Png Eng Huat’s nomination day speech
Straight fight between Png Eng Huat and Desmond Choo
The by-election in Hougang on 26 May will be a straight fight between PAP’s Desmond Choo and WP’s Png Eng Huat.
After being successfully nominated, Mr Choo thanked residents for their “amazing support”. “You’ve given me confidence and strength,” he said.
Mr Png, speaking in Mandarin, English and Teochew, called on residents to vote him into Parliament so that the WP “can continue to be your voice in Parliament”.
WP refutes allegations of racism from ex-member who quit over failure to get cadreship
The Worker’s Party (WP) has refuted allegations of racism from ex-member Sajeev Kamalasanan who resigned over his failure to become a cadre member.
In his statement released to both mainstream and alternative media, Sajeev had alleged that Ms Sylvia Lim, the party chairperson, had informed him that she had not nominated him for party cadreship because “it has been the party’s experience that Indians tend to leave after getting party cadreship”.
In response, Ms Sylvia Lim told the media: “The allegations that I or the WP are racist are baseless and absurd. The WP is a multi-racial party.”
A shallow article by Mr Fredrik Haren
Written by Ng E-Jay
15 May 2012
Author and motivational speaker Fredrik Haren, who has lived in Asia since 2005, considers Singapore “the best place in the world to live for a creative person“. He says that while New York may call itself “the capital of the world”, Singapore “is the world“. (TODAY, 14 May 2012).
I am happy he feels this way about Singapore, even if I don’t personally agree.
However, being an internationally well-known author of books on creativity, I expected his article to have bit more depth. He said that he moved to Beijing in 2005 because of Hu Jintao’s remark made during a speech some years back that “China should be an innovative country 15 years from now”.
Make rules and rentals “attractive and honourable” first
Written by Ng E-Jay
14 May 2012
Dr Vivian Balakrishnan said he wants to make hawking “attractive and honourable”. He said he hoped that more Singaporeans would pursue the hawking profession in the future. He needs to get his priorities right. It is the rules and rentals that have to be made “attractive and honourable” first.
The MEWR minister said that with the announcement of 10 new hawker centres to be built, and the removal of minimum bids for stalls, rental prices of hawker stalls have dropped. But why were they allowed to escalate to such a high level in the first place?
There is a simple reason why rental prices of hawkers stalls have risen so much in recent years. Its because the government has failed to control supply and demand, which led to rapid inflation of asset values, and consequently, a sharp and sustained increase in rental prices. There is absolutely no mystery about it.
Hougang BE: On the drumbeat to the hustings
Written by Ng E-Jay
11 May 2012
Both the PAP and the WP have unveiled their candidates for the Hougang by-election. If everything goes according to plan, PAP’s Desmond Choo will battle WP’s Png Eng Huat on polling day, 26 May.
I predict a landslide victory for Mr Png Eng Huat. The WP has continued to look after the needs of residents through the Aljunied-Hougang Town Council despite having sacked former Member of Parliament Yaw Shin Leong over his silence amidst alleged personal indiscretions.
Although they ceased the sale of their party newsletter, The Hammer, temporarily in the past amidst some negative feedback concerning Yaw and his dismissal, the mood on the ground remains strongly in WP’s favour.
Hougang by-election called
President Tony Tan Keng Yam has issued the writ of election for the Hougang by-election.
The Nomination Day for the Hougang by-election will be on 16 May 2012.
Serangoon Junior College will be the nomination centre.
According to the elections department, ”if more than one candidate stand nominated for election at the close of nominations on Nomination Day, the Returning Officer will declare 26 May 2012 (Saturday) to be the Polling Day.”
Who’s telling the truth about HDB flat sizes?
Written by Ng E-Jay
04 May 2012
So, who is really telling the truth about HDB flat sizes?
On 26 November 2011, the Straits Times published an article, “Shrinking HDB flats due to need to maximise land and to adapt“. The article stated that according to HDB, the average HDB flat has shrunk over the years, due to the need to maximise Singapore’s limited land. HDB also said that architects have compensated by increasing the use of internal space through better flat layouts.
These remarks were made after a heated discussion that ensued when HDB chief executive Ms Cheong Koon Hean declared that smaller flats do not mean a lower quality of living.
An average four-room HDB flat built today has reportedly shrunk to around 90 sq metres, or 969 sq ft, compared to the average size 4-room flats built in the 1980s which were of 105 sq metres, or 1,130 sq ft.
The meaning of May Day lost in Singapore
Filed under: Current Affairs and Politics, Singapore Democratic Party
Singapore Democrats
30 April 2012
Singapore celebrates May Day every year on 1 May together with much of the world. The PAP Government makes it a point to stage elaborate shows with the National Trade Unions Congress (NTUC) at the forefront and the prime minister delivering a message to the workers.
But do we really know the significance behind the occasion and, more importantly, does the PAP really care about Singaporean workers?
May Day (or Labour Day in North America where it is celebrated in September) started off as a northern European tradition. In more recent times, it also became the occasion to mark International Workers’ Day, commemorated by trade unions all over the world.
Bersih 3.0 sees both huge turnout as well as controversy
Written by Ng E-Jay
29 April 2012
On Saturday, nearly a hundred thousand Bersih 3.0 protestors took to the streets in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, demanding electoral reform.
This is the third mass rally organized by the Coalition for Clean and Fair Elections, or Bersih (meaning clean in Malay), a loose grouping of leaders from political parties, civil society groups, and non-governmental organisations (NGOs).
Established in 2006, Berish organised the first rally in 2007 around Dataran Merdeka (Independence Square) and Istana Negara (The National Palace), with a turnout of around 40,000. The government declared this an illegal assembly and used tear gas and water cannons on the protestors.
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