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06-05-2011, 12:32 AM
Gentleman...bet u this time round PAP will loss Aljunied GRC...
Lonewolf san, this 1 specially for you, pls read....
Why the People’s Action Party has lost its credibility and has become irrelevant May 5th, 2011 | Author: Contributions
After reading the article, “GE: Leadership renewal critical for PAP and S’pore, says PM Leeâ€, all I have to say is – that is PAP’s problem not ours The PAP has spent its credibility over the years and has now become irrelevant. In the same article above that Hsien Loong so emphatically states: “Never forget we are servants of the people, not their masters. Always maintain a sense of humility and service. Never lord it over the people we are looking after and servingâ€.
Although I cannot agree with Hsien Loong more, I cannot believe that those words were uttered by Hsien Loong, as the PAPs actions over the years have shown otherwise.
From mercilessly eradicating any opposition from Barisan Sosialis in the 60s, through operation Cold Store, to the constant harassment by using the internal security department, police and judiciary to arrest, detain, jail and bankrupt opposition members or anyone that the PAP government deems a threat. The list of individuals, not exclusive of Lee Siew Choh, Chia Thye Poh, Said Zahari, Michael Fernandez, Joshua Benjamin Jeyaretnam, Francis Seow, Tang Liang Hong, and Chee Soon Juan.
In addition, over a hundred other individuals have been arrested under the Internal Security Act or ISA over the years, and have never been charged in court.
In 1987 the PAP used the ISA for Operation Spectrum on 22 Catholics, activist and professionals whom the government declared as “Marxistâ€. The PAP has yet to make a case against these individuals, whom it claimed was trying to form a Marxist government.
The irony is that as recent as 2009, the PAP was reported as happily sending young PAP members to China for leadership training by the Communist Party of China’s Communist Youth League. Communist Youth! Read here.
How can the PAP say that they love Singapore, when they hate the Singaporeans whom the PAP does not agree with? Is this what Hsien Loong speaks about when he says he will have to spend time to fix the opposition? Even as recent as April 27th, Hsien Loong said, “Politics is a complicated matter and however high minded you may start in the heat of an election campaign, from time to time, you will find unwise speeches being made, which is why sometimes, after elections, you’ve got court cases to deal with.â€
How does this make the PAP credible? The PAP always talks about the intentions of the opposition. I on the other hand question the PAPs intentions. Who is it you are serving?
The PAP claims to be listening to the grassroots and members of their constituency all these years, claiming that the opposition is nowhere to be seen. If the PAP MPs have been listening, then perhaps they must all be short of hearing, as so many issues that the citizens have been bringing up have not been dealt with since the last election.
It seems that whenever there are complains or unhappiness about policies or ways in which something is being carried out, there is always the classic PAPspeak of intelligent replies to show why the PAP is right and everyone else is wrong.
In 2006, the PAP made the following promises in its manifesto:
• Create opportunities for Singaporeans
• Give our young the best start
• Encourage every citizen to play a role
• Do more for lower-income Singaporeans
• Help older Singaporeans lead full and active lives
• Provide affordable healthcare for all
Have they really kept to the promises?
Create opportunities for Singaporeans. If building two casinos (sorry integrated casinos) are what our government call opportunities, then it is a very sad day for Singaporeans. As the Marina Bay Sands was being built, Hsien Loong could not wait to show it off to the nation at the National Day rally. It is interesting that the Marina Bay Sands looks like an altar, as numerous Ministers were seen having their pictures taken on the Straits Times showing them to be making their “offerings†from across the Marina Bay. Were these Ministers worshipping the casino as a source of opportunities for Singaporeans? With the high social cost of that comes with a casino such as bankruptcies, prostitution, money laundering and crime, is this the best that the PAP government can do for the unemployed for Singapore? By the way, in case the PAP does not know, the casino is part of the service industry. What about more manufacturing jobs that the government is so keen to keep in Singapore? How much has been done? It seems that the most opportunities that the PAP government gives are to the PAP ministers who will lose an astronomical opportunity cost if they are no longer ministers.
