Yee Jenn Jong is upset with transparency for Workers' Party

The double standard is very pronounced.

WP calls for freedom of information and transparency and accountability but don't want these for themselves.

Isn't it precisely because Parliament does not sit until next year that the report of a matter as important as this should be posted on Parliament website? This is especially so when WP had given their side of the story at their press conference.

Where exactly does Yee Jenn Jong stand on this matter of integrity, seeing that he is so busy defending the leadership?

Indeed, what is the position of the other leaders in the party, the elected MPs in particular, now that all knew that their top leadership sat in Parliament with full knowledge of the lie and did nothing about it?

Do they agree with the actions of their leader which can be seen to be complicit in Raeesah's lies?

Yaw Shin Leong is sticking to his assertion that he was advised to stay silent

 

Yaw Shin Leong is sticking to his assertion that he was advised to stay silent.

"Whoever involved would know what happened. After staying silent for the past 10 years, I am not resurfacing this for any reason other than to put on record that accountability was done."

That's his response to WP's statement denying that they advised him to stay silent.

Yaw Shin Leong said he was advised by Low Thia Khiang and Sylvia Lim to stay silent.

If you keep covering up, the past will soon catch up with you.

Yaw Shin Leong (also known as Amos Rao) wrote:

Moments ago, an ex-WP cadre pointed to me the video recordings of Workers’ Party chief Pritam Singh’s press conference held on Dec 2, 2021. At the 9.35 mark, Pritam commented that:

‘Yaw Shin Leong did not account himself to the party after the allegations were made. I think he did not address the media, did not address the party. The party was willing to give him some space to get himself organized, but this just went on and it went on, to a point where it was unreasonable conduct and this was not acceptable. And so, the party took the decision to fire him, to sack him.”

The above is not true. Even before the allegations have surfaced, I accounted the situation candidly to WP Secretary General LTK. When the allegations surfaced, I immediately accounted to both WP Secretary General LTK and Chairman Sylvia Lim. And I was advised to stay silent.

I placed party first before self and to minimize the fallout, I kept silent and resigned from WP CEC. My intention was to give WP CEC a blank cheque to paint the narrative required. To facilitate the process, I travelled out of Singapore voluntarily.

On 14th Feb 2012, I was expelled from WP for 'breaking the faith, trust & expectations of the party and people'. I am okay with this narrative, but I am not okay with what Pritam said, for I did account myself.

I am not entertaining any media queries and will leave the above as it is.

https://www.facebook.com/100010303231730/posts/1585679971785429/

It is so easy to be the opposition in Singapore. Jamus just claims credit.

 

It is so easy to be the opposition in Singapore..

The Progressive Wage Model is the brainchild of Lim Swee Say and Tripartite partners have been working since 2012 to implement the models for the various sectors.

But who remembers Lim Swee Say or gives him credit for it?

The model, despite it making a big difference to workers, in fact came under criticism all because it is from the ruling party.

Then came Jamus from WP who declared that the model was along the lines that the WP has been fighting for. And for good measure, he added the 'make your vote count' tag to his post..And fans were delighted. "Ya, thank you, WP, well done, this is why we need more opposition".

And then we have PSP Leong Mun Wai taking credit for conversations that apparently were started by him. It's as though before LMW appeared on the scene, no one gave a dime about PMEs.. And of course fans cheered and went "Thank you Sir. This is why we need more opposition."

Hello, Mr Leong. These engagements or conversations started more than a year ago in August 2020. It didn't start because you made a speech in Parliament.

Rule of law and separation of powers: Shanmugam

The Workers' Party came to give a lecture on rule of law and separation of powers and this is what Law Minister Shanmugam said in his response.

Rule of law and separation of powers are fundamental to Singapore's success, and indeed, survival as well.

But it also takes courage and political will to deal with real problems instead of offering soaring rhetoric.

Leaders set the tone for the party and their supporters.

Leaders set the tone for the party and their supporters.

WP whipped up a xenophobic frenzy in 2011. This was despite the fact that back in 2010, then Finance Minister Tharman had already announced in his budget speech that the inflow of foreign workers would be tightened through a series of measures, beginning with the phased in gradual increase in levies over several years, and followed by reduced quota and etc.

The measures were phased in over several years to give businesses time to adjust and to automate. That didn't stop the WP from making political capital gain through xenophobia.

Indeed, when asked if they would ride on xenophobia for election campaigning, the answer Sylvia Lim gave was not 'no' but that they would not push it to the point where it become 'uncontrollable'. One must be a superwoman to think that there is a button where you can just pull the plug when you think xenophobia is reaching the point of being uncontrollable.

Hate is bred. It does not happen overnight. It is bred over time through constant efforts - on social media especially where many anti-establishment hate groups have sprouted up to spread their hate and extend their influence with falsehoods and misinformation, and many memes.

WP Pritam Singh responded to Minister Shanmugam's speech in Parliament saying that WP stands against racism, 'no ifs, no buts'.

Let's hope that he meant what he said and he said what he meant, and that the party, their proxies in the alternative, and their supporters will no
w move away from xenophobia and racism.

