‘Leaders must be able to take criticism, acknowledge mistakes’: PM Lee

[stardawn]

Originally Posted by winsun

Talk so much cock for fuck? Scared of Tan Cheng Bock just say so

Yes I wonder why are they scared of Tan Cheng Bock ? Will there ever be a Reserved PM too ???

[nitecrawllerr]

TCB was an ex MIW. Hes no angel.

[KimJongAng]

Originally Posted by nitecrawllerr

TCB was an ex MIW. Hes no angel.

TCB confirm is not on the white side, otherwise MIW won't specifically choose a Malay EP to eliminate him

[skyleon]

I wonder why Bukit Batok got so many problems ??? 2nd water pipe burst . Really waste water .

[skyleon]

President Halimah Yacob to move out of Yishun HDB flat due to security 'challenges'

By Faris Mokhtar

Published: 5:09 PM, October 2, 2017

Updated: 6:46 PM, October 2, 2017



SINGAPORE – President Halimah Yacob will soon move out of the jumbo Yishun flat where she and her family have stayed for over two decades, due to challenges in ensuring her security and protection.

The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) said in a statement on Monday (Oct 2) that it had conducted an assessment after Madam Halimah expressed a wish to continue living in her family's Housing and Development Board (HDB) flat, which is made up of two adjacent four-room and five-room flats bought on the resale market.

But the security agencies found "several challenges" in ensuring the President's security in her current home, the ministry added without giving details.

"MHA has therefore strongly advised the President to consider moving to another place. This will enable the agencies to ensure her safety and security with greater assurance," said the MHA.

"President has accepted MHA’s security recommendation. She will make arrangements to move to a new place soon.”

The ministry gave no indication as to where Mdm Halimah and her family would move to, or when they might vacate their Yishun home.

She had expressed her desire, on several previous occasions, to continue living in her HDB flat, saying that “it is a very nice, comfortable place”. Mdm Halimah’s husband, Mr Mohamed Abdullah Alhabshee, a retired businessman, had described their flat “as huge as a penthouse”.

In a Facebook post on Monday evening, Mdm Halimah wrote: "Thank you for everyone's concern with regard to my residential arrangements. MHA has just issued a statement about the security challenges they face if I continue to stay in my current home. Therefore, as much as I would like to continue living in my current home in Yishun, I have accepted MHA's recommendation and will make arrangements to move to a new place soon."

Although, the Istana serves as the official presidential residence and office, no President since the late Yusof Ishak has resided there.



continue reading here : http://www.todayonline.com/singapore...ishun-hdb-flat

[skyleon]

Originally Posted by ravindrain

She'll move out sooner or later, just another wayang show put up by those bastards

You are spot on bro .

[skyleon]

Netizens take issue with PM Lee’s statement to remind Chinese Singaporeans to make minorities feel welcome

Published on 2017-10-02 by Neyla Zannia


In the reports by The Straits Times and The New Paper on Saturday, states that Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong reminds Singaporeans that founding prime minister Lee Kuan Yew once declared that "everybody will have a place in Singapore," stressing that Singapore is "not a Malay nation, not a Chinese nation, not an Indian nation".

His remarks on race were not just to reassure minorities, but also a sober reminder to the Chinese majority not to oppress the non-Chinese because they themselves had felt "squatted upon" when Singapore was in Malaysia.

PM Lee stated that Singapore's objection to Malaysia's leaders wanting one dominant race to enjoy special rights and its belief in multiracialism led to Separation. This was one of two reasons multiracialism was made the fundamental principle on which Singapore was founded.

The other thing that he said was bout survival as it is a majority-Chinese country in a Malay-majority part of South-east Asia. Being perceived as a "Third China" or a proxy for communist China would have caused problems with Singapore's neighbours, and "we would not have been able to live peacefully" in the region.

In the past 52 years, PM Lee said, Singaporeans have made significant progress in "becoming one people - regardless of race, language or religion".

