Exercise your right to vote!
Later today, we will know who stands where. The sad reality of this statement is that there will be significant number of my fellow citizens whose right to vote will be nullified. All because of this nonsense called a walkover.
I caught some of the reporting on the local TV about them "bringing minute-by-minute reports" from the nomination centers. Yeah, riggghht. Blow-by-blow reporting to keep the audience at the edge of their seats. Singapore politics is full of excitement! Riggghhht.
Thursday, April 27, 2006
Wednesday, April 26, 2006
At least I live in Singapore!
I was in China last week. The way the Chinese government abuses human rights came starkly home to me - a foreigner. I was in the hotel room and was on line doing work. I had the TV on and was switched to CNN which was showing, live, the visit of the Chinese president to the US. The Chinese president Hu had just arrived at the White House and was being given the official welcome. Bush doing his welcome spiel and once done, Hu took the dais. Just as he started, a heckler started shouting about the Falungong and related abuses by the Chinese government. Immediately, CNN went BLANK. BLANK. No audio, no video, no inteference, no hiss, nothing. Silence. I was puzzled. I thought that the TV was toasted. Without missing a heartbeat, I switched to the next channel, CNBC, and viola, they were showing two angles - one on Hu and the other on a lady being manhandled by security. Switched back to CNN. Still BLANK. Switched back to CNBC. The scenes continue. Switched to BBC - still on and showing the video of the heckler being taken away. Back to CNN. Still blank. Then it comes back on showing Hu doing his spiel. Each time CNN switches to the heckler, it goes blank. Wow! How long does the Chinese government think they can continue to fool their people? I hope not for much longer.
Would the TV go blank when someone heckles the ruling elite here? I don't think so. Would the heckler be charged? I am not sure but IANAL.
So here I was subject to the blatant censorship by the Chinese thought police via blanks on CNN and not being able to reach my blog here. For those under the Chinese thought police regime, my condolences. At least I live in Singapore - a smidgen freer.
I was in China last week. The way the Chinese government abuses human rights came starkly home to me - a foreigner. I was in the hotel room and was on line doing work. I had the TV on and was switched to CNN which was showing, live, the visit of the Chinese president to the US. The Chinese president Hu had just arrived at the White House and was being given the official welcome. Bush doing his welcome spiel and once done, Hu took the dais. Just as he started, a heckler started shouting about the Falungong and related abuses by the Chinese government. Immediately, CNN went BLANK. BLANK. No audio, no video, no inteference, no hiss, nothing. Silence. I was puzzled. I thought that the TV was toasted. Without missing a heartbeat, I switched to the next channel, CNBC, and viola, they were showing two angles - one on Hu and the other on a lady being manhandled by security. Switched back to CNN. Still BLANK. Switched back to CNBC. The scenes continue. Switched to BBC - still on and showing the video of the heckler being taken away. Back to CNN. Still blank. Then it comes back on showing Hu doing his spiel. Each time CNN switches to the heckler, it goes blank. Wow! How long does the Chinese government think they can continue to fool their people? I hope not for much longer.
Would the TV go blank when someone heckles the ruling elite here? I don't think so. Would the heckler be charged? I am not sure but IANAL.
So here I was subject to the blatant censorship by the Chinese thought police via blanks on CNN and not being able to reach my blog here. For those under the Chinese thought police regime, my condolences. At least I live in Singapore - a smidgen freer.
What, moi to be quoted?
I got a call from the print media about the fact the blogs and podcasts are disallowed during the election period and seeking my comments about that.
I have no issue being quoted and while I think the local print media has chosen to not play any useful role to raise the political consciousness,but because they are the only way *some* information and views can get out, I reluctantly agreed.
Singapore is my country. It is wonderful that this country of mine has achieved a tremendous amount of growth and development from a physical point of view and from a certain extent, the social. But what has failed, is the collective sense of ownership of the political sphere.
It is good that the political parties have been doing their self-renewal fairly regularly, but for the sake of the country and it's future, self renewal is insufficient. Stepping back after a while of doing good and letting others take over and running it is more important. What purpose would the MM Lee serve as a WOMP that he cannot do as a external private consultant to the government? Step back and see how the nation moves on. Would it be fair to this country to have to figure out how to manage *after* he dies? I am sure that MM Lee loves this country just as much as I do. So, show that you are willing to stand down for the sake of the country. We will survive and thrive. Really. And inspite of the PAP.
Earlier this evening I was chatting with a friend of mine who is American and PR here, married to a Singaporean and with children who are Singaporeans as well. As a foreigner, he himself feels that the fear element is so pervasive that it is stifling. He was also saying that should the PAP not be in power, he would not want to be in Singapore. He has a choice. He can always bring his family to the US. Would I have that option? The fact we do not yet know how a non PAP team will govern this country means that we can only conjecture. Could we have been missing out on a real nirvana on Earth with a non PAP team? How will we know? The only reality that the bulk of the population knows is that PAP way of doing things. Thankfully, their way of doing things has worked out well for us - OK, 80% of the time. What happened to the remaining 20%? I don't know. I do not see transparency and accountability made available sufficiently.
Consider how this 2006 "election" will be run. After nomination day, possibly a wide swath of my fellow citizens will not be able to exercise their constitutional and UN-guaranteed right to elect their representatives. The WOMPs will then go around for their "thank you" drive arounds. Don't they have any shame? They were never voted in!
