PAP - between the devil and the deep blue sea
By Elaine Ee
Recently, Minister in the Prime Minister’s Office, Mr Lim Swee Say, said, “Doing the right thing for the country is more important than winning votes by pursuing populist policies.”
Indeed—though if changes made by the People’s Action Party (PAP) Government are anything to go by, one might wonder if the Government is caving in to the latter. Doing the right things, in many instances, but perhaps for the wrong reasons—and without an apparent, clear rationale.
Court to hear case on PM's by-election powers
The court case on the Prime Minister’s discretionary powers in calling by-elections will be heard on Thursday, 5 July at 10am, at the High Court. The hearing will deal with several issues, but mainly:
The Attorney General Chambers’ (AGC) application to strike out the application brought by Hougang resident, Vellama Marie Muthu, for the Court to declare that the Prime Minister does not have unfettered discretionary powers in calling by-elections.
Also, lawyer M Ravi, acting for Vellama, will present his arguments on the summons to cross-examine the Prime Minister.
M Ravi will be presenting the following arguments and will be raising these points tomorrow:-
S'pore needs bolder leadership
Singapore seems to have sunk into lethargy. There is a certain sense of inertia, both in government and among its people. The focus is on what is wrong in Singapore. Complaints abound, finger pointing is the rule of the day. The government is on the back foot, offering piecemeal tweaks to faulty policies, and the people remain unimpressed.
In three years, Singapore will be 50 years old. Appreciation should be accorded to the ruling party for bringing Singapore to where it is today, and to the people who kept faith with the leadership, worked hard and contributed to this creation and the building of this city.
But here we are on the threshold of another 50 years. Will we be paralysed by uncertainty, by insecurity, by internal squabbles; or will we be able to move beyond these, take courage and dive into the great unknown, just as our first generation did?
But what does it mean to take the road less travelled?
Read the full article, written by Andrew Loh for Yahoo Singapore, here: Singapore can move forward on the road less travelled.
What next for "The Independents"?
By Tan Kian Hwee
"The Independents" is the group of six members who broke away from the Singapore People's Party (SPP) earlier in 2012. Comprising Benjamin Pwee, Wilfred Leung, Mohamad Hamim and his wife Juliana Juwahir, David Tan and Ting Tze Jiang, they have since been spotted at some events and have occasionally released press statements, including the most recent call to Hougang to vote with a national agenda in mind in the by-election.
In the 2011 General Election, the first three of the six stood under the SPP ticket along with its secretary-general, Chiam See Tong, in Bishan-Toa Payoh Group Representation Constituency (GRC). They were last reported to have linked up with former presidential candidate Tan Jee Say on a policy discussion project named "Heart Beat", which seems to have run into problems with the Singapore Land Authority over leasing issues.
SfD to de-register, cites rules hinder its works
Members of Singaporeans For Democracy (SFD) approved a motion to dissolve the organization as a society registered with the Registrar of Society during its Annual General Meeting on 28 April 2012.
In a media release, the group says its members "chose to dissolve the society to draw attention to two sets of rules that hinder its work as a political advocacy group in Singapore."
"One set of laws pertain to the registration and the day-to-day operation of SFD," its statement says. "These laws are found in the Societies Act, Political Donations Act and Broadcasting Act. The other set of laws pertain to the operation of SFD’s program of activities. The laws under which we have been denied permits or investigated include the Employment of Foreign Manpower Act, Films Act, Penal Code, Public Order Act.
Lim Hock Siew a people's activist: Think Centre
6 June (Singapore) - Think Centre:
Singapore's oldest political association, joins fellow Singaporeans in mourning the loss of one of Singapore's pioneering political activists - Dr Lim Hock Siew.
Dr Lim was Singapore’s second-longest serving political prisoner, having been detained under the Internal Security Act (ISA) for more than 19 years, from 1963 to 1982. As founding member and leader of Barisan Sosialis, the party formed by a splinter group of the People’s Action Party (PAP) in 1961, Dr Lim was a leader who was steadfast in his socialist convictions and who always stayed true to his political principles. He did not waver even when those beliefs landed him in trouble with the authorities during Singapore’s pre-independence days.
On 2 Feb, 1963, Lim was among 110 alleged communists being arrested and imprisoned by the PAP government under Operation Coldstore. Subsequently Dr Lim remained in detention without a trial until he was finally released on 6 Sept, 1982.
Not to be displaced by the official national narrative of what happened during the tumultuous pre-independence days, he broke his long held silence with his first public speech after 25 years at the launch of the book "The Fajar Generation" in 2009. Younger generations of Singaporeans will now be able to learn of the alternate history, and to judge for themselves, of what happened during those fateful founding years of Singapore.
Dr Lim was a man who was from the people, of the people and for the people. He made good as a doctor who poured his energy toward alleviating the sickness of the people with medicine, and worked at solving the societal disease of poverty with his intellect and principles. Truly he was a people's activist who lived, served and fought for the people.
Today, we salute his unyielding spirit, high minded convictions and most of all, his steadfast integrity that underlies his sacrifice to uphold democratic socialism. TC send its deepest condolences to the family of the late Dr Lim Hock Siew and calls on fellow Singaporeans to take inspiration from his life story - one that exemplifies a life simply lived as a grandfather, father, doctor but passed on arguably as one of Singapore's political forefathers.
In solidarity,
Think Centre
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"He was a good and honourable man": Vivian Balakrishnan
Minister for the Environment and Water Resources (MEWR), Dr Vivian Balakrishnan, visited the wake for Dr Lim Hock Siew, the late founding member of the People's Action Party (PAP).
Dr Lim was detained under the Internal Security Act (ISA) in 1963's Operation Coldstore. He was only released in 1982.
Dr Lim passed away on 4 June at the age of 81.
Dr Balakrishnan posted the following note on his Facebook page on 6 June:
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