Alternative proposals for a better Singapore
The Workers’ Party National Day Statement 2009
National Day in Singapore has always been an occasion when Singaporeans look back with pride at our achievements as a young nation.
Our country was founded 44 years ago on the ideals of democracy, peace, progress, justice and equality. It was a moment which we can justly be proud of. Yet, for some time now, it seems that we have been losing our way on some of these ideals.
Channel NewsAsia has reported that the pedestrian crossing between the new ION Orchard and Wheelock Place will be closed from today. This means shoppers will have to use the underground link. Able-bodied shoppers that is.
People on wheelchairs or babies in prams will have to use another road crossing 150 metres away. But wait, sorry only prams can. Wheelchair users will find the ramp too steep to use. Too bad for them.
Frankly I find it very frustrating that the “premier” new shopping centre in Orchard Road also doesn’t have barrier free access for wheelchairs and prams. It says a lot about mall developers, the Building and Construction Agency’s building codes and our society’s lack of empathy for the less able-bodied among us.
Continue reading “No barrier-free access to ION? Forget it then!”
My wife shares her thoughts watching the total solar eclipse of 22 July 2009
I almost forgot about the total solar eclipse that took place this morning. It was a good thing that when I tuned in to my favourite radio station 933 at 8.15am and the DJs were commenting that the total solar eclipse was about to start and there would be a live telecast on Channel U.
I was feeding my daughter Hannah breakfast and I told myself to quickly finish feeding her so I could watch it on TV.
Even though I was not able to experience it in Singapore, it was very amazing to even watch it on TV especially since the program was in Chinese and I appreciate Chinese, programmes more than English ones. I could feel the emotions and excitement through the ‘live’ telecast and I couldn’t help but get excited with them too.
It was very magnificent when the sun was completely covered by the moon within a few minutes. It reminded me of the thrill and happiness that I had when I was able to watch the sunset with my husband Gerald outside my flat in Sembawang a few weeks ago.
Last week, Straits Times reader Amy Loh wrote to the paper expressing her disquiet about how the government’s emphasis on the need to speak Mandarin could be perceived as a clear signal to encourage residents of mainland China origin to choose to continue speaking only Chinese. She cited examples of how almost all new shop signs in Geylang are in Chinese only, fast turning this into a Chinese enclave.
In response, the Straits Times in an editorial slammed Ms Loh as being “xenophobic”, pointing to economically vibrant cities like London and Sydney as evidence that “recruiting foreigners” has brought great benefits to those cities. The paper went on to explain that the Geylang shop signs were in only Chinese for “purely commercial reasons”, as if that were an excuse for their cultural insensitivity.
This exchange raises another more important issue that Singapore, with its growing diversity and immigrant population, needs to start dealing with: The issue of multiculturalism versus a melting pot social make-up of our country.
Continue reading “Singapore: Multiculturalism or the melting pot?”
I felt irritated when I read this editorial in the Straits Times yesterday (16 July 2009). Continue reading “Needless name-calling by the Straits Times”
A friend sent me these videos, produced by state oil company Petronas, promoting racial harmony in Malaysia on the occasion of their Merdeka Day (National Day). I found them really heartwarming — at least better than any of the racial harmony events and National Education propaganda that we see in Singapore.
Auditor-General Lim Soo Ping, just submitted his audit report for financial year 2008/09 to the President and Parliament on 1 July, and later released it on the Auditor-General’s Office (AGO) website.
The full report can be viewed here. I read through all 62 pages of it, and had a few observations.
I am cheered that Dr Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, better known as SBY, has won his second term in as president of Indonesia, with a very comfortable margin which pollsters estimate at over 60%. Although the official results are not due till later this month, SBY has already declared victory and world leaders like Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong have already called him offering their congratulations.
This is a victory not only for him and his running mate, Boediono, the former central bank governor, but the great nation of Indonesia as well. The peaceful and fair election — contestations by SBY’s challenger Megawati notwithstanding — seals Indonesia’s transition from a military dictatorship under Suharto just over 10 years ago, to a thriving democracy with a free press and a steadily growing economy.
Continue reading “Victory for SBY, Indonesia…and ASEAN too?”
Png Eng Huat writes to the Straits Times Forum, 10 July 2009:
MAS should have been more objective
I REFER to Wednesday’s report, ‘MAS acts against 10 institutions’.
It seems the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) has learnt little from the Lehman crisis. The crux of the sale of those toxic structured products was that their profits were oversold or misrepresented while their underlying risks were undersold.
In short, too much positive spin was put on the marketing of such products. In its latest report on the structured notes linked to Lehman Brothers, MAS has fallen into this ‘positive spin’ mode by highlighting the impressive statistics on settlement cases, while not addressing the pressing issue that most affected investors did not get any closure at all.
Continue reading “ST Forum: MAS should have been more objective”
Maria “Bertha” Hertogh (aka Nadra binte Ma’arof) died of leukaemia on 7 July 2009 in her home in Huijbergen, Netherlands, at the age of 72.
Hertogh’s name has been indelibly been printed on the minds of all Singaporeans, particularly those in the post-independence generations, as being synonymous with racial riots. Rarely is her name mentioned in local history and social studies textbooks, or National Education lessons, without the accompanying phrase, “We must never take our racial harmony for granted.”
Continue reading “Maria Hertogh dead, but the fearmongering will continue”