Give our young the best start. There is still no national program for excellent day care or pre-schoolers. The best programs are provided when you can afford the best schools. Otherwise, most ordinary citizens are left to the mediocre providers of such services. Some well-known foundations come to mind. The other big elephant in the room that the government has not talked about is private tuition which is a billion dollar industry in Singapore. If young people in Singapore need so much tuition, what has the schools been providing these young people. From large classroom sizes, to teachers that are overworked and underpaid, I do not see how the government has helped to give our young the best start.
Encourage every citizen to play a role. From trying to fix our opposition to “listening†to Singaporeans, from creating a constant climate of fear to providing rhetoric for citizen, it seems that the only role that the PAP wants Singaporeans is so do is serve the PAP and put up with whatever the PAP dishes out to Singaporeans. Even artists have to ask what the “out-of-bound markers†are as they are so afraid to cross it. It is as if the only people who decide what roles Singaporeans can play are the PAP members who dictate to us what they find “acceptableâ€. I thought the PAP government was supposed to serve us?
Do more for lower income Singaporeans. Really? When there were homeless people living in tents along the East Coast, Changi and Sembawang Parks because they lost their HDB flats. The best solution to this problem is to ask these individuals to get a limited permit to “camp†at these areas. Vivian and Bow Tan, must have been busy trying to figure out how to “do more†for these individuals who needed help. Most of what came out from the PAP was that it was their fault that they were there in the first place. They should have known better not to get themselves into such a predicament. Ouch, so much for giving a helping hand. Asking Singaporeans to get a housing loan from banks and not the HDB perhaps prevented a housing loan crisis for HDB during the recession, but what advice or help was done to help them keep their homes? Apparently, not much.
Help older Singaporeans lead full and active lives. Does the PAP consider uncles and aunties working as cleaners at Hawker Centres, collecting carton boxes and aluminium cans, or selling tissue papers to be leading full and active lives? I was once at a Hawker center in Bedok, and witnessed the Bangladeshi supervisor giving the elderly aunty her wages in cash for the day. I am ashamed that even though Singapore is one of the wealthiest countries in the world, the neediest elderly have to live their lives in such a way. How fulfilling it must be for these individuals.
Provide affordable healthcare for all. The cost of healthcare has gone up and not down. Forget about inflation, as medical cost has not been rising in tandem with the rate of inflation. What has the PAP government been doing? While other governments find cheaper medicines for its citizens, our PAP government excludes certain medications from subsidies. If there was affordable healthcare, I do not see why the government needs social workers to give means-testing. It seems more like how mean can the government be before they offer you some help in paying for your healthcare. I have seen people at the hospital who are asked to leave as they cannot pay their bills, or leave the pharmacy empty-handed as they cannot afford the medication. This is in contrast to the first class wards, where the hospital will send personnel to ask if you would recommend the hospital to other people, or convert a B class ward with two beds to a single bed A class ward, so that these first class patients have enough space. However, there is not enough space for C class ward individuals, and if they leave you in the walkway, they will still charge you ward fees for the day. I am sure Boon Wan did not have the same issues when he went for his $8 heart surgery. Perhaps all Singaporean should be on the similar health care program that Boon Wan is on.
If this is the way Singaporeans have been served, I think our “service fee†of millions of dollars is not worth it, and we should ask for a refund.
Which leads me to why must the PAP profit from all Singaporeans? Have you ever seen a servant making more money than the employer?
From GST, to the high cost of HDB flats and real estate, to medical cost, to utilities, to daily cost of living expenses, the government has schemed and taxed its way into making billions of dollars off Singaporeans.
Let address a few issues that have been running the headlines.