OK, so the nomination day passes. Now starts the classic uneven playing field of their so called "party political broadcasts" whose duration is calculated based on the number of candidates the parties field. Guess who gets the lion share? How does this sham help? How would people decide on a contrived formula of air time? The parties cannot blog nor podcast. "Nooooo, this is not a way to do things in Singapore. We are serious about politics. Get registered and be accountable." So, while Singapore aims to be a wireless and e-lifestyle hub, the political dinosaurs would rather that they lived in a world that contains only printed, audio and video broadcast systems that are in their control. "Ideas are dangerous", said a PAP WOMP/MP once.
You cannot have a First World electorate so long as you treat them as diaper-wearing cry-babies. No point trying to say that "oh, we are First World Political Party". You have to earn it. As it stands, while the shirts, pants and skirts and tudongs might be whiter than white, the individuals wearing it have to earn and be bestowed that label. Self labeling is pretentious.
As a final comment for now, no, I am not a western-liberal-ideas person. I love my country too much to let it continue to be cajoled by juraisic mindsets and "I have the experience, so shut up and listen" attitudes.
Majulah Singapura!
I got a call from the print media about the fact the blogs and podcasts are disallowed during the election period and seeking my comments about that.
I have no issue being quoted and while I think the local print media has chosen to not play any useful role to raise the political consciousness,but because they are the only way *some* information and views can get out, I reluctantly agreed.
Singapore is my country. It is wonderful that this country of mine has achieved a tremendous amount of growth and development from a physical point of view and from a certain extent, the social. But what has failed, is the collective sense of ownership of the political sphere.
It is good that the political parties have been doing their self-renewal fairly regularly, but for the sake of the country and it's future, self renewal is insufficient. Stepping back after a while of doing good and letting others take over and running it is more important. What purpose would the MM Lee serve as a WOMP that he cannot do as a external private consultant to the government? Step back and see how the nation moves on. Would it be fair to this country to have to figure out how to manage *after* he dies? I am sure that MM Lee loves this country just as much as I do. So, show that you are willing to stand down for the sake of the country. We will survive and thrive. Really. And inspite of the PAP.
Earlier this evening I was chatting with a friend of mine who is American and PR here, married to a Singaporean and with children who are Singaporeans as well. As a foreigner, he himself feels that the fear element is so pervasive that it is stifling. He was also saying that should the PAP not be in power, he would not want to be in Singapore. He has a choice. He can always bring his family to the US. Would I have that option? The fact we do not yet know how a non PAP team will govern this country means that we can only conjecture. Could we have been missing out on a real nirvana on Earth with a non PAP team? How will we know? The only reality that the bulk of the population knows is that PAP way of doing things. Thankfully, their way of doing things has worked out well for us - OK, 80% of the time. What happened to the remaining 20%? I don't know. I do not see transparency and accountability made available sufficiently.
Consider how this 2006 "election" will be run. After nomination day, possibly a wide swath of my fellow citizens will not be able to exercise their constitutional and UN-guaranteed right to elect their representatives. The WOMPs will then go around for their "thank you" drive arounds. Don't they have any shame? They were never voted in!
OK, so the nomination day passes. Now starts the classic uneven playing field of their so called "party political broadcasts" whose duration is calculated based on the number of candidates the parties field. Guess who gets the lion share? How does this sham help? How would people decide on a contrived formula of air time? The parties cannot blog nor podcast. "Nooooo, this is not a way to do things in Singapore. We are serious about politics. Get registered and be accountable." So, while Singapore aims to be a wireless and e-lifestyle hub, the political dinosaurs would rather that they lived in a world that contains only printed, audio and video broadcast systems that are in their control. "Ideas are dangerous", said a PAP WOMP/MP once.
You cannot have a First World electorate so long as you treat them as diaper-wearing cry-babies. No point trying to say that "oh, we are First World Political Party". You have to earn it. As it stands, while the shirts, pants and skirts and tudongs might be whiter than white, the individuals wearing it have to earn and be bestowed that label. Self labeling is pretentious.
As a final comment for now, no, I am not a western-liberal-ideas person. I love my country too much to let it continue to be cajoled by juraisic mindsets and "I have the experience, so shut up and listen" attitudes.
Majulah Singapura!
Sunday, April 23, 2006
Where is the debate on issues?
The Singapore blogosphere is really the only place where any form of valid and considered debates can happen in this country.
The mainstream media - print and broadcast - has, for a long time now, renounced it's potential role as a trusted opinion leader and has continued to rehash and be the voice of the ruling elite. Not that the ruling elite cannot have this channel. What we are sorely missing the the rest of the cacophony of the conversations we should be having.
The blogosphere is really the best way to get people to start discussing and be the way the "ruling elite" to engage with the population instead of hiding away and "banning" blogs during this crucial period of this country's future.
The Singapore blogosphere is really the only place where any form of valid and considered debates can happen in this country.
The mainstream media - print and broadcast - has, for a long time now, renounced it's potential role as a trusted opinion leader and has continued to rehash and be the voice of the ruling elite. Not that the ruling elite cannot have this channel. What we are sorely missing the the rest of the cacophony of the conversations we should be having.
The blogosphere is really the best way to get people to start discussing and be the way the "ruling elite" to engage with the population instead of hiding away and "banning" blogs during this crucial period of this country's future.
It's gonna be the same
Looks like we are back to the same set of suits and countersuits that is the hallmark of the Singapore political scene.
In a way, I look forward to abdicating my right to vote by the fiasco of walkovers so that I can just ignore what is happening and just sit back and enjoy life with my family.
Sad.
Looks like we are back to the same set of suits and countersuits that is the hallmark of the Singapore political scene.
In a way, I look forward to abdicating my right to vote by the fiasco of walkovers so that I can just ignore what is happening and just sit back and enjoy life with my family.
Sad.
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