Measures include designating English as the common working language, imposing ethnic quotas in HDB flats to ensure people of different races live together and creating group representation constituencies (GRCs) so there will always be minority MPs.

"Sometimes we think we have arrived, and that we can do away with these provisions and rules which feel like such a burden. In fact, it is the other way around. It is precisely because we have these provisions and rules that we have achieved racial and religious harmony," he said.

Still, Singapore has yet to arrive at the "ideal state of accepting people of a different race", PM Lee said, citing surveys that show people are not completely colour-blind.

He also stated that in day-to-day life, minorities also sometimes face discrimination when looking for jobs or places to rent and that the Chinese may not realise it, being the majority race, and "may think Singapore has 'arrived' as a multiracial society".

They, however, may get "small reminders from time to time" of racism when they go abroad, saying that if you go to America or Australia or somewhere in Europe, you may know what it feels like to be treated as a minority," PM Lee said, adding that younger Singaporeans, having known only peace and harmony in Singapore, may believe race does not matter any more.


continue reading here : https://www.theonlinecitizen.com/201...-feel-welcome/


I wonder why he still need to talk about race issues when the Presidential election is already over ?

[DTL2]

Originally Posted by skyleon

I wonder why he still need to talk about race issues when the Presidential election is already over ?

Could be he is guilty that he started the problem?

[nitecrawllerr]

Originally Posted by skyleon

I wonder why he still need to talk about race issues when the Presidential election is already over ?

So as to appease the 69.9% voters.

[skyleon]

Misleading impression on EP decision: Sylvia Lim


Published 6 hours ago


Govt should have made clear the counting of terms was policy, not legal, decision: WP MP


Charissa Yong


Workers' Party (WP) MP Sylvia Lim yesterday argued that the Government had misled people about its reasons for counting the five presidential terms of office needed to trigger a reserve election from President Wee Kim Wee.

The Government should have made clear that this was a policy decision and not a legal one, said Ms Lim (Aljunied GRC).

Instead, it gave the impression that the decision was based on advice given by the Attorney-General, she added.

Last month's presidential election was reserved for Malay candidates, as a result of counting the five terms from that of President Wee - who was appointed but became the first president to exercise the powers of the elected presidency (EP).

Ms Lim questioned the basis for the decision and how it was communicated to MPs and the public, in a 20-minute speech at the close of the day's Parliament sitting.

She quoted statements made by Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, Deputy Prime Minister Teo Chee Hean and others in previous parliamentary debates which she said gave this misleading impression.

PM Lee had said on Nov 8 last year: "We have taken the Attorney-General's advice. We will start counting from the first president who exercised the powers of the elected president, in other words, Dr Wee Kim Wee."

Based on AGC's advice?

Workers' Party MP Sylvia Lim arguing that the Government gave the misleading impression that its decision was based on legal advice:

"During that debate on Nov 8, the Prime Minister told the House the following... 'We have taken the Attorney-General's advice. We will start counting from the first president who exercised the powers of the elected president, in other words, Dr Wee Kim Wee...'

The clear impression given to members was that the Government's decision to count from President Wee was based on the Attorney-General's Chambers' advice.

That must have been why the PM sequenced sentences as he did, that having taken the AGC's advice, the Government was counting the five terms from President Wee.

The PM did not say that the Government intended to count from President Wee, and that the AGC had merely confirmed that it was acceptable to do so."

Ms Lim said the "clear impression given" was that the Government based its decision on the advice of the Attorney-General's Chambers (AGC). That must have been why PM Lee sequenced his sentences in that order, she added.

A day later on Nov 9, Mr Teo told her in Parliament: "On the reserved elections and how to count, I would like to confirm that this is indeed the AGC's advice and, if not and you do not think that it's correct, I think it's possible if you wish to challenge judicially."

Ms Lim said that "any reasonable person hearing those words would assume" the AGC had advised the Government, and that the AGC's advice involved a question of law.