High Housing Cost. After creating laws that allow the government to purchase land from anyone by force at less than market prices in the 60s and 70s, the PAP government sits on these land banks over the years, and after creating demand by slowly releasing these plots of land, to increasing our population through immigration, the government “sells†this land back to Singaporeans through HDB and private developers. Leasing the land all for a “lengthy†period of 99 years, pushing the cost of land to what it is today. This means that not only we have to pay for a very expensive rental for 99 years, we also have to put up with smaller flats at higher prices. Not enough land? HDB has introduced a “scheme†called Selective En Bloc Redevelopment Scheme. Many of these sites are still left vacant. Perhaps the government is waiting to “sell†these sites to private developers to develop into flats or condos, pushing up the prices of such apartments further. HDB keeps telling people how they plan to develop Punggol since the 1990s. Remember Punggol 21 in 1996. Apparently, HDB has been sleeping all these years with so much undeveloped land, as building flats is apparently a very slow an difficult process, especially with Build to Own (BTO) scheme. It seems whenever the PAP comes out with a scheme, we are screwed. Since when does HDB have to be like a private developer that needs to collect money for a down payment before it can build a flat. Not enough cash flow? Not enough money after buying the land from the Singapore Land Authority? Recently, Bow Tan recently talked about increasing the maximum salary to $10,000 a month. How does this help where a family has to pay a mortgage using their CPF for 20 – 30 years with very little savings left for retirement? Does he expect all Singaporeans to sell their flats to downgrade or move to another country to retire gracefully? I thought this is our country too, why must only the PAP ministers profit while the average Singaporean suffers.
High Transportation Cost. PAP always claims to be the best government in the world, and hence we also have to pay the best salaries in the world to the world’s best PAP ministers. When Lim Hwee Hua was asked to nationalize the transportation system to lower the cost of PUBLIC transportation, she said, “I presume the underlying motivation for nationalisation is because it’s cheap. But nationalising in a lot of other countries has led to inefficiencies. Ultimately, you get cheap transport but it doesn’t quite work out for the residents.†I thought that we have the best government in the world. Are you saying that the world’s best PAP government cannot run an efficient transportation system? Furthermore, how do cheaper fares not work out for resident? Perhaps it is not a good utilization of our reserves as public services cannot generate enough income for the government GIC or Temasek holdings? In Singapore “privatization†is a euphemism to mean higher profits for the government. In 2010, SBS Transit in generated profits of over 54 million dollars, and SMRT made over 162 million dollars. These are profits after tax. By the way, Temasek Holdings owns 54.33% of “privatized†SMRT, and this is the best part – under the Substantial Shareholders section, Singapore Labour Foundation owns 12.09% of Comfort Delgro, which owns 75.11% of SBS Transit. Guess who is the Chairman of Singapore Labour foundation, non-other than our favourite Minister Mah Bow Tan. Labour Unions serving the common man? Perhaps this is the tripartite relationship that the PAP always talks about. Again, who is the PAP serving? Forget about the stratospheric amounts of money the PAP government is making from COEs, ERPs, Public Parking, and not forgetting the 100% ARF and the 20% excise duty. Inspite of all the money the PAP government makes, public transportation has not improved over the years, and in fact it is getting worse. The buses and trains are overcrowded, and the waiting times have not improved. The only time that the SMRT and SBS can introduce more trains and buses is during Christmas so that people can go shopping. Read here. For cars, the roads are getting more congested, and the PAPs solution is to build more ERP gantries. How has this served us?
