Orchard Road slashing case: SPF must step up patrols

The slashing case in Orchard Road on Saturday once again throws the spotlight on the SINGAPORE POLICE FORCE (SPF).

People have long noticed the diminishing presence of SPF in public places. The public don’t see police foot patrols.

Some time ago, the government announced to great fanfare the formation of a cops on bikes patrol. Whatever happened? I’ve not seen a single one of them on my regular bike outings. Has the tropical weather proved too much for them?

SPF should boost their presence in public to deter and prevent crime. Criminal elements, gangs and youths have noticed this lack of police presence and so have been tempted to carry weapons in secret.

In the Orchard Road slashing, weapons were used. In past incidents, criminals used knives to rob and kill their victims.

The mission of SPF: “The Singapore Police Force’s core function is to protect the people who live in Singapore from crime and all manner of criminal harm.”

How is SPF going to fulfill this noble goal if it is missing on the streets and public places? If it is just sitting back and waiting for 999 calls?

No doubt SPF has the ability to track down and arrest the perps but it’s scant solace to those who have suffered injuries or to the families who have to grieve over the death of a loved one.

One recalls the horrific gang fight in Downtown East last year when a youth was knifed and killed.

In 2010, three men from Sarawak committed robbery in Kallang using weapons. The victim was killed.

When will SPF do more to live up to its mission to protect us from harm?

Certainly not by sitting behind a desk.

It’s scary to think that there are people moving around with hidden weapons.

President Tony Tan: see no evil, hear no evil, do no evil after 18 months in office?

The preceding post explained why our lives have not improved since the stirring promises made by PM Lee at his swearing-in ceremony two years after the 2011 General Election.

It’s fair to take stock of the government performance and if it had lived up to its pledges two years after GE 2011. In the corporate world, companies come under scrutiny every quarter.

If PM Lee were the CEO in the corporate world, he’d have been shown the door aeons ago.

Many of the problems plaguing the country from the influx of cheap labour and immigrants from third world countries, soaring housing and car prices, transport woes to joblessness among PMET can be attributed to the successor of the Lee Dynasty.

Now how about the President you might ask? Has he lived up to his electoral pledges?

At his own swearing-in ceremony the President Tony
Tan said: “I pledge that I will do my very best over the next six years to serve Singapore to the best of my ability.”

His very best? Many would say that after one and the half years, he had been very quiet.

He knows the responsibilities of his office for he said: “Uniquely, Singapore’s President also exercises vital custodial responsibilities in protecting our financial reserves, and the integrity of our public service.”

He even bragged, “I will wield this “second key” with utmost care.”

But when the PAP regime made a loan of US $4 billion to the IMF, there was not even a whimper of disagreement from him.

People have lost faith with our public institutions which are seen to be a mouthpiece of the ruling PAP rather than serving the public without fear or favour. This has put the regime on the defensive with its mouthpiece ST aka Shitty Times cheering our public institutions. However, the whole world knows ST’s global ranking is 149 out of 179 countries according to the Press Freedom index.

“I will seek to work not only with the Government, but also with civil society and community groups to advance the interests of all Singaporeans, whatever their political persuasions,” he pledged.

“Whatever your political views, whatever your station in life, I will strive to the best of my abilities to represent you.”

But when the regime cracked down on online dissent by licensing online new sites, he kept silent.

He further pledged: “During my term of office, I hope to encourage the entrepreneurial spirit in all Singaporeans. Few of us may actually start new businesses or ventures. But all of us can identify needs or gaps, tinker with new ideas, and create our own opportunities. We can all benefit from such creativity and energy.”

Stirring words but nobody knows what he’s done to “encourage the entrepreneurial spirit” after 18 months in office and as the world’s highest paid figurehead President.

A former PM claimed that the National Pledge to build a democratic society was nothing more than an aspiration.

PM Lee and President Tony Tan can no doubt take comfort in that and say their pledges were only aspirations.

