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Came across this writeout, just wana share. Enjoy
My vote counts: 10 reasons why I cannot vote for the PAP in the next election. By yaevlejunce
That so many Singaporeans behave like sheep and recite the prescribed mantra all the time about our government (namely, that we owe it all to them) really only reveals the plight of our people. Not only are Singaporeans amongst the lowest earners in the developed world in monetary terms, they are also almost definitely the poorest in the faculty to think for themselves, as a result of the education system.
Now that I am 21 and of age to vote, I am unable to vote for the PAP in the coming election because there is such an urgent need to send across a strong signal through their very thick skulls that there is a problem in the way it’s running this country. I am not a member of the Opposition, and I do not want the Opposition to take over this country, but because there will always be too many sheep in Singapore anyway, we need every vote FOR the Opposition, just to manage to produce a dent in the PAP’s smugly expected results. There will always be the apathetic, the boot-lickers, the cowardly, and the ignorant to ensure they win eventually anyway.
The difference we can make, however, is how much it wins by. Perhaps if it loses a GRC or two (and the GRC is a PAP invention), they will shake off their slumber and start ruling Singapore as a Republic, that is, for the public, for the People (rather than for personal interests).
Remember how LKY said he will send in the army if there ever is a “freak election” and the PAP is voted out of Parliament? In every other country, when the people vote out the ruling party, it is called a mandate. It is only in Singapore that such a vote is called a “freak election”. Also, whose Army is it anyway? Is it the Army of the people of Singapore – who have just voted out the PAP? Or is it the Army of the PAP?
I list here ten out of the many other reasons why I am unable to vote for the PAP:
.
1. I will not render unto Caesar what is not Caesar’s
Given that Singapore’s poor are amongst the Developed World’s poorest, while living standards are amongst the highest in the world, it is not difficult to see why the Government’s ridiculous salaries are distastefully inflated.
The President earns $3.9 million, the PM $3.8 million, the MM and SM $3.5 million each, all other ministers between $2 to $3.2 million and all ministers of state between $1.5 to $1.8 million. These salaries do not include MP allowances, pensions and other sources of income such as Directorship, Chairmanship, Advisory, Consultancy, etc to government-linked and government-related organisations or foreign MNCs, etc. And why are they allowed to work for foreign corporations in the first place? Weren’t their ridiculously-high salaries justified with the excuse that it’ll be THIS excessive precisely so that they will focus on doing their ministerial jobs? Where is the check and balance in this government?
How much do you earn in a year?
In contrast, President Obama earns a more reasonable US$400,000, with US$50,000 expenses. Our most junior ministers are paid more than twice of what the most powerful man in the world gets! Hong Kong, with the same scarcity of resources as Singapore, half the developable land area, but with double the economic success, only pays its Chief Executive Donald Tsang HK$371,885 (US$47, 678). No other nation in the world, no matter how rich or corruption-free, pays it leaders anywhere near ours. That is good enough to show that the PAP rhetoric about their paycheques is plain rubbish (incidentally, “rubbish” seems to be one of LKY’s favourite words).
Adding to that, it had the cheek to raise its own salary right before a GST hike in 2003 and 2004. GST was raised again in 2007 to 7% from the original 3%. And of course, the PAP salaries have been rising accordingly as well.
It claims it needs to be paid similar to the private sector, but this is the public sector for a reason – you choose to work in the government to serve the country, not your pockets. Arguing that “talents” need this monetary incentive to join the government only goes to show what kind of people are being attracted – greedy, selfish, money-minded elites who see the Civil Service as nothing but a more glamorous avenue to the big bucks since their main reason for serving is not for the good of the country, but for money.
I cannot vote for a government that decides its own ridiculous salaries DESPITE a very strong public opinion against it.
.
2. Incompetence
Despite paying astronomic salaries to these patron saints of Singapore, there is much to be desired from their performance. Surely, if we are paying the highest government salaries in the world, it is not unreasonable to simply expect these people to do their job. The recent Bukit Timah Floodings, however, is a case in point showing why this expectation may be misplaced.
Environment Minister Yaacob Ibrahim said that the government knew the diversion canal was not big enough to take the rainwaters. He claimed that because this sort of “freak events” occur only once every 50 years, there was nothing the government could do about it. The Bukit Timah Canal was constructed in 1972, almost 40 years ago – about time something that happens “once every 50 years” would occur. Additionally, meteorologists reported that ‘this flood comes three years after one of Singapore’s worst floodings in recent history, in December 2006‘. 50 years indeed. But alas, our $2.8 million/year Minister was unable to foresee such a simple thing – even while knowing the canal was not big enough! Well, the PUB is planning to work on expanding it now – pretty late or early (depending on where in Singapore you live), since the next time we really need it will be 50 years from now, according to the Minister.