High Utilities Cost. Countries that have privatized its public utilities have all seen increases in the cost of the utilities provided to its end users. How has “privatization†helped Singaporeans? The electricity charges which Singapore Power Limited charges are “pegged†to the market rate of whatever Singapore Power bids for electricity on a quarterly basis, plus their profit margin. Singapore Power further charges users for new and old water of market rates of around $1.17 a cubic meter of water. There is also the water-borne fee and the sanitary application fee, then there is a Water Conservation Tax of 30% on top of that (perhaps the reasons for the floods is because the PAP is so concerned about conserving water). On top of the all these charges plus 30% water conservation tax, there is still a further 7% GST on top of that. After using its monopoly and reaping huge benefits from Singaporeans, Singapore Power can even afford to purchase 51% of Ausnet which is an Australian utilities company that “services over 1 million customers in south-east Australia†so the SP Ausnet website proclaims. In 2010, Singapore Power made 1.6 billion dollars, and the best part is that Singapore Power Limited is 100% owned by Temasek Holdings. How is the PAP government helping its constituents by owning Singapore Power Limited? While claiming to give households credit, it has no qualms about cutting the electricity and water supplies from people who cannot afford utilities for one reason or another. The PAP government’s solution for households that cannot afford electricity and water, is to provide a prepaid utility service that stops when the money runs out. How is the PAP government helping with the 1.6 Billion dollar profit?
High Business Cost. Once of the main cost of any business is the cost of real estate. Whether it is purchasing the land or renting the land for business, this always factors into the cost of doing business. The higher the cost of real estate, the higher the cost of business and in return the higher cost of goods sold to consumers. If the government was so concerned about manufacturing in Singapore, they would have looked into this long ago. Instead, the government has been reducing manufacturing real estate in Singapore, and thus increasing the cost of rental for manufacturing spaces. Look at the disappearing “en-bloc†factory spaces in Ang Mo Kio industrial parks that also have been demolished and are now flat pieces of state land, or cordoned off factory spaces in Paya Lebar industrial park near the Singapore Post. These coupled with many more disappearing spaces in the various industrial parks. Not enough land? Then why remove these spaces? Perhaps not enough businesses what to operate here, as our government has “assisted†them to move to China and Malaysia due to the higher cost here. Again, how has this helped keep manufacturing jobs here? If the PAP claims that manufacturing is so important to Singapore, then they should have thought of the ramifications of creating high land rental cost in Singapore for industrial spaces. Is this how the PAP has been serving us?
Gerrymandering and the GRCs. It almost sounds like a 60s band. The PAP has constantly denied gerrymandering complaints. Please explain to me where is the Marine Parade sea view from Serangoon Central? How does the government decide which areas the GRC will represent? The boundaries have moved almost every single election since the GRCs have been created. The current Aljunied GRC was previously part of Marine Parade GRC. Whatever happened to one man one vote or proportional representation? Apparently the PAP had miscalculated, thinking that the opposition parties would never be able to field enough credible candidates after harassing the existing opposition members over the years. Now when the opposition is able to, they harp about how they might lose a Minister if the opposition wins. Well, the monster that the PAP created is now coming back to bite its creator. If the PAP loses GRCs and Ministers because they wanted to “serve†its citizen, they have only themselves to blame.
If these examples are how the PAP have been serving us, perhaps it would be better if they stopped serving us, and we can look for a better service provider.
During this election, all the PAP has been able to do is stoop to gutter politics by making personal attacks on individuals and opposition parties, while not being able to come out with any concrete solutions to solve any of the problems mentioned above. If they have claimed to offer workfare or other “schemesâ€, can they honestly tell us that these “schemes†have been working? Asking us to trust the PAPs “track record†is not reliable as the last five years has shown us how you have “served†us and “improved†our lives. Furthermore, even while Hsien Loong says he is sorry, the rest of the PAP members continue to stoop to lower levels by misrepresenting other opposition parties’ manifestos, and by making more personal attacks. Talk by PAP’s standard is cheap.
Using the PAPs analogy of driving a car, the PAP has been caught drunk driving from arrogance and complacency, and has crashed the car. From the damage done to the car, even the payment of the growth and share package is not enough for the insurance deductible. The PAP needs to be banned from driving or at least suspended for a while, while we find new drivers who can take us to where we need to go.
PAP your last 5 years are up, and your party has become irrelevant. Please stop “serving†us. We are fed up and should not have to take it anymore.