The Significant Infrastructure Government Loan Bill - also known as SINGA

The Significant Infrastructure Government Loan Bill - also known as SINGA - was passed in Parliament yesterday.

The Bill allows the Government to borrow for huge infrastructure investments while spreading repayment over generations of Singaporeans. This approach is fair as such infrastructure investments are enjoyed by generations of Singaporeans, so each pay for their share of the investments.

With Singapore's triple-A credit rating, Singapore is able to borrow at low interest rates while reinvesting our reserves for higher returns.

The triple-A credit rating is the result of fiscal prudence and sound fundamentals.

However, we have an opposition that wants to erode this sound financial position.

WP for example, wants more of NIRC (currently 50%) to be made available for recurrent spending. This means less to reinvest and therefore less returns to spend in the future.

Not only that, they want land proceeds to be used directly for spending. Selling assets to spend is the fastest way to deplete reserves.

And then there is PSP Leong Mun Wai which thinks we have huge reserves and there is thus no need for the government to borrow for large infrastructure investments.

Such calls for in no time, erode our fiscal position and therefore, fiscal rating as well.

Our fiscal rating is hard earned. There are very few countries left in the world that have a triple-A credit rating. It is a rating not to be taken for granted.

We hope that the opposition can be more responsible not only to present Singaporeans but also to the young and to future generations of Singaporeans.

WP Yee Jenn Jong politicising a simple act of helping a resident clean her cluttered flat

 

WP Yee Jenn Jong and his volunteers were helping a resident to clean up her dirty flat when they came upon this election flyer.

You can just imagine the feelings that went through them as they beheld the flyer. Election was some 9 months ago, and among the things hoarded by this resident is this flyer. LOL

Along with many bags of rubbish, Yee and his volunteers were more than glad to dispose of the flyer which appeared to become their focal point as Yee even saw fit to post a unique photo of it in a bag of trash.

A simple act of helping a resident clean a very dirty flat can also become politicised by WP.

Incoherent or inconsistent Workers' Party ?

WP MPs will each sing a different tune to a different audience and hope that in this way, they will be able to win votes from every quarter.

The end result is a broken tune except that you do not realise it because they are careful not to sing a disharmonious tune at the same time.

For example, when Faisal expressed his stand against LGBT, the rest of the party is strangely silent.

Similarly, when Raeesah expressed her support for LGBT, you think Faisal will speak?

What is WP's official position? Will the conductor of the song, namely the Leader of WP state their party's position and not take supporters for a ride?

Doesn't Gerald Giam know that Singapore does not intend to go completely cashless?

Not so long ago, in fact rather recently, Minister Ong Ye Kung said in Parliament that Singapore will NOT go completely cashless.

WP Gerald Giam proved that an opposition MP will not carry out the role of a grassroots adviser to explain to residents government policies such as not going completely cashless.

Am sorry that the auntie was almost in tears instead of being assured that Singapore will not go completely cashless.

Wearing of tudung - Not Faisal Manap's credit

SIX MONTHS AGO in August last year, Law and Home Affairs Minister Shanmugam met with Muslim religious leaders in a closed door dialogue and told them that the government was considering allowing nurses to wear the tudung at work.

At that time, he told them that the government was discussing the matter internally as it could see good reasons to make this change, he disclosed on Tuesday evening. He added that the Government would announce the outcome after consulting the community and other groups.

Discussion on the wearing of tudung has been an ongoing one held behind closed doors, not a recent conversation, But of course, we can expect the crowing from the opposition. No surprise.

WP is playing political games, and not interested in outcomes

WP is not interested in outcomes. They are only interested in playing a political game. The call for an INDEPENDENT budget office to examine government expenditures and outcomes is really to try to cast doubt on the government.

If WP is truly interested in outcomes, they would have poured over the interim report- which was widely reported in the media - to examine the measures achieved. But they haven't done so.

Watch DPM Heng Swee Keat's response to WP Pritam Singh's call for an independent budget office to examine outcomes.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=60H9XFtDsOw

WP should hold themselves to the same standard of scrutiny

WP wants an independent parliamentary budget office to scrutinise government expenditures.

But they do not hold themselves to the same scrutiny. Each time that they had called on the government to spend more, they had never provided any estimates on costs nor explained how the spending would be funded.

WP, politics of envy and CDCs

Workers' Party is about the politics of envy. They either cast doubts and make insinuations in Parliament or they indulge in the politics of envy to win political points.

They started with ministers' salaries and had to give that up when it turned out that the salary they recommended was even higher than that recommended by the salary review committee.

Then they tried to politicise the PA but the pandemic has shown the critical role played by PA in ensuring needs on the ground are met.

So they moved on to attempt to politicise the work of the CDCs and to engage once again in the politics of envy on the Mayors' salaries which Pritam Singh described as outrageous even though he has little idea what the mayors do in the CDCs.

If we were to follow Pritam Singh's tactic, then surely we can also ask if the salary of the Leader of the Opposition is outrageous? He is paid almost $400k a year just to make speeches in Parliament and he gets an office and paid assistants.

At least the mayors are working hard on the ground to engage many partners, build networks that enable them to be very nimble and able to respond very quickly to sudden needs on the ground, in addition to raising funds etc.