"Why else would I be asked to challenge it judicially?" she asked.

But it later became clear the decision had been made independently of the legal advice, said Ms Lim.

She highlighted the legal arguments made by Deputy-Attorney General Hri Kumar Nair in court after former presidential candidate Tan Cheng Bock challenged the Government's decision to count from Dr Wee's term.

Mr Nair said during the hearing on June 29: "The PM never said that the Attorney-General advised PM to start the count from President Wee. What PM said is that the Attorney-General advised that what the Government was proposing to do was legitimate."

Ms Lim saw this as a contradiction. "The ministers kept consistently referring to the AGC's advice as the basis for the legislative changes. Yet the Deputy Attorney-General says in court that the advice is irrelevant," she said.

She added that the Government had engaged in "ambiguous language and red herrings".


continue reading here : http://www.straitstimes.com/singapor...ion-sylvia-lim


No disrespect to WP I would rather that you guys should spend more time on issues like mrt breakdowns and lift breakdowns and rising medical costs . Singapore need to vote more opposition members into parliament .

[skyleon]

Count for reserved Presidential Election was policy decision: Shanmugam

By Lianne Chia
@LianneChiaCNA



SINGAPORE: The call to start counting from Dr Wee Kim Wee's second term as President for the purpose of holding a reserved Presidential Election was a policy decision, Law and Home Affairs Minister K Shanmugam said in Parliament on Tuesday (Oct 3).

He made the point in response to an adjournment motion by Workers’ Party chair Sylvia Lim on the reserved Presidential Election. Following constitutional changes, an election will be reserved for a particular racial group if no one from that group has been president for five continuous terms.

In her motion, Ms Lim asked whether the choice of which President to count from was a legal question or policy decision.

She cited Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong's speech in a debate on Nov 8 last year when he said that the election held last month would be reserved for Malay candidates.

Mr Lee said then that the Government should legislate on when the racial provision for a reserved Presidential Election should kick in.

"We have taken the Attorney-General’s advice. We will start counting from the first President who exercised the powers of the Elected President, in other words, Dr Wee Kim Wee. That means we are now in the fifth term of the Elected Presidency," Ms Lim quoted Mr Lee as saying.

Ms Lim also recounted how replies by DPM Teo Chee Hean and Minister in the Prime Minister's Office Chan Chun Sing during Parliament debates gave her the impression that this was a legal question.

GOVT GAVE IMPRESSION THAT DECISION TO COUNT FROM DR WEE WAS ADVICE FROM AGC: SYLVIA LIM

"Did the Government merely use the AGC’s advice as a cover to avoid full Parliamentary debate on why the count was not starting from President Ong Teng Cheong?" Ms Lim probed.

Ms Lim said she realised it was “completely a Government decision” three months later in February, during the second reading of the Presidential Elections Amendment Bill.

“Here we were, debating a law that would practically re-write history, by deeming President Wee as the first elected president. Yet, instead of the Government using the opportunity to clarify the matter and any mis-impressions created, it chose, instead, to impute sinister intentions to me.”

Read more at http://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/...cision-9276324

[skyleon]

PAP nervous? PM, ESM, 2 DPMs & 2 other ministers have addressed Elected Presidency anger.

It culminated with PM Lee's closed-door speech being made public -- a week after it was given.

By Belmont Lay | 10 hours


You can tell when the PAP is nervous.

It is when they have to cart out the big guns to placate the masses.

So far, six of the ruling party’s heavyweight ministers have had to come out to address the groundswell of disgruntlement exhibited by Singaporeans palpably angry with the way the non-existent 2017 Presidential Election played out.


