I had always been impressed by her presence when she came onto the scene back in 2011. I'm glad she has continued to be active in her areas of interest and her intended GE 2016 goal. There are now three interviews online which allow her to continue to articulate her views (very well, I must say). I wonder what the dynamics is like within the National Solidarity Party (NSP) where she is a member. Outwardly, it seems like an extremely quiet party. More interestingly, she does not seem to have spoken of her own political thoughts in the context of the NSP and what the party stands for. Perhaps in the Singapore legal context, it might not be legal for her to do so or risk violating campaigning rules in the legal system and hence she avoids it in those interviews.
I like what she says in these interviews. They are well thought-out and coherent. I would love to see what she could do if she could get her hands on real hard data on Singapore society.
22 comments:
I used to volunteer for the NSP during GE 2011 when back from Canada, but I honestly find the party an assortment of different people, including those of a ragtag background who seem clueless about political things and are just fired up against the government at best. Granted that there are people who knew what they were saying, such as Nicole Seah, Jeanette Aruldoss Chong, and so on, there were also silly idiots such as Gilbert Goh who runs his own blog that is badly written and even lashed out at me when I suggested constructively that he needs to get someone to help him proofread his website for grammatical errors(which were on virtually every page and line of his website actually), alongside spelling errors, and paragraphing errors. What I find even more suspiciously bad is a remark from a friend who is a member in that party who admits to me openly that there are "PAP moles" in NSP itself, because of the way they behave. My serious word of advice for Nicole Seah and those who seriously want to serve Singapore in opposition politics is this: avoid parties like RP, NSP, SDA, and so on. While the WP and SDP seem to be somewhat unable to effect any changes for now with their lack of power, I would rather have people who have ideas on how to change a system rather than a ragtag party which seems dubiously uncertain of its own fate in the future.
Actually, that's my own read on the NSP as well (minus the PAP moles part). That's why I wondered how Nicole Seah fits into the party dynamics. Anyway, with Goh Meng Seng no longer at the helm, I had expected some changes in party organization, but there was none. Their party manifesto is the same old and vague document, sadly.
To be fair to Goh Meng Seng as the former General Secretary of the NSP, I think that he has the heart to serve Singapore and Singaporeans, but the only catch is that, with regards to party politics, he can actually say the wrong things at the wrong time. For example, after Hougang was left without a MP and the Workers' Party was going to contend for it once again in the by-elections, he had the silliness to make statements such as that the NSP will join in the fray out of a vendetta against the WP. What was going on through his head? Granted that I do not know if it was mainstream media taking people's remarks out of context, as it usually does, I still think that statement sounded uncalled for.
There is something really crazy announced yesterday which I heard from my brother-in-law back home in Singapore. The government is now aiming for a population of 7 million!!!! I mean, an actual population including those who are permanent residents and citizens for that amount of land.....conspiracy theory has abounded that they are trying to naturalize as many foreigners to become citizens prior to 2016...I won't be surprised either way whatever it is.
Yah, it is a population white paper published by an official commission. I've not read the pdf yet (too busy rushing some work I'm on). It is pretty detailed.
I personally do not think the number alone matters if the growth is anticipated or planned for. A long while ago, when the Goh Chok Tong administration claimed we could grow to 6m, I had assumed they had a plan. Turns out they did not - the health care system, transportation and housing systems did not keep up. They are only acting on fixing that now. When I had realized that, I couldn't believe it. They had their hands on the population spigot and yet failed to plan for it.
I wonder if they planned for it this time. I do not think, however, that people will give them a second chance this time.
Argh, forgot to link you the document:
you can find it at population.sg.
Chee Wai, I know that some people will call me biased for that. I always get called out as 'biased' on the grounds that I hate Singapore by some foreigners, but honestly, whatever, has this government done anything to convince us of the sustainability of their actions? I can seriously say that since more than a decade back, I saw through all their bag of nonsense and from that time onwards, I never believed in them anymore. Chopping down trees if necessary to make space(that was what one minister claimed according to my godsister)....ya right......
We are all biased in some way :). And I don't blame ya for not having any faith left in their "track record" :).
Actually, I never believed in the PAP since army days. I knew right from then that they only tweaked the system to suit their whims all the time. Some people will argue that any politician will do that to stay in power, but that misses the whole point that rulers and authorities can govern with virtue.
The one and only time I could vote, I gave it to Low Thia Khiang. I don't recollect why, but it is mostly because the PAP candidate in my area sucked and because I did not like the way they were treating JBJ and Potong Pasir.
And I hear ya. My political views are now based firmly on "represent" and "govern" rather than "rule", so you can imagine how I feel about all those tricks they play just to stay in control.