Lonewolf san, this 1 specially for you, pls read....
Why the People’s Action Party has lost its credibility and has become irrelevant May 5th, 2011 | Author: Contributions
After reading the article, “GE: Leadership renewal critical for PAP and S’pore, says PM Leeâ€, all I have to say is – that is PAP’s problem not ours The PAP has spent its credibility over the years and has now become irrelevant. In the same article above that Hsien Loong so emphatically states: “Never forget we are servants of the people, not their masters. Always maintain a sense of humility and service. Never lord it over the people we are looking after and servingâ€.
Although I cannot agree with Hsien Loong more, I cannot believe that those words were uttered by Hsien Loong, as the PAPs actions over the years have shown otherwise.
From mercilessly eradicating any opposition from Barisan Sosialis in the 60s, through operation Cold Store, to the constant harassment by using the internal security department, police and judiciary to arrest, detain, jail and bankrupt opposition members or anyone that the PAP government deems a threat. The list of individuals, not exclusive of Lee Siew Choh, Chia Thye Poh, Said Zahari, Michael Fernandez, Joshua Benjamin Jeyaretnam, Francis Seow, Tang Liang Hong, and Chee Soon Juan.
In addition, over a hundred other individuals have been arrested under the Internal Security Act or ISA over the years, and have never been charged in court.
In 1987 the PAP used the ISA for Operation Spectrum on 22 Catholics, activist and professionals whom the government declared as “Marxistâ€. The PAP has yet to make a case against these individuals, whom it claimed was trying to form a Marxist government.
The irony is that as recent as 2009, the PAP was reported as happily sending young PAP members to China for leadership training by the Communist Party of China’s Communist Youth League. Communist Youth! Read here.
How can the PAP say that they love Singapore, when they hate the Singaporeans whom the PAP does not agree with? Is this what Hsien Loong speaks about when he says he will have to spend time to fix the opposition? Even as recent as April 27th, Hsien Loong said, “Politics is a complicated matter and however high minded you may start in the heat of an election campaign, from time to time, you will find unwise speeches being made, which is why sometimes, after elections, you’ve got court cases to deal with.â€
How does this make the PAP credible? The PAP always talks about the intentions of the opposition. I on the other hand question the PAPs intentions. Who is it you are serving?
The PAP claims to be listening to the grassroots and members of their constituency all these years, claiming that the opposition is nowhere to be seen. If the PAP MPs have been listening, then perhaps they must all be short of hearing, as so many issues that the citizens have been bringing up have not been dealt with since the last election.
It seems that whenever there are complains or unhappiness about policies or ways in which something is being carried out, there is always the classic PAPspeak of intelligent replies to show why the PAP is right and everyone else is wrong.
In 2006, the PAP made the following promises in its manifesto:
• Create opportunities for Singaporeans
• Give our young the best start
• Encourage every citizen to play a role
• Do more for lower-income Singaporeans
• Help older Singaporeans lead full and active lives
• Provide affordable healthcare for all
Have they really kept to the promises?
Create opportunities for Singaporeans. If building two casinos (sorry integrated casinos) are what our government call opportunities, then it is a very sad day for Singaporeans. As the Marina Bay Sands was being built, Hsien Loong could not wait to show it off to the nation at the National Day rally. It is interesting that the Marina Bay Sands looks like an altar, as numerous Ministers were seen having their pictures taken on the Straits Times showing them to be making their “offerings†from across the Marina Bay. Were these Ministers worshipping the casino as a source of opportunities for Singaporeans? With the high social cost of that comes with a casino such as bankruptcies, prostitution, money laundering and crime, is this the best that the PAP government can do for the unemployed for Singapore? By the way, in case the PAP does not know, the casino is part of the service industry. What about more manufacturing jobs that the government is so keen to keep in Singapore? How much has been done? It seems that the most opportunities that the PAP government gives are to the PAP ministers who will lose an astronomical opportunity cost if they are no longer ministers.