.
3. Double standards
It is a well-known fact that GIC and Temasek Holdings, Singapore’s two sovereign wealth funds, are both headed by members of the Lee family. Both have reported a ridiculous loss of $41.6 Billion and$39.91 Billion respective and have yet to answer to the real stakeholders – Singaporeans – on how this could have happened. No one has taken responsibility or issued explanations or anythingat all. In fact, the state media has been glaringly silent on the issue. Why aren’t we Singaporeans hearing anything about ourmoney?
“When we invest, we invest for the long-term”, Lee Kuan Yew, who heads GIC, said when Temasek Holdings purchased Bank of America shares and then sold it off a few months later, losingbetween US$2.3 to US$4.6 billion just like that.
That is more than $80 Billion in total from the blood and sweat of Singaporeans, down the drain because of bad decisions made by individuals whose multi-million dollar paycheques remain secure no matter how many mistakes they make. In contrast, the Resilience Package tapped into Singapore’s official reserves to withdraw $4.9 billion, and that effort to help Singaporeans in genuine need required hours and hours of debate.
While we should rightfully acknowledge the good that the PAP has done for Singapore, it is often taken for granted that Singaporeans believe a blatant lie that the country’s affluence is owed to the PAP and Lee Kuan Yew’s efforts. No, it came from the efforts of allSingaporeans. Hong Kong did not have a strongman like Lee Kuan Yew to dictate their lives from toilet habits to whether they could hear their own dialect on TV, and yet they have achieved double of what we have – and their people are involved in the political process, not dead and apathetic like our population. There is absolutely no reason to believe that Singapore, with its strategic location and hardworking population, would not have reached its present affluence under a less money-minded David Marshall or someone else.
Moreover, the oft-used justification for the lofty salaries of the government is that the private sector pays its leaders similar salaries. Well, in the private sector, there is such a thing asaccountability. Where is Temasek Holdings’ accountability? Where is GIC’s accountability? Where was Wong Kan Seng’s accountability when his Ministry slipped up time and time again? Where is Yaacob Ibrahim’s accountability? What exactly happens when a minister makes a mistake in Singapore? Where is the Fourth Estate to play its role as a watchdog?
To be continued on page 2 & 3
My vote counts: 10 reasons why I cannot vote for the PAP in the next election. By yaevlejunce
That so many Singaporeans behave like sheep and recite the prescribed mantra all the time about our government (namely, that we owe it all to them) really only reveals the plight of our people. Not only are Singaporeans amongst the lowest earners in the developed world in monetary terms, they are also almost definitely the poorest in the faculty to think for themselves, as a result of the education system.
Now that I am 21 and of age to vote, I am unable to vote for the PAP in the coming election because there is such an urgent need to send across a strong signal through their very thick skulls that there is a problem in the way it’s running this country. I am not a member of the Opposition, and I do not want the Opposition to take over this country, but because there will always be too many sheep in Singapore anyway, we need every vote FOR the Opposition, just to manage to produce a dent in the PAP’s smugly expected results. There will always be the apathetic, the boot-lickers, the cowardly, and the ignorant to ensure they win eventually anyway.
The difference we can make, however, is how much it wins by. Perhaps if it loses a GRC or two (and the GRC is a PAP invention), they will shake off their slumber and start ruling Singapore as a Republic, that is, for the public, for the People (rather than for personal interests).
Remember how LKY said he will send in the army if there ever is a “freak election” and the PAP is voted out of Parliament? In every other country, when the people vote out the ruling party, it is called a mandate. It is only in Singapore that such a vote is called a “freak election”. Also, whose Army is it anyway? Is it the Army of the people of Singapore – who have just voted out the PAP? Or is it the Army of the PAP?
I list here ten out of the many other reasons why I am unable to vote for the PAP:
.
1. I will not render unto Caesar what is not Caesar’s
Given that Singapore’s poor are amongst the Developed World’s poorest, while living standards are amongst the highest in the world, it is not difficult to see why the Government’s ridiculous salaries are distastefully inflated.
The President earns $3.9 million, the PM $3.8 million, the MM and SM $3.5 million each, all other ministers between $2 to $3.2 million and all ministers of state between $1.5 to $1.8 million. These salaries do not include MP allowances, pensions and other sources of income such as Directorship, Chairmanship, Advisory, Consultancy, etc to government-linked and government-related organisations or foreign MNCs, etc. And why are they allowed to work for foreign corporations in the first place? Weren’t their ridiculously-high salaries justified with the excuse that it’ll be THIS excessive precisely so that they will focus on doing their ministerial jobs? Where is the check and balance in this government?