In other words, you daft Singaporeans had been conned into voting for the PAP.

Borrowing the parlance of stock
brokers, most people would put a SELL on PM Lee and President Tony Tan.

A rubber -stamp Parliament: ruling party MPs excel as yes-men

PAP government post GE 2011: 10 reasons why Singaporeans remain unhappy

So two years after the General Election of 2011, have our lives improved?

Frankly, the majority would say no. These are some of the reasons most would agree with:

1. Train breakdowns are getting more frequent.

2. Trains are as packed as ever.

3. White Paper on 6.9 million population rammed down our throats.

4. Many feel that there is a double standard in law enforcement. I came across an example here http://www.tremeritus.com/2013/06/14/the-singapore-police-showing-double-standards/

4. The ruling regime hastily passed a law to license online news sites, bypassing Parliament.

5. Regime made a loan of US 4 BILLION to IMF without any Parliamentary debate or approval of the President.

6. Prices of housing remain very high.

7. Prices of cars remain sky-high.

8. Restrictions on car loans make it even harder for the average Singaporeans to own a car.

9. Dengue fever cases have crossed the 10,000 mark

10. Prices at coffee shop, food courts and hawker centres have generally gone up.

For the sake of brevity, I’ve listed only 10.

With a Prime Minister who leads from behind and a President who sees no evil and hears no evil, it’s unsurprising morale is low and pessimism widespread.

Criticism of the ruling regime continues unabated.

Stung by this, the ruling regime has reacted in a manner typical of all authoritarian states: censoring online dissent under certain conditions.

Most people are of the impression that the Singapore government is probably the MOST authoritarian in the whole of ASEAN.

Media control by the PAP regime: the cartoonist, Leslie Chew, was arrested for alleged sedition

Free My Internet: another proof of an insincere govt

I’ve said many times before that the Prime Minister of Singapore has a predilection for paying lip service or “wayang” in the local slang.

During the last General Election in 2011, facing great resentment against his authoritarian government he declared that the people were the masters while the politicians were servants. Stirring words worthy of an entry in any Quotable Quotes.

But after the election, he and his government has reverted to their customary arrogance.

With the prize in the bag and his million dollars salary assured (self-voted and highest in the world), he went on to make more empty promises at his swearing-in ceremony.

He bragged, “…the Government will engage all segments of society – young and old, students, workers and retirees. We will reach out online and in the real world. We will listen carefully to different voices, understand the day-to-day difficulties and strains facing Singaporeans, address their concerns and be open to inputs on what Government can do better.”

However, now the government has made it mandatory for news sites reporting on Singapore to be licensed. This amounts to censorship and attempts to emasculate the political opposition.

The law was enacted in great haste without any Parliamentary and public debate. So much for the on-going National Conversation which is widely derided as window-dressing.

The latest authoritarian edict proves that people were right that the National CONversation was just for show.

If the ruling PAP were a business entity, it’d been forced into bankruptcy long ago.

Regime brags that we have a first class Parliament but the licensing of online news sites law bypassed Parliament.

Free My Internet: protest at Hong Lim Park Part 2

I’m grateful to the coalition of alternative media for organizing the FREE MY INTERNET protest at Hong Lim Park yesterday.

I’m also proud of my fellow bloggers who turned up in full force.

Thanks to MDA’s censorship, for that is what it actually amounts to amid all its mumbo jumbo, the world is once again reminded that Singapore is a de facto dictatorship.

Bloomberg, Himalayan Times, Japan Today, The Sun (UK) and others highlighted news about the protest.

A comment in Japan Today is remarkably perceptive: “tkoind2JUN. 11:01PM JST

Singapore is, has been and will continue to be a masked police state. It has a long history of silencing opposition and keeping its ruling class in power at the expense of any opposition.

Just because the corporates have found a cheap well educated labor source there, and thus moved so many people to work there, does not mean that the state itself is advanced. Singapore is repressive and has demonstrated a willingness to be so time and again.

I would not live there.”

