SEPARATING FACT FROM FICTION...

No dearth of fake news these days. Really. And so even while the majority of Singaporeans celebrate with Mindef and the SG Government over the return of our Terrexes, alternative media All Singapore Stuff decided to make the FALSE CLAIM that Mindef and the PAP government had broken Hong Kong laws.

It is necessary for us to separate fact from fiction and to presen...t the truth.

Speaking to reporters, Hong Kong's Commissioner of Customs, Roy Tang said:

"We did not identify any information which points to the possibility of the Singapore government being involved in the breach of the licensing conditions.The Singapore government, from the very beginning, has not been the subject of the investigation."

Did Singaporeans rally together to show support for Mindef and the Government?

YES, Singaporeans did, with the EXCEPTION of All Singapore Stuff, a very small group of people and some opportunistic opposition politicians who seized the opportunity to whack the government in the hope of scoring political points.

Ref: http://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/singapore/hong-kong-says-singapore-not-part-of-probe-into-troop-carriers/3465758.html

Defence Minister Ng Eng Hen says a big 'thank you' to Singaporeans for their solidarity

Home! Where They Belong.

Happy Lunar New Year!

SINGLE PARTY or a 2- or multi-party system?

A one-party system gives Singapore its best shot at success, because it is a small country that needs to stay nimble, and move fast in a changing global environment : Education Minister (Higher Education and Skills) Ong Ye Kung.

Mr Ong stressed that the PAP must stay open-minded and grounded in reality, and have integrity beyond reproach....

He was speaking at the Institute of Policy Studies' annual Singapore Perspectives conference.

For a multi-party system to form, there must first be at least two sufficiently different paths for Singapore to take, and political views distinct enough for different parties to uphold, he said.

But Singapore is not big enough to have geographically separate towns which evolve drastically different views on national issues.

"A country's success is always idiosyncratic and can never be replicated wholesale by another.

"The formula for success is based on different political processes and ours happens to be a one-party system."

Mr Ong said the PAP needed to be as pluralistic a party as possible and must take in people with different views.

"This will lead to internal competition which will be a good thing.

"Today it exists, there are diverse views, the public doesn't see them, but perhaps we ought to formalise this over time."

Banyan Tree executive chairman Ho Kwon Ping, who spoke on the same topic said the PAP had the best chance of any long-term party to set a new record for staying in power, because of its "ability to self-correct and obsessively talk about problems" and find solutions to them.

Mr Ho thought the party was unlikely to decline with Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong around or even if he is no longer Prime Minister but is Minister Mentor or Emeritus Senior Minister.

"So long as he is around, the party's adherence to its core values will remain," said Mr Ho.

The Answer To Job Loss according to Lee Kuan Yew

On October 9, 1985 when Mr Lee Kuan Yew addressed the Joint Meeting of the United States Congress, he said:

“The answer to job losses is more, not less trade.

America can upgrade her declining low value-added industries or they will continue to decline whether America goes protectionist or not, just as the ancient agricultural societies of pre-industrial China and Japan, with their self-sufficient, subsistence economies based on buffalo power and manpower, had to change with the advent of the industrial age. Rapid and profound change is the kind of world Americans have created by their inventiveness.“

http://www.nas.gov.sg/archivesonline/data/pdfdoc/lky19851009.pdf

Ong Ye kung's Interview With SumikoTan

On the work culture of the cabinet:

Before Cabinet meetings, there are pre-Cabinet meetings where no civil servant is present. ...

Discussions are "very civil, polite, calm but very robust". New ministers present papers with "some trepidation because the senior ministers in their calm way will scrutinise the proposal, and if it's no good, it will be dismantled. But it's all very objective. Disagreements are not treated as an ego contest", he says.

"New ministers entering this kind of working culture know that while discussions are very robust, we are all in the same team. If there's any ambition, it is a collective ambition for Singapore."

Mr Ong, Mr Chan Chun Sing and Mr Tan Chuan Jin were at Raffles Junior College (RJC) at the same time.

On Chan Chun Sing:
"Ever since I've known Mr Chan in JC, he's been very humble and considerate, that's why I am not surprised at all that he is now very comfortable overseeing the People's Association and unions."

On Tan Chuan Jin:
They got to know each other at the London School of Economics (LSE). They played soccer on Sundays at Regent's Park and went backpacking in Egypt.

Mr Tan was commander of the Singapore Armed Forces' humanitarian aid task force in Meulaboh following the 2004 tsunami. "The experience - witnessing death, saving lives - has obviously shaped him as a person," he says of his old friend.

On Mr Heng Swee Keat:
They were both once in the Ministry of Trade and Industry (MTI).
"He was a very good boss and an economic czar," Mr Ong says.