How much do you earn in a year?
In contrast, President Obama earns a more reasonable US$400,000, with US$50,000 expenses. Our most junior ministers are paid more than twice of what the most powerful man in the world gets! Hong Kong, with the same scarcity of resources as Singapore, half the developable land area, but with double the economic success, only pays its Chief Executive Donald Tsang HK$371,885 (US$47, 678). No other nation in the world, no matter how rich or corruption-free, pays it leaders anywhere near ours. That is good enough to show that the PAP rhetoric about their paycheques is plain rubbish (incidentally, “rubbish” seems to be one of LKY’s favourite words).
Adding to that, it had the cheek to raise its own salary right before a GST hike in 2003 and 2004. GST was raised again in 2007 to 7% from the original 3%. And of course, the PAP salaries have been rising accordingly as well.
It claims it needs to be paid similar to the private sector, but this is the public sector for a reason – you choose to work in the government to serve the country, not your pockets. Arguing that “talents” need this monetary incentive to join the government only goes to show what kind of people are being attracted – greedy, selfish, money-minded elites who see the Civil Service as nothing but a more glamorous avenue to the big bucks since their main reason for serving is not for the good of the country, but for money.
I cannot vote for a government that decides its own ridiculous salaries DESPITE a very strong public opinion against it.
.
2. Incompetence
Despite paying astronomic salaries to these patron saints of Singapore, there is much to be desired from their performance. Surely, if we are paying the highest government salaries in the world, it is not unreasonable to simply expect these people to do their job. The recent Bukit Timah Floodings, however, is a case in point showing why this expectation may be misplaced.
Environment Minister Yaacob Ibrahim said that the government knew the diversion canal was not big enough to take the rainwaters. He claimed that because this sort of “freak events” occur only once every 50 years, there was nothing the government could do about it. The Bukit Timah Canal was constructed in 1972, almost 40 years ago – about time something that happens “once every 50 years” would occur. Additionally, meteorologists reported that ‘this flood comes three years after one of Singapore’s worst floodings in recent history, in December 2006‘. 50 years indeed. But alas, our $2.8 million/year Minister was unable to foresee such a simple thing – even while knowing the canal was not big enough! Well, the PUB is planning to work on expanding it now – pretty late or early (depending on where in Singapore you live), since the next time we really need it will be 50 years from now, according to the Minister.
.
3. Double standards
It is a well-known fact that GIC and Temasek Holdings, Singapore’s two sovereign wealth funds, are both headed by members of the Lee family. Both have reported a ridiculous loss of $41.6 Billion and$39.91 Billion respective and have yet to answer to the real stakeholders – Singaporeans – on how this could have happened. No one has taken responsibility or issued explanations or anythingat all. In fact, the state media has been glaringly silent on the issue. Why aren’t we Singaporeans hearing anything about ourmoney?
“When we invest, we invest for the long-term”, Lee Kuan Yew, who heads GIC, said when Temasek Holdings purchased Bank of America shares and then sold it off a few months later, losingbetween US$2.3 to US$4.6 billion just like that.
That is more than $80 Billion in total from the blood and sweat of Singaporeans, down the drain because of bad decisions made by individuals whose multi-million dollar paycheques remain secure no matter how many mistakes they make. In contrast, the Resilience Package tapped into Singapore’s official reserves to withdraw $4.9 billion, and that effort to help Singaporeans in genuine need required hours and hours of debate.
While we should rightfully acknowledge the good that the PAP has done for Singapore, it is often taken for granted that Singaporeans believe a blatant lie that the country’s affluence is owed to the PAP and Lee Kuan Yew’s efforts. No, it came from the efforts of allSingaporeans. Hong Kong did not have a strongman like Lee Kuan Yew to dictate their lives from toilet habits to whether they could hear their own dialect on TV, and yet they have achieved double of what we have – and their people are involved in the political process, not dead and apathetic like our population. There is absolutely no reason to believe that Singapore, with its strategic location and hardworking population, would not have reached its present affluence under a less money-minded David Marshall or someone else.
Moreover, the oft-used justification for the lofty salaries of the government is that the private sector pays its leaders similar salaries. Well, in the private sector, there is such a thing asaccountability. Where is Temasek Holdings’ accountability? Where is GIC’s accountability? Where was Wong Kan Seng’s accountability when his Ministry slipped up time and time again? Where is Yaacob Ibrahim’s accountability? What exactly happens when a minister makes a mistake in Singapore? Where is the Fourth Estate to play its role as a watchdog?
To be continued on page 2 & 3
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