib”.   What’s the difference if a blogger or entity is funded by the government, wouldn’t his/its statements be politically motivated and ‘untrustworthy’ too?

Downloadable here (in English and Mandarin).  Contributed by a reader.

In brief, the author argues that the notion of productivity to the government  is to maximise profits at the expense of the citizens.

I don’t remenber when it started.  Hell, let’s just start with Mas Selamat’s amazing escape that got the Ministy of Home Affairs all in a bind.  Then it was the minibond debacle and the MAS’ sudden paralysis and reluctance to help investors.  After that, I think it was the rojak affair, where the National Env Agency was caught sleeping and some lives were lost.  Then came the massive flooding in Bukit Timah that left the Environment Minister blaming the ‘freak weather’ instead of his own incompetence.  Of late, we had the intrusion of foreign talents (not terrorists) into a train depot and plenty more intrusions by ST reporters at bus depots.  I must also add PUB’s sheer incompetence to the list, for clearing critical drains once every 3 – 6 months.

Hmmm, should I also mention that infamous Tan Yong Soon who left his ENV officers to take care of matters whilst he learnt cooking in France?  Thank heavens he is back, else there could have been more floodings and poisonings.  What about the multitude of deaths in the SAF (2 were even shot by Thai civilians)? 

So who’s next?  Civil servants must be praying to their gods, fearing the worst for they know they will likely have to face the public when things go wrong (some ministers prefer to AWOL).   Perhaps these are signs that we really need a change in government, new blood to shake things up and people out of their incompetence and complacency.

As reported by Eugene Tan in TODAY, language policy planning is taken very seriously in Singapore.  Given the island’s multi-lingual make-up, language is both a socio-economic and political resource.  So, it is no surprise that language policies require a delicate balance of competing – and sometimes, conflicting – objectives, interests and expectations.

Among the mother tongues, the teaching of and perceived emphasis (or lack thereof) on the Chinese language continues to arouse strong emotions among Chinese-Singaporeans, who are in fact more heterogeneous than widely perceived.  This can be seen from the recent heated public reaction, especially in the Chinese language media, to the Education Minister’s remarks that his ministry is considering a reduction in the weightage given to mother tongue languages at the Primary School Leaving Examination (PSLE).

Let’s take a step back for a moment.  What exactly is a ‘mother tongue’?  Are we complicating matters again (Singaporeans love to over-analyse issues, so I’ve been told)? 

The term “mother tongue” should not be interpreted to mean that it is the language of one’s mother. In some paternal societies, the wife moves in with the husband and thus may have a different first language than the husband. Mother in this context probably originated from the use of “mother” as origin; as in mother-country or mother-land.  Interestingly, 21 February has been proclaimed the International Mother Language Day by UNESCO on 17 November 1999.

In some countries such as Kenya and India, “mother tongue” is used to indicate the language of one’s ethnic group (ethnic tongue), in both common and journalistic parlance.  In Singapore, “mother tongue” refers to the language of one’s ethnic group regardless of actual proficiency, while the “first language” refers to the English language, which is the lingua franca for most post-independence Singaporeans due to its use as the language of instruction in government schools and as a working language.

How or where does weightage feature in this schema?  Evidently, the government imposed a criteria for P6 students to excel in their mother tongues by according a certain weightage for scoring purposes.  The recent  debates on how this weightage should shift (or not) assume a fundamental principle that the weightage affects a student’s proficiency in the language.  At a national level, the weightage inevitably represents the importance these mother tongues are to society.

Do the debates reflect concerns that children may lose their mother tongues, or that Singapore may be losing its Asian values and culture in the face of rising multi-ethnic immigration?  If it is the former, then I’ll say that it is the responsibility of the individual family and not the State to ensure that these languages are passed on through the generations.  If it is the latter, then focussing on this weightage will cause us to miss the forrest for the trees.  Teaching a language is not equivalent to retaining a culture.

SINGAPORE: State Coroner Victor Yeo has recorded a verdict of misadventure on the death of a teenage boy during a taekwondo tournament last year.  17-year-old student Vincent Tan Sze Hao died after he was kicked in the neck region by his opponent during the Fourth Taekwondo Invitational Friendly Championship last July.   The fatal blow from Vincent’s 15-year-old opponent ruptured his carotid artery, a major blood vessel from the heart to the brain.  This resulted in a large amount of bleeding in the brain, causing it to swell.  Vincent was declared brain-dead two days after the incident and died not long afterwards in Changi General Hospital. It was the first time a death occurred during a taekwondo tournament in Singapore.

Source: CNA

The younger boy had earlier said that he targeted the kick at Vincent’s head to score points.   The court heard that such kicks are allowed during the tournament.   Speaking to reporters after the hearing, the 15-year-old’s father said that his son regretted his actions and has quit the sport.

We cannot blame the 15-year old for this unfortunate incident as it was an accident.   However, the fact that this is the first time such a death occurred in a tournament in Singapore is significant.  I would expect most of these tournaments in Singapore are for adults.  Possibly, youngsters shouldn’t be sparing so competitively.  Regardless how well trained they are, their minds are still young and relatively immature.  In their passion to win, they could ‘lose control’ at critical points during sparring and accidents might follow.