Give our young the best start. There is still no national program for excellent day care or pre-schoolers. The best programs are provided when you can afford the best schools. Otherwise, most ordinary citizens are left to the mediocre providers of such services. Some well-known foundations come to mind. The other big elephant in the room that the government has not talked about is private tuition which is a billion dollar industry in Singapore. If young people in Singapore need so much tuition, what has the schools been providing these young people. From large classroom sizes, to teachers that are overworked and underpaid, I do not see how the government has helped to give our young the best start.
Encourage every citizen to play a role. From trying to fix our opposition to “listening†to Singaporeans, from creating a constant climate of fear to providing rhetoric for citizen, it seems that the only role that the PAP wants Singaporeans is so do is serve the PAP and put up with whatever the PAP dishes out to Singaporeans. Even artists have to ask what the “out-of-bound markers†are as they are so afraid to cross it. It is as if the only people who decide what roles Singaporeans can play are the PAP members who dictate to us what they find “acceptableâ€. I thought the PAP government was supposed to serve us?
Do more for lower income Singaporeans. Really? When there were homeless people living in tents along the East Coast, Changi and Sembawang Parks because they lost their HDB flats. The best solution to this problem is to ask these individuals to get a limited permit to “camp†at these areas. Vivian and Bow Tan, must have been busy trying to figure out how to “do more†for these individuals who needed help. Most of what came out from the PAP was that it was their fault that they were there in the first place. They should have known better not to get themselves into such a predicament. Ouch, so much for giving a helping hand. Asking Singaporeans to get a housing loan from banks and not the HDB perhaps prevented a housing loan crisis for HDB during the recession, but what advice or help was done to help them keep their homes? Apparently, not much.
Help older Singaporeans lead full and active lives. Does the PAP consider uncles and aunties working as cleaners at Hawker Centres, collecting carton boxes and aluminium cans, or selling tissue papers to be leading full and active lives? I was once at a Hawker center in Bedok, and witnessed the Bangladeshi supervisor giving the elderly aunty her wages in cash for the day. I am ashamed that even though Singapore is one of the wealthiest countries in the world, the neediest elderly have to live their lives in such a way. How fulfilling it must be for these individuals.
Provide affordable healthcare for all. The cost of healthcare has gone up and not down. Forget about inflation, as medical cost has not been rising in tandem with the rate of inflation. What has the PAP government been doing? While other governments find cheaper medicines for its citizens, our PAP government excludes certain medications from subsidies. If there was affordable healthcare, I do not see why the government needs social workers to give means-testing. It seems more like how mean can the government be before they offer you some help in paying for your healthcare. I have seen people at the hospital who are asked to leave as they cannot pay their bills, or leave the pharmacy empty-handed as they cannot afford the medication. This is in contrast to the first class wards, where the hospital will send personnel to ask if you would recommend the hospital to other people, or convert a B class ward with two beds to a single bed A class ward, so that these first class patients have enough space. However, there is not enough space for C class ward individuals, and if they leave you in the walkway, they will still charge you ward fees for the day. I am sure Boon Wan did not have the same issues when he went for his $8 heart surgery. Perhaps all Singaporean should be on the similar health care program that Boon Wan is on.
If this is the way Singaporeans have been served, I think our “service fee†of millions of dollars is not worth it, and we should ask for a refund.
Which leads me to why must the PAP profit from all Singaporeans? Have you ever seen a servant making more money than the employer?
From GST, to the high cost of HDB flats and real estate, to medical cost, to utilities, to daily cost of living expenses, the government has schemed and taxed its way into making billions of dollars off Singaporeans.
Let address a few issues that have been running the headlines.