Six heavyweight ministers

In order of their appearance in the immediate lead-up to and after Sept. 14, 2017 when President Halimah Yacob was sworn in:

[Sept. 8, 2017] Law and home affairs minister K Shanmugam said at the Institute of Policy Studies forum a reserved election will preserve the unifying role of the president and it is one of the efforts by the government to actively promote racial harmony. [Source]

[Sept. 8, 2017] Minister in the Prime Minister’s Office Chan Chun Sing said at the same IPS forum that a reserved presidential election will cost the PAP votes but it is for the greater good of Singapore. [Source]

[Sept. 14, 2017] Emeritus Senior Minister Goh Chok Tong admonished Singaporeans to get behind President Halimah after her walkover victory, as she ironically became the divisive figure in the non-existent PE. The former prime minister said the process is controversial but the president is not. [Source]

[Sept. 20, 2017] Deputy Prime Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam said during a dialogue at the Nanyang Technological University that the strong reaction to the reserved presidential election is encouraging as people view race to not matter these days and it is good to have this aspiration, but it is not realistic — yet. [Source]

[Sept. 27, 2017] Deputy Prime Minister Teo Chee Hean said the elected presidency is part of many far-sighted moves put in place by the government and its justification will reveal itself in the future, apparently. [Source]

[Sept. 29, 2017] Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong addressed the elected presidency topic head-on for the first time and his comments were widely reported in the mainstream media. However, his take on the PE was actually made at a closed-door dialogue on Sept. 23, but only revealed publicly on Sept. 29, almost a week later — after the transcript of his comments was edited. This effectively gives him the last word on the issue that has divided a large swath of Singaporeans. [Source]

A hard sell?

Unless you were keeping count and paying close attention, the only odd thing you would have noticed is that the PAP government kept harping on this topic.

Taken individually, each minister’s message is piecemeal and not very effective or convincing in overriding the emotions the electorate have been displaying.

But taken together, the messages carry some weight due to it being repeated, but converge into a few usual talking points and well-worn arguments about race sensitivities and maintaining stability in Singapore.

The only two messages that managed to cut through the clutter were Chan’s and PM Lee’s.

Here’s why.

From policy to politics

Chan’s point at the IPS forum that the PAP stands to lose votes and inflict a political cost on itself, due to its role in the machinations of the reserved presidential election, strays from policy straight into politics.

Chan was the first among the ministers to highlight this political problem for the PAP.

To even acknowledge that the ruling party is actually cognisant of the fact that their actions are really pushing the buttons of the electorate is clever.

Well, clever within a forum context with an invited guest audience of academics and opinion leaders who can appreciate such macro trade-offs as necessary evils.

But post-forum and after the walkover election, Chan’s perspective invites counterarguments that are not as easily debunked.

For example: The ruling government can simply be seen as taking a calculated risk with whatever decisions they make in 2016 and 2017, because the next general election will only be due in 2021. And four years is a long time in politics.


continue reading here : https://mothership.sg/2017/10/pap-ne...sidency-anger/


The true fact is that the PAP so not want Tan Cheng Bock to become the next Singapore President . I will also wonder about the Singapore reserves .

[skyleon]

Readers comment that Minister Shanmugam’s response to Ms Sylvia Lim, suggest Government is above the law

Published on 2017-10-05 by Neyla Zannia


In a Channel News Asia report dated 4 October (Wednesday), it is reported that the Law and Home Affairs Minister K Shanmugam stressed in Parliament that the call to start counting from Dr Wee Kim Wee's second term as President for the purpose of holding a reserved Presidential Election was a policy decision.

Mr Shanmugam was responding to Aljunied GRC Ms Sylvia Lim who filed an Adjournment motion to ask the Prime Minister, Deputy Prime Minister Teo Chee Hean and Minister of Prime Minister Office, Chan Chun Sing if they misrepresented to the Parliament on the counting of the first President from which the Reserved Election was based on.

During the Parliament held on Monday, Ms Sylvia Lim asked, "Did the Prime Minister, Deputy Prime Minister Teo Chee Hean, and Minister Chan Chun Sing make misleading statement to the House that the question of which President to come from was illegal question? Did the Government all along make a policy itself to count from President Wee Kim Wee?"