 

Many of us live in ivory towers. I know I did. I used to think Singapore was pretty much ‘it’ all – a fantastic meritocracy that allowed an ‘HDB child’ from a non-graduate family to make it. I boasted about our efficiency – ‘you can emerge from your plane and be out in 10 minutes’ – and so on.

Then I lived in China for seven years. I realised it was not the world and other people who were limited in their intellect, in their determination, in their resourcefulness; it was me and my world views which were limited. Those years in China taught me terrible lessons on loneliness. I learnt that money (an expatriate pay package) and brains (suitcases of books) did not make me happier than my maid who cycled home to her family every night in minus 20 deg C on icy roads to a dinner of rice and vegetables.

And so perhaps I have learnt the humility I lacked. Humility about how small I am in the whole schema of things. About how helpless I truly stand, with my intellect in my hands, with my million-dollar roof over my head. Just because I was ‘fortunate enough’ to have trawled the bottom levels. And perhaps that is the antidote to the oft unwitting elitism so many of us carry with us.

Source: Asiaone

The writer was responding to Ms Sandra Leong’s article ‘Scoring high in grades but not in values’.  It is significant that the writer recognises that the Singapore miracle is but a myth.  At times it can be cold, proud and incompassionate.  She suggests that the antidote for unwitting elitism is to ‘trawl’ the bottom levels, a suggestion that incumbent and aspiring parliamentarians should take heed. 

But what is the antiode to the oft ‘deliberate’ elitism?  There could well be none.  Voters take heed.

The man nominated to be the next United States Ambassador to Singapore has said that he would use ‘public diplomacy’ to promote greater press and political freedom in Singapore. Speaking at his nomination hearing on Tuesday, Ambassador-designate David Adelman, 45, said that these were the areas in which ‘Singapore needs the most improvement if it were to live up to the ambitions Americans have for democracy’.

Mr Adelman, a lawyer and Georgia state senator, made the remarks in response to a question from Virginia Senator Jim Webb, who asked if the US should engage Singapore in areas like democracy and press freedom.  ‘Make no mistake, currently Singapore is not a multi-party democracy,’ said Mr Adelman.  ‘And I intend, if confirmed, to use public diplomacy to work towards greater press freedoms, greater freedom of assembly and ultimately more political space for opposition parties in Singapore to strengthen Singapore into a multi-party democracy.’

Reform Party chief Kenneth Jeyaretnam welcomed a vow by David Adelman, President Barack Obama’s pick as Singapore envoy, to encourage the government to allow greater openness.  “The Reform Party welcomes the ambassador’s statement that he will use public diplomacy to work towards a genuine multi-party democracy in Singapore,” Jeyaretnam said in a statement.

We can only hope that the new ambassador will be a real change agent here.  However, the ambassador should recognise that democracy here should be for Singaporeans.  He should not try to pursue one that Americans “have ambitions for.”  Singapore does not need to live up to the Americans’ expectations.

Our nation is young and less mature than the West, what they have created and moulded over two centuries cannot and must not be forced on to us.  Opposition parties here must remember this, as they engage the new ambassador in his ‘public diplomacy’.

SHE had started piano lessons at a music school in Punggol Plaza three weeks ago and was already showing a flair for the keys. But while on the way to her weekly class on Tuesday evening with her grandfather, a car ploughed into Zhao Lin Qian, killing the five-year-old instantly. The pair were believed to have been jaywalking across the two-lane Punggol Field Road at about 8pm when she was hit. There was a pedestrian crossing as well as an overheard bridge nearby, but they had not used either.

Source: ST

I believe the print copy reported that the grandfather was ‘enraged’.  The grandparents arrived from China and were helping to take care of the deceased.   It was his first time accompanying her to class and he did not know how to get there, so Lin Qian led the way.  Mr Zhao added: ‘The car was going very fast and it just hit her. What could I have done?’ 

Well, you could have gotten her to stick to the pavements.  Perhaps it’s normal to jaywalk in China and hence his outrage that a car could even hit his grand-daughter who was ‘merely’ jaywalking.

Now don’t get me wrong.  The driver is in the wrong, and I think the choice of his car doesn’t help him (he was driving a Subaru Impreza).  But no punishment meted out by the courts could ever compare with the anguish he is facing now and for the rest of his life.   And the life of this young 27-year old hangs in balance, a jail term could destroy his career and dreams.

Why can’t pedestrians stick to the pavements?  I once nearly knocked down a woman who was arguing with her partner at the road side.  She threw herself onto the road but fortunately her partner dragged her back on to the side.  Who protects me if I hit her?

Perhaps public education and fines are passe in this day and age.  What does the Traffice Police have to say?  According to the ST report, ”the Traffic Police reminded all pedestrians that they should use designated crossings.”  And “motorists should also be alert and anticipate sudden occurrences on the road, such as people darting out, and slow down or prepare to brake when necessary.”  Wow, that could work in utopia, I guess. 

Our millionaire Transport minister should think of better ways to keep our roads safe for drivers and pedestrians (locals and foreign talent included).

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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