High Housing Cost. After creating laws that allow the government to purchase land from anyone by force at less than market prices in the 60s and 70s, the PAP government sits on these land banks over the years, and after creating demand by slowly releasing these plots of land, to increasing our population through immigration, the government “sells†this land back to Singaporeans through HDB and private developers. Leasing the land all for a “lengthy†period of 99 years, pushing the cost of land to what it is today. This means that not only we have to pay for a very expensive rental for 99 years, we also have to put up with smaller flats at higher prices. Not enough land? HDB has introduced a “scheme†called Selective En Bloc Redevelopment Scheme. Many of these sites are still left vacant. Perhaps the government is waiting to “sell†these sites to private developers to develop into flats or condos, pushing up the prices of such apartments further. HDB keeps telling people how they plan to develop Punggol since the 1990s. Remember Punggol 21 in 1996. Apparently, HDB has been sleeping all these years with so much undeveloped land, as building flats is apparently a very slow an difficult process, especially with Build to Own (BTO) scheme. It seems whenever the PAP comes out with a scheme, we are screwed. Since when does HDB have to be like a private developer that needs to collect money for a down payment before it can build a flat. Not enough cash flow? Not enough money after buying the land from the Singapore Land Authority? Recently, Bow Tan recently talked about increasing the maximum salary to $10,000 a month. How does this help where a family has to pay a mortgage using their CPF for 20 – 30 years with very little savings left for retirement? Does he expect all Singaporeans to sell their flats to downgrade or move to another country to retire gracefully? I thought this is our country too, why must only the PAP ministers profit while the average Singaporean suffers.
High Transportation Cost. PAP always claims to be the best government in the world, and hence we also have to pay the best salaries in the world to the world’s best PAP ministers. When Lim Hwee Hua was asked to nationalize the transportation system to lower the cost of PUBLIC transportation, she said, “I presume the underlying motivation for nationalisation is because it’s cheap. But nationalising in a lot of other countries has led to inefficiencies. Ultimately, you get cheap transport but it doesn’t quite work out for the residents.†I thought that we have the best government in the world. Are you saying that the world’s best PAP government cannot run an efficient transportation system? Furthermore, how do cheaper fares not work out for resident? Perhaps it is not a good utilization of our reserves as public services cannot generate enough income for the government GIC or Temasek holdings? In Singapore “privatization†is a euphemism to mean higher profits for the government. In 2010, SBS Transit in generated profits of over 54 million dollars, and SMRT made over 162 million dollars. These are profits after tax. By the way, Temasek Holdings owns 54.33% of “privatized†SMRT, and this is the best part – under the Substantial Shareholders section, Singapore Labour Foundation owns 12.09% of Comfort Delgro, which owns 75.11% of SBS Transit. Guess who is the Chairman of Singapore Labour foundation, non-other than our favourite Minister Mah Bow Tan. Labour Unions serving the common man? Perhaps this is the tripartite relationship that the PAP always talks about. Again, who is the PAP serving? Forget about the stratospheric amounts of money the PAP government is making from COEs, ERPs, Public Parking, and not forgetting the 100% ARF and the 20% excise duty. Inspite of all the money the PAP government makes, public transportation has not improved over the years, and in fact it is getting worse. The buses and trains are overcrowded, and the waiting times have not improved. The only time that the SMRT and SBS can introduce more trains and buses is during Christmas so that people can go shopping. Read here. For cars, the roads are getting more congested, and the PAPs solution is to build more ERP gantries. How has this served us?