I was in JC when I saw JBJ selling his books in public in order to clear himself from bankruptcy. Even in my adolescence at that time, the sight of him being forced into such destitution caused me to develop an usual hatred for the PAP. I remember that in my younger days, whenever I talk to my dad, who is also pro-opposition and hates the PAP with an absolue passion, we would just curse and curse the PAP for all that they have done to the country to stay in power. Call me biased or politically aware at an age too young, but I just could not bear the way they treated JBJ. In a few decades, the Lee family and its associates have basically annihilated all opposition politicians via the law, leaving a bunch of opposition politicians who are somewhat emasculated and 'paper politicians' without much clout. In another decade, the incumbent will annihilate all local-born Singaporeans, leaving them as the silent remnant of the island country.
Sorry, I meant "hating them with an unusual passion" . For decades, they have been calling Singaporeans daft and stupid, saying that we are not talented and various other things. If that is so, why then do they want to govern the country? They can surely pass the baton around to the opposition parties which they despise to govern people whom they look down on. Catherine Lim has predicted years back that this divide between the incumbent and the people will be its own downfall, because they refuse to admit that the people have different opinions from them. Surely enough has come since they have committed all the various blunders and unethical means of governing they did.
Ah, I remember poor Catherine Lim. Treated rather shabbily, I'm afraid. My opinion of Goh Chok Tong pretty much crashed after that.
The bookstores in Singapore never really sold any more books by Catherine Lim as I noticed, while I could find them in JB up north during the short time I was back in 2011. I really think that there are political reasons involved. The government does not tolerate anything creative that is capable of unsettling its hegemony and making it look bad. Catherine Lim is a way better writer than some Singaporeans care to give her credit. I remember one time in 2011 when a journalist reviewed her new series shabbily , almost as if to suggest that she was writing for the sake of writing and chalking up space in her novel, Catherine Lim responded promptly in defence of her novel series, and while I do not believe in the veracity or reliability of the Straits Times, they at least allowed for the publication of her response in the literary review section.
All in all, I believe that this recent announcement of the 6.9 million population ponzi scheme to Singaporeans will mean that this lunar new year season in Singapore is going to be a quiet one for most Singaporeans.....lol.....
hehehe ... "relatively quiet" is the phrase I'd use. I'm looking forward to a nice quiet call to the folks at home.
It's not a holiday over here in Japan, and I would be hard-placed to apply for leave around this season when the entrance examinations are in place soon. I am however planning a short few-day trip during the Golden Weekend of May or maybe in August. After that, any other trips in the future to Singapore will become more and more redundant. I don't know how attached you are to Singapore in terms of family ties, but for me, as much as I have family there(parents and sisters and their families including husbands and children), I have very little reason to go back there anymore when the relationship between me and the country has evolved into a case of life-and-death(basically, Singapore exists, I live in it for more than a month, my body reacts by dying literally...no joke, it happens. It just means that it's not for me.). My parents have learnt to accept that they cannot force me to live on in a place which I hated since young and which I have never really been happy or healthy in, and would rather I leave and live somewhere else for my own life and health's sake. Make no mistake of it. Singapore is Sodom and Gomorrah to me.
I'm a once-a-week type of person where my family is concerned. So, by a number of standards, I'm not spectacularly close. I am reasonably fond of them, however.
As for home, "hate" would be too strong a word for me. I would most definitely be uncomfortable there. Not sure if I've mentioned it here before, but I'd be driven mad (in case I have other Singaporean readers who are mentally over-constipated - no, not the medical condition) if I had to spend an extended amount of time there :). You know, the lament of evil geniuses who shout "I am surrounded by .... !!!"
Incidentally, LimPeh (LIFT) has an interesting post on his blog about population in Singapore.
I happen to have an opinion aligned with his on that issue, but I dare not say it on Facebook because I don't have the energy to deal with overly irate irrational friends.
That LIMPEH guy seems rather smart and rational as a Malaysian, and very well-educated. I have encountered a lot of Singaporeans who are well-educated overseas , but yet turn out to be so narrow-minded, insofar as their immediate circle of friends overseas are mostly Singaporeans or if not, Asians. Well, irate people are irritating, but I think ignorance is the worst to deal with.
By the way,about the population ponzi scheme, I saw a remark once by someone anonymous on a blog linked to yours. "How is the government going to supply food for the 7 million people?" (That is the basic gist, but the remark goes way beyond that, of course, to include hyperbolic remarks such as who will produce the GMO food to induce cancer while the 7 million hungers and eats away, and who will produce the medical and social facilities to support those who get sick and want to move around.) That scheme leaves more questions around than answers. That simply hit the nail on its head once I read that.
By the way, about LIFT, I have to correct my little flub about him being a former Malaysian turned Singaporean now abroad, because I mixed up his father's former nationality with his. Arghhh...what happens when you have so many other things on your mind. He really writes very incisive entries and I have to take my hat off to him for that candour with which he stressed that he is not Chinese to a Scandinavian guy at the workplace lol......
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