WP calls for an independent budget office to scrutinise government spending

 #overheard

I agree with Pritam.

The Government should establish Independent Parliamentary Office for Budget, Defence, Welfare, etc. manned by professionals and experts in each field.

Then we can cancel out all opposition parties especially WP. No need them anymore since the Independent Parliamentary Offices are doing the jobs that the Oppositions including WP have promised to do if elected i.e. check on the Government.

Problem solved! Yay!!!!!

Yup, folks. That's what it is.

WP is in Parliament to cast doubts, not to 'check and balance' the Government.

Pre-COVID time, they were also the ones pressurizing the Government to spend more from reserves.

Now, in a COVID crisis, and the Government allocating $24 billion over 3 years to help business and Singaporeans adapt to a post-COVID world, they suggest an independent Budget office to check on spending. What's there left for WP to do?

There is already an independent body to scrutinize spending in every ministry, statutory boards, public institutions and organisations. It's the AGO (Auditor-General's Office) which does its work without fear or favour and publishes an annual report of its audit of government ministries. That's how we hear of lapses and expect rectification from the concerned ministries.

Minimum wage will result in job losses. Period.

Minimum wage will result in job losses. Period.

A new paper published by the National Bureau of Economic Research finds that of all the available research on the subject they reviewed, there is a “clear preponderance” of findings that show a job-killing impact. The documentation of job losses is even more pronounced for teenagers, young adults, and the less-educated.

“[The] body of evidence and its conclusions point strongly toward negative effects of minimum wages on employment of less-skilled workers, especially for the types of studies that would be expected to reveal these negative employment effects most clearly,” economists David Neumark and Peter Shirley write.

𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞’𝐬 𝐍𝐨 𝐄𝐬𝐜𝐚𝐩𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐓𝐫𝐚𝐝𝐞-𝐎𝐟𝐟𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐌𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐦𝐮𝐦 𝐖𝐚𝐠𝐞

When the government mandates a price for labor—aka a minimum wage—that exceeds the market rate, employers will inevitably purchase less labor. It’s just like consumers would purchase less soda if the government arbitrarily mandated higher prices for it than what it’s actually worth to people. In fact, that’s the exact point of “soda taxes” passed in the name of public health; they reduce soda consumption. The same thing happens with labor.

The lucky workers who end up being able to keep their jobs may benefit from the artificially high wage, but many others will not find work at all.

The job losses that come with minimum wage hikes are a fundamental economic reality. This latest research offers yet another reminder that, no matter how much wish-casting progressives engage in, there’s no escaping trade-offs in public policy.

https://fee.org/articles/new-research-debunks-claim-that-a-15-minimum-wage-would-not-reduce-employment

𝐃𝐨𝐧'𝐭 𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐚𝐰𝐚𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐭 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐝𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐜𝐢𝐯𝐢𝐥 𝐬𝐞𝐫𝐯𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐠𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐧𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭.

𝐃𝐨𝐧'𝐭 𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐚𝐰𝐚𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐭 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐝𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐜𝐢𝐯𝐢𝐥 𝐬𝐞𝐫𝐯𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐠𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐧𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭.

It's interesting how TISG sought to give the impression that WP Pritam Singh was in discussion with Google about jobs opportunities for Singaporeans.

It is also interesting to note that in Pritam Singh's post, he omitted to mention that Skills Ignition SG was an initiative launched by government agencies in conjunction with Google.

The initiative was launched on July 20.

Read the papers, will ya, so you don't need to learn a few months later about this initiative.

Great that WP agrees that this is a great initiative that creates good jobs for Singaporeans.

Well done, EDB, IMDA, SkillsFuture SG and PAP. Thank you for 3000 good job opportunities.

WP opppose their own motion just because it was amended

So WP opposed the amendments to their motion even though the amendments essentially affirmed their own statements in Parliament.

What this means is that whatever WP proposes, it has to be adopted in totality. Any adjustment or change to their proposal is unacceptable to them. It has to be WP, 100%.

Thankfully, the Government does not work this way. The government will take into account feedback and suggestions, and make changes and adjustments to policies to make them more effective.

Who pays?

You've got to love Gerald Giam for caring. But who doesn't care? It is always easy to stand up and ask for support measures here, there, more support for everyone, local and foreigners.

But the other part of the equation, the unpleasant and unpopular part is: Who pays?

The Government? Where does the Government get their revenue for spending? Taxes of course.

So Workers' Party should do the math and tell how they proposed for these measures to be funded.

It's not enough to sound good. It's equally important to sound real.

For Workers' Party to be a credible party, they have to address the matter of funding.

On the one hand, they resist even a small GST hike to support an ageing population and spending on the young.

On the other hand, they call for increase assistances in many areas.

There is no money-printing machine.

Did Jamus even read his party's manifesto?

Nothing more than just letting the plain facts speak for themselves.

What's more interesting is that all along, it was in WP Manifesto 2020 that $1300 is minimum take-home pay.

The manifesto has disappeared from online for quite some time. But most people would already have a copy downloaded to read during the election period.

Question: Did Jamus read the Workers' Party manifesto?