On Lawrence Wong who succeeded him as principal private secretary to Mr Lee Hsien Loong:
He is very sharp, sound and insightful in his policy analysis.

On Ng Chee Meng
They got to know each other when they both sat on the board of Spring Singapore.
"He is what you would call a guy's guy. Someone you can trust your life with."

IF THERE'S something unique that Mr Ong brings to the Cabinet table, it is that he has tasted political defeat - and bounced back.

Up to his O levels, he studied in a Chinese environment, at Nanyang Primary and Maris Stella. His father, former Barisan Sosialis MP Ong Lian Teng, was Chinese-educated, as was his mother. But he opted to go to RJC, a largely English-educated world.

After A levels, he got a government scholarship and chose LSE although he had never been to Europe.

He had done well in various ministries before moving to the National Trades Union Congress (NTUC).

He stayed at NTUC for about a year, then left for Keppel Corporation where he was director of group strategy. In 2015, he stood and won in Sembawang GRC.

http://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/a-collective-ambition-for-spore

Foreign Policy: Singapore the Poisonous Shrimp

As the proverb goes: "Big fish eat small fish. Small fish eat shrimps."

From time memorial, that was the order of nature, said Mr Lee Kuan Yew in a speech in 1966 on big and small fishes in Asian waters. ...

But there are various types of shrimps, he also said. They develop defence mechanisms to stay alive. Some shrimps are poisonous. They sting. If you eat them, you will get digestive upsets. They are just not palatable and they are left alone.

And this was how Mr Lee defined Singapore's international strategy: that of a poisonous shrimp.

CO-EXISTING WITH BIG POWERS

A shrimp might be small but its poison could pose a threat to the big fish in international oceans, and so it will not be eaten by the big fish and can co-exist with them. And this is how small Singapore can co-exist with big powers.

It is a balancing strategy. And Singapore's geopolitical vulnerability has a lasting effect on its foreign policy.

Singapore's foreign policy is driven by PRAGMATISM, not ideology or doctrine. It's only lodestar for guidance is the security and prosperity of Singapore.

It begins with SELF-RELIANCE, the belief that the world does not owe us a living and we rely, first and foremost, on ourselves. This is why Singapore has never sought foreign aid from developed countries. This belief in self-reliance is what led to the 'poisonous shrimp' strategy - the ability to deter aggression.

Singapore's foreign policy is rooted in REALISM, the realism that as a small country, we have to take the world as it is and not as we would like it to be. This realism, however, is not a fatalistic attitude. Singapore is constantly seeking to change the status quo for the better.

Singapore supports the United States' continued presence in South-east Asia, but does not wish to see bad relations between China and the US.

Singapore believes that its own security is best served through various regional cooperation mechanisms among all stakeholders in the region including China, the US, Japan and the Republic of Korea.

WORLD AT INFLEXION POINT NOT SEEN SINCE COLD WAR

The world is at a turning point, with the fundamental rules of global order set to change on a scale not seen since the end of the Cold War, Defence Minister Ng Eng Hen said.

The Cold War, which ended more than 25 years ago, pitted communism against capitalism, a clash Dr Ng described as "one of the greatest conflicts of ideas in human history"....

Today, it is the rise of marginal political groups amid the shifting of longstanding international alliances.

He was speaking to students at the Yale-NUS Asia Pacific Model United Nations conference organised by Yale-NUS college's students.

What holds for their future is uncertain but there are three faultlines that will determine the outcome for the world in the coming decades..

These are: globalisation versus nationalism; global rules versus the regional order; and collective good governance versus individual rights.

"The tension at these faultlines, these competing themes, is under severe pressure. If the plates buckle, social and political tsunamis will be created and we will have to live with the changes."

People around the world are increasingly sceptical of globalisation.

Global trade has created wealth and brought down poverty levels for many countries. But some communities also see globalisation as the reason for the loss of jobs and rise in immigration.

Even the US, which is the "de-facto champion of globalisation", is not immune from such stress, he said, as whole manufacturing cities in the "Rust Belt" region that used to be industrial hubs have gone into decline while wages have remained stagnant.

While many studies show that countries that take in migrants reap overall benefits, "it's very hard to convince a worker who has lost his job of these benefits", he said.

These developments in part explain the British vote to leave the European Union and US President-Elect Donald Trump's victory, Dr Ng added.

Two, the global world order underpinned by the US as the leading superpower is under challenge.

With the rise of big countries such as China, India, and Indonesia, the global system governing trade and security may change in a multi-polar world, he said.

Three, the rise of populism, which will give greater attention to individual interests over the collective good.