For far too long Singaporeans had kept silent over one repressive edict after another. But the era of the Internet has finally caught up with the ruling regime.

And the regime has responded in a predictable manner: clampdown and censorship.

Its latest outburst is a sign it’s jittery and desperate.

In the era of YouTube and Twitter, this time round Singaporeans are speaking up. Well done.

Bottom of the class ranking at 149 out of 179 countries for the Singapore media. Consistent with an authoritarian regime.

Free My Internet: protest at Hong Lim Park

Every damn thing can be news. If you relate a bizarre experience of someone shitting in a public place, under MDA catch-all definition it can be considered as news and you are liable to be licensed and to fork out $50,000
as a performance bond.

After 50 years of one-party rule, the ruling party the PAP has become the undisputed leader of how to be repressive.

The haste with which the regime passed the law on the matter baffled Singaporeans.

However, what’s certain is a profoundly out of touch and incredibly stupid government. It’s bent on retaining power by forcibly dragging us back into the dark ages with its Internet censorship.

It also strengthens the widespread perception that this is a hypocritical government.

At his swearing-in ceremony after the last general election, the Prime Minister asserted, “Our politics cannot remain static either. More interest groups and alternative views have emerged, competing for support. Our political system can and must accommodate more views, more debate and more participation.”

The duplicity is crystal clear.

He also said, “…the Government will engage all segments of society – young and old, students, workers and retirees. We will reach out online and in the real world. We will listen carefully to different voices, understand the day-to-day difficulties and strains facing Singaporeans, address their concerns and be open to inputs on what Government can do better.”

A former Singapore PM congratulated Myanmar on its political reform but the ruling PAP regime own political reform is long overdue.

What hypocrisy.

The North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un will no doubt feel very comfortable in Singapore.

RIP democracy.

The ruling regime brags that we have a first world Parliament and government but it’s dragging the country into the Dark Ages.

Free My Internet: free my country from dictatorship

I’ve never seen anything like it before.

The opposition and anger over MDA’s licensing of news websites is even more profound than that of the Population White Paper.

Friends who had been apathetic towards local politics out of the blue called or messaged me with expressions of outrage.

My response is always the same. Singapore is a dictatorship all but in name.

The Singapore regime has all the characteristics of a dictatorship: control of the media and now even the Internet, control of all public institutions like the electoral board, amending the Constitution to strip citizens of the right to assembly and free speech, fixing the opposition through defamation suits, Singapore being a de facto single- party state.

The Singapore regime has a notorious track record of duplicity.

For example, it pledged that the Goods and Services Tax ( GST) was to help the poor. But it eventually became a revenue-raising measure.

COE was meant to control congestion. But this noble aim has been forgotten when the COE system raked in billions.

GRC was meant to ensure minority representation in Parliament but it was used to parachute the ruling party’s appointees into Parliament in either electoral walkovers or on the tailcoats of Ministers.

MDA assures us that individual blogs like mine will be spared but don’t bet on it given the regime notorious record of duplicity. Gradually it will escalate to ensnare popular socio-politico sites like ONLINE CITIZEN and TR EMERITUS.

A certain 89-year-old politician, still enjoying his monthly MP allowance of $15000 ( exactly what he does to justify this huge allowance remains a mystery) once bragged that with practice repression became easier. It was no idle boast. He sued opposition leaders and won, even imprisoning activists without trial.

The clampdown on the Internet is a reaffirmation of this core value of repression of the ruling PAP which has always resented dissent.

It wants to ensure that what we read on the Internet is the RIGHT thing.

The ruling PAP is “brilliant”. It has added another characteristic to the meaning of a dictatorship.

Widespread boycott of ST, the regime mouthpiece: presumably reading ST is the right thing. But ST is ranked 149 out of 179 for press freedom by Reporters Without Borders.

A pity for beautiful Malaysia: Malaysians don’t throw rubbish properly

Environmental groups today lambast Malaysians for their habit of littering.

