Category: Singapore

The Electoral Boundaries report was released yesterday. This begins the unofficial countdown to the Singapore General Elections, expected in just a few weeks’ time. Of late, there have been lots of goodies announced in the Budget, to be dispensed presumably days before Polling Day. There has also been a television ad campaign featuring a remix of the song, “Home” by Kit Chan, which is usually only runs during the National Day period in August.

I love the song “Home”. It movingly conveys the message that Singapore is our true home, where our family, friends and loved ones are — and where our heart remains. Many Singaporeans have gotten disillusioned with songs like these, because of how the current ruling party has diluted the Singaporean identity over the past 10 years. I choose not to be disillusioned, but to stand up and fight. This is why I joined the Workers’ Party and why I intend to help the Workers’ Party win as many Parliamentary seats as we can during the upcoming elections.

My friends, readers and fellow Singaporeans, this is the time where your actions can make a real difference to the future of Singapore. Don’t let this opportunity slip away. We need all hands on the deck now. The Workers’ Party is looking to recruit as many volunteers as possible to help in our election campaign. WP is looking to contest possibly 4 single-member constituencies and 4 group representation constituencies. Party activists have been working hard on the ground for the last five years since the end of the 2006 election, but these next few weeks will be a particularly intense and critical time.

If you are interested to help out the WP, please fill up the form at this link or if you prefer, email me at gerald.giam@gmail.com.

Photos from my 30 January book launch of Singapore version 2.0 by Gerald Giam and 迈向政治发展与繁荣 (Towards political development and progress) by Yaw Shin Leong.

TWO weeks ago, when I first read the news of the protests in Egypt, which followed the popular uprising and toppling of the government in Tunisia, I cynically remarked to my wife that the protests will carry on for a few days then fizzle out. Life in Egypt will then return to “normal” under the authoritarian rule of President Hosni Mubarak, who has been in power for the past 30 years.

How wrong I was–and how glad I am that I was wrong! Just over an hour ago, Mubarak’s resignation was announced on state television by his recently-appointed vice-president, Omar Suleiman. Following that brief 30-second message, scenes of jubilation erupted on Tahrir (Liberation) Square in central Cairo. Al Jazeera reported of protesters dropping to their knees in prayer and then rising and chanting “God is great”. A 30-year old Egyptian Al Jazeera reporter dropped all pretences of impartiality and shared that all her life she had known no other leader but Mubarak, and described her feelings of elation at his departure. Even the state television station newscaster reportedly cracked a smile after reading out her report. CNN reported that demonstrations initiated over the Internet, on Facebook and Twitter, had resulted in the downfall of the Middle East’s strongest dictators.

Continue reading “Egypt’s Mubarak resigns”

Dear Readers,

I will be officially launching my book, Singapore version 2.0: Alternative proposals for a better Singapore, together with my Workers’ Party friend and colleague, Yaw Shin Leong, who has written a Chinese book, 迈向政治发展与繁荣. The book launch will take place on Sunday 30 January 2011 from 3-5pm at the Oxford Hotel. Attendance is free but seating is limited. Please email me at gerald.giam{at}gmail.com to reserve your place. Note that only registered guests will be admitted. I hope to meet some of you there!

The publicity poster and programme is below.

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Political activists Yaw Shin Leong (饶欣龙) and Gerald Giam (严燕松) will be jointly launching their books, 迈向政治发展与繁荣 (Towards political development and progress) and Singapore version 2.0: Alternative proposals for a better Singapore respectively.

Shin Leong and Gerald both sit on the Central Executive Council (CEC) of the Workers’ Party of Singapore. This event is organised in their personal capacities.

You are cordially invited to attend this book launch:

Date: Sunday, 30 January 2010

Time: 3.00 – 5.00 pm (admission of registered guests starts at 2.30 pm)

Venue: Oxford Hotel, 218 Queen Street, Singapore 188549

Programme:

2.30pm	Registration of guests
3.00 pm	Welcome and introduction
3.15 pm	Book highlights
3.35 pm	Personal sharing by authors about their motivations for writing the books and entering politics
3.45 pm	Q & A
4.15 pm	Book signing
4.15 pm	Snacks and refreshments
5.00 pm	End of programme

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Just like a broken record player, that tired refrain is heard yet again: We must welcome more new immigrants otherwise our economy will tank.

In recent days, with the release of the Census findings that Singapore’s total fertility rate (TFR) has dropped to an all time low of 1.16, this rhetoric has turned to blame-shifting: It is your fault, Singaporeans, for not producing more offspring. You have left us with no choice but to open the floodgates to foreigners.

Continue reading “The birth rate blame game”

The Workers’ Party will be holding its weekly Open House tomorrow, Monday 17 January 2011. I will be one of the party members on duty. Do come down for a chat if you’re free.

Date: Monday 17 January 2011

Time: 8 – 9.30 pm

Venue: Workers’  Party HQ, 216-G Syed Alwi Road #02-03

Look forward to seeing you there!

The General Election and Presidential Election are around the corner. The Elections Department has just revised the Register of Electors (i.e., the voter roll) and it is now open for inspection. You can check online at the Elections Department website using your SingPass or NRIC.

If you failed to vote in the last election when your constituency was contested, your name may have been struck off the roll. To restore your name, click here to fill out the form and send it in to the Elections Department.

Note: You cannot vote or stand for election if your name is not on the register.

The writing has been on the wall since 2007, when the government announced plans to introduce re-employment legislation, in tandem with raising the age at which Singaporeans can withdraw the bulk of their CPF savings to 65.

On Tuesday (11 January 2011), the Retirement Age (Amendment) Bill was passed. This Bill (now euphemistically named the Retirement and Re-employment Act) contains some provisions to steer employers in the direction of providing re-employment for their retiring workers, without actually raising the statutory retirement age.

While the law requires employers to offer re-employment to their workers when they reach the retirement age of 62, they are obliged to do so only if the workers fulfil a potentially subjective set of criteria: One, the employee must have at least satisfactory work performance, and two, the employee is medically fit to continue working.

The first criteria is very subjective, particularly if the employer has no proper performance appraisal system. The second criteria does not spell out that employers need to obtain the opinion of a doctor to prove that the employee is medically unfit to continue working.

But what is particularly disturbing is that this legislation gives the government the excuse to raise the CPF Minimum Sum Draw Down age from 62 to 65 or even older. They will reason that older workers can more easily find employment beyond 62 and so they don’t need to draw from their CPF savings. (The Minimum Sum, which now stands at $123,000, is the minimum amount of money that a person must keep in their CPF accounts. This large amount means that a large number of low-income workers have their retirement savings locked up long beyond their retirement age.) The reason, as explained the Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong in 2007, is so that their CPF savings can last longer.

Continue reading “Jobless at 62, no CPF until 65 or later”