This will cause domestic politics to become polarised, as political parties campaign on the interests of different groups, hoping to win the popular vote by slim margins or through coalitions.

The price would be an ever-shrinking common space, Dr Ng said.

Amid these changes, Singaporeans have to ask themselves several QUESTIONS, he added.

These are: How do we keep Singapore relevant and ensure good jobs here for Singaporeans? What roots us even as more opportunities increase for our younger generation overseas? How does a small state like us help shape the world we live in? What role can we play? How do we avoid the divisiveness that "populism" brings in its aftermath?

Responding to them will require the next generation to make wise and enlightened decisions that will help ensure Singapore's place in the 21st century, he added.

http://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/world-at-inflexion-point-not-seen-since-end-of-cold-war-says-ng-eng-hen?utm_campaign=Echobox&utm_medium=Social&utm_source=Facebook&xtor=CS1-10#link_time=1484305557

Terrex carriers and foreign policy

Avoid politicising this and avoid megaphone diplomacy, says Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan.

"I don't believe in... conducting affairs in a way which generates more heat than light."

"Let's give this incident every opportunity to resolve itself in, I hope, an appropriate and sensible way."...

He stressed that Singapore's relations with China and interactions with Hong Kong and Taiwan are "based strictly on our 'one China' policy". "We have consistently abided by this policy and the understandings reached when we established diplomatic relations with China in 1990. And we will continue to do so."

Singapore has been assured that the seizure of its military vehicles in Hong Kong will be handled through proper legal process.

It was a reality of realpolitik that big countries would sometimes pressure other countries to "act entirely in line with their own national interests", adding that Singapore has encountered such expectations from time to time.

"However, it is important for us to conduct our foreign policy as a sovereign, independent nation, and not be seen as acting at the behest of any other country," he said.

Dr Balakrishnan said Singapore's relationship with China is a longstanding, multifaceted and mutually beneficial one, and should not be seen as a "zero-sum game".

"We believe in interdependence characterised by open, inclusive regional architecture that promotes collaboration and win-win outcomes," he said.

The minister said Singapore has long been a firm believer that a strong China that is "deeply engaged with the rest of the world and economically integrated" would bring enormous benefits. Citing China's achievements such as lifting hundreds of millions out of poverty, he said these developments will bring opportunities but also "issues to resolve from time to time".

Goh Chok Tong: 40 years of service in Marine Parade

Soon after I was told that I would be fielded in Marine Parade, I made a quiet visit here to recce. I liked what I saw – a well-laid out, spacious, spanking new estate. Like Louis Armstrong, what a wonderful place, I thought to myself. 

When the 1976 GE was called, Dr Goh Keng Swee rang me up to check how I was coping. I told him that I had no Branch in Marine Parade.

He laughed but comforted me ...by telling me not to worry. Just put a table and a few chairs in the void deck, and people would step forward to help, he said.

True enough. When Fong Sip Chee who was fighting J B Jeyaretnam in Kampong Chai Chee learnt that my new Branch had no money, he donated $2,000 from his Branch. He also directed 3 or 4 of his Branch members who were living in Marine Parade to stay and help me. I have never forgotten his generous spirit of comradeship.

Several market stallholders also came forward to help – egg sellers, tau gay and tau kwa sellers, fishmongers and pork sellers. One of them, Lim Bak Hee, a fishmonger, stayed back to help in the Branch. I also remember Tan Beng Huat, a pork seller. I understand that he passed away some years back.

The people I named were only some of the many people who came forward to help me and make a difference to Marine Parade. To all of them, I say a big ‘thank you’.

- ESM Goh Chok Tong speaking on 40 years serving in Marine Parade (excerpt)

A Promise Kept

Fire ravaged a wet market in Jurong West on Oct 11 last year.

MP Ang Wei Neng promised stallholders a temporary market to be ready in time for Chinese New Year. 

“To some of the stallholders, Chinese New Year is a very important period ... The stallholders (were very) assured upon hearing they could start their business again,” he said.

The temporary market took six weeks to build.

On Jan 2, it was officially opened by DPM Tharman Shanmugaratnam.

"The building of the temporary market shows that when something unfortunate happens, we are able to come together to make things better in the future," said Mr Tharman, who was joined by fellow Jurong GRC MPs Desmond Lee and Ang Wei Neng.

The government will also build a permanent 2-storey complex for a permanent market.

The complex is expected to cost about S$6.2 million and will be fully funded by the Government. Construction is targeted to begin in mid-2017 and to be completed by the end of December 2018. It will be situated on the site of the previous wet market at Blk 493 which had to be torn down after extensive fire damage.