High Utilities Cost. Countries that have privatized its public utilities have all seen increases in the cost of the utilities provided to its end users. How has “privatization†helped Singaporeans? The electricity charges which Singapore Power Limited charges are “pegged†to the market rate of whatever Singapore Power bids for electricity on a quarterly basis, plus their profit margin. Singapore Power further charges users for new and old water of market rates of around $1.17 a cubic meter of water. There is also the water-borne fee and the sanitary application fee, then there is a Water Conservation Tax of 30% on top of that (perhaps the reasons for the floods is because the PAP is so concerned about conserving water). On top of the all these charges plus 30% water conservation tax, there is still a further 7% GST on top of that. After using its monopoly and reaping huge benefits from Singaporeans, Singapore Power can even afford to purchase 51% of Ausnet which is an Australian utilities company that “services over 1 million customers in south-east Australia†so the SP Ausnet website proclaims. In 2010, Singapore Power made 1.6 billion dollars, and the best part is that Singapore Power Limited is 100% owned by Temasek Holdings. How is the PAP government helping its constituents by owning Singapore Power Limited? While claiming to give households credit, it has no qualms about cutting the electricity and water supplies from people who cannot afford utilities for one reason or another. The PAP government’s solution for households that cannot afford electricity and water, is to provide a prepaid utility service that stops when the money runs out. How is the PAP government helping with the 1.6 Billion dollar profit?
High Business Cost. Once of the main cost of any business is the cost of real estate. Whether it is purchasing the land or renting the land for business, this always factors into the cost of doing business. The higher the cost of real estate, the higher the cost of business and in return the higher cost of goods sold to consumers. If the government was so concerned about manufacturing in Singapore, they would have looked into this long ago. Instead, the government has been reducing manufacturing real estate in Singapore, and thus increasing the cost of rental for manufacturing spaces. Look at the disappearing “en-bloc†factory spaces in Ang Mo Kio industrial parks that also have been demolished and are now flat pieces of state land, or cordoned off factory spaces in Paya Lebar industrial park near the Singapore Post. These coupled with many more disappearing spaces in the various industrial parks. Not enough land? Then why remove these spaces? Perhaps not enough businesses what to operate here, as our government has “assisted†them to move to China and Malaysia due to the higher cost here. Again, how has this helped keep manufacturing jobs here? If the PAP claims that manufacturing is so important to Singapore, then they should have thought of the ramifications of creating high land rental cost in Singapore for industrial spaces. Is this how the PAP has been serving us?
Gerrymandering and the GRCs. It almost sounds like a 60s band. The PAP has constantly denied gerrymandering complaints. Please explain to me where is the Marine Parade sea view from Serangoon Central? How does the government decide which areas the GRC will represent? The boundaries have moved almost every single election since the GRCs have been created. The current Aljunied GRC was previously part of Marine Parade GRC. Whatever happened to one man one vote or proportional representation? Apparently the PAP had miscalculated, thinking that the opposition parties would never be able to field enough credible candidates after harassing the existing opposition members over the years. Now when the opposition is able to, they harp about how they might lose a Minister if the opposition wins. Well, the monster that the PAP created is now coming back to bite its creator. If the PAP loses GRCs and Ministers because they wanted to “serve†its citizen, they have only themselves to blame.
If these examples are how the PAP have been serving us, perhaps it would be better if they stopped serving us, and we can look for a better service provider.
During this election, all the PAP has been able to do is stoop to gutter politics by making personal attacks on individuals and opposition parties, while not being able to come out with any concrete solutions to solve any of the problems mentioned above. If they have claimed to offer workfare or other “schemesâ€, can they honestly tell us that these “schemes†have been working? Asking us to trust the PAPs “track record†is not reliable as the last five years has shown us how you have “served†us and “improved†our lives. Furthermore, even while Hsien Loong says he is sorry, the rest of the PAP members continue to stoop to lower levels by misrepresenting other opposition parties’ manifestos, and by making more personal attacks. Talk by PAP’s standard is cheap.
Using the PAPs analogy of driving a car, the PAP has been caught drunk driving from arrogance and complacency, and has crashed the car. From the damage done to the car, even the payment of the growth and share package is not enough for the insurance deductible. The PAP needs to be banned from driving or at least suspended for a while, while we find new drivers who can take us to where we need to go.
PAP your last 5 years are up, and your party has become irrelevant. Please stop “serving†us. We are fed up and should not have to take it anymore.