As a frequent traveller in Malaysia, I’ve often noticed widespread littering everywhere from the beaches to hill resorts. This may even pose a danger. For example, broken bottles litter Cherating Beach on the East Coast.

Littering mar Cameron Highlands. Picnic grounds at waterfalls are blighted by littering.

One reason is the lack of litter bins. Unless people hold on to that wrapper, empty cigarette pack or banana skin until they spot a litter bin, it’s easier for most to simply throw it onto the road, grass verge or drain.

Some suggest tackling the problem Singapore-style: handing out fines to litter-bugs.

I don’t propose to preach to Malaysians. After all I’m only a visitor, and visitors don’t criticise how the host deals with their own backyard. Besides, Malaysians are hospitable and friendly people.

But there’s always room for improvement, isn’t it?

It’s a pity to see littering spoiling the enjoyment of many beautiful spots for both locals and visitors.

To be honest, Singapore’s standard has dropped somewhat. This is due to the millions of immigrants and foreigners who have flooded the island. These people don’t have a culture of public cleanliness in their home countries.

“Proudly made in Malaysia” is the rallying cry of Malaysian manufacturers. How about “Proudly preserved by Malaysians” for the environment?

A beach in Kelantan

MDA online news sites licensing: the Great Merlion Firewall Internet censorship

Young people hate the PAP regime.

90% of young people I have spoken to expressed their immense dissatisfaction with the ruling regime. It’s tiresome to repeat their grouses as these are well-known to the majority.

The latest act of repression by the PAP regime has aroused the ire of young people: the ridiculous and regressive restrictions slapped on online news sites.

Many of them are already toying with the idea of migrating. They feel strongly that this is a police state, and that they will have no place in Singapore given the massive imports of foreigners.

One young lawyer said, “Have you seen the hordes of India Indians during lunch time? Clearly they’ve displaced our locals. I don’t believe our locals can’t do the jobs they are doing!”

Another who’s doing his PH D in London vows not to return. “Singapore will soon be turned into a third world country,”he said.

The old hate the PAP regime too.

Friends who are usually apathetic towards politics suddenly messaged and phoned me to voice their dismay over the Internet restrictions.

One SMS said: “ALAMAK, PAP now wants to control the Internet.”

Another phoned me.”Have you heard about the clampdown on the Internet?”

Typical of all police states, the PAP regime has this fetish of controlling everything.

So when the Transport Minister said that Satellite ERP would only be used for traffic congestion, I had a hearty laugh.

Beware, Big Brother will soon be monitoring your every movement.

Soon too, once the regime has muzzled the online news sites, they will turn their attention to “ikan bilis” blogs like this.

I won’t be surprised. After all the core value of the regime is repression.

To censor the Internet, China has the Great Firewall.

Ours can be dubbed The Merlion Firewall?

A certain 89-year-old MP, still enjoying his monthly MP entitlement of $15,000, once bragged that he dragged Singapore screaming from the third world to the first world.

Any first world country that requires licensing of online news sites and a SGD$50,000 bond?

Looks like we’re being dragged back into the Dark Ages.

Cycling to Sungei Rengit

The last time I cycled in the Pengerang area in SE Johor was probably 10 years ago.

Hearing about the oil refinery project in this corner of Johor, I felt I had to revisit.

The welcome change is that the boat to the Tanjung Pengelih pier was air-conditioned.

The ride from Pengelih to the seafood haven of Sungei Rengit (20 km) resembled the ride in the East Coast in Kelantan. Traffic was light and the sea was just within spitting distance.

The tropical weather in Malaysia can BBQ you but on the day I went the weather was mercifully less scorching than expected.

In perhaps 5 years, this quiet and picturesque corner of Johor will be transformed into a port and huge oil refinery.

A pity.

Wonder what went through the mind of the guy who put up this notice on the boat.

WW2 relic: I was surprised this was still standing.

Side dish: besides seafood, Sungei Rengit offers other distractions.