"Did the Government merely use the AGC advise to avoid full Parliamentary debate on why the count was not starting from President Ong Teng Cheong?"she added.

Responding to the question, Mr Shanmugam said, "In a dialogue session held, after the Government released the White Paper, I was asked the following question. The most direct answer is actually the Government can decide."

The Minister then stated, "When we put on the Bill we say we wanted to start from this period. It is a policy decision. A Court of appeal has confirmed that it was for Parliamentary to decide."

"Ms Lim said she was present, she heard this judge asked that question, that was said, this was said. Why didn't you read the judgement? There is only one person in this House whom the Court have held to be misleading Parliament. And he is not from the PAP. Only one person, after evidence is held, Ms Lim knows whom the High Court held was misleading Parliament. So, I suppose, Ms Lim knows all about misleading Parliament," he ended.

Many netizens commented that Mr Shanmugam's statement would suggest to Singaporeans that he and the party are above the law.

Diu Lei wrote, "There you go, he is basically telling you they are above the law and they can do whatever they want whenever it serves their agenda."

Ken Chee wrote, "K Shanmugam is very right. Government can decide. They can even convert Indian to Malay. What else the government cannot decides. Sylvia Lim, if you are not careful, the government can decide to change you from female to male."

Hoe-leong Wong wrote, "What an arrogant guy- does he understand he works for the people of Singapore, not the reverse? The government did not decide, they changed the rules!"

Sakhti Alderwereid wrote, "He just shot himself in his foot by telling everyone that the law is in their pockets and they can manipulate it to their advantage just to get things done their way."

Conrad Li wrote, "Of course any government can do what it wants with absolute power. If race can be changed, what else cannot?"


continue reading here : https://www.theonlinecitizen.com/201...above-the-law/

This is all thanks to the 69.9% who voted for them .

[skyleon]

Parents and readers refute Minister Ng Chee Meng’s statement that there are “very few” incidents of school bullying

Published on 2017-10-05 by Neyla Zannia


In a Yahoo Singapore report dated 3 October (Tuesday), it is reported that Minister of Education (Schools) Ng Chee Meng has said in Parliament that Singapore students are generally well behaved and there have been “very few” incidents of bullying in schools.

The Minister was responding to a question from Non-Constituency MP Daniel Goh in Parliament on whether bullying is prevalent in schools and the preventive measures to deal with such incidents.

Mr Ng said, "Based on a student-perception survey conducted by OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development) in 2015, about 10 and 20 per cent of our 15-year-old students reported they had experienced some form of social and verbal bullying, respectively. Physical bullying was less prevalent, at about 5 per cent. This is quite similar to MOE’s findings and other local studies."

The Minister also stressed that the Ministry of Education (MOE) does not tolerate bullying in any form and when students misbehave or make mistakes, schools will discipline and educate them.

The comments by the minister came three weeks after a video was circulated online of a group of boys from St Hilda’s Secondary School who was fighting in a classroom while an adult looked on.

In the video, the boys were seen throwing punches and shouting obscenities at each other.

The Minister then stated that schools have put in place bullying prevention and intervention measures such as providing avenues for safe reporting of bullying cases, investigating and following up on reported cases.

He stressed that school personnel have been trained to counsel students who are involved in bullying as well as those affected by such incidents, adding that through counseling and education, students learn about relationship management, and values including empathy and respect for others.


continue reading here : https://www.theonlinecitizen.com/201...hool-bullying/

[stardawn]

What have we learned so far :

1) An Indian Muslim can become a President that is reserved for Malay.

2) Tan Cheng Bock is disqualified for running for the office of Singapore President .

3) Instead of an Elected President become a Selected President .

4) No Public Holiday on 23.09.17 due to walkover .

5) Singaporeans lose their right to vote in this round of Presidential Election due to walkover .

6) #NotMyPresident became popular online .

7) It is a Policy decision .