Phillip Yeo
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What's the point of hating somebody without even understanding his actions? The fact that so many scholars have broken their contracts points to some defects in the top hierarchy of the system.Originally posted by bratpig:Ok lah..I know what u wanna say liao lah
I'm not part of the system...I dont care how those whiners work..I just wanna say that I hate whiners lah
Bottomline...i feel that those whiners should at least be grateful to whoever is sponsoring them for their education lor....
One thing I hate more than whiners....I hate whiners who are ungrateful -
Then, why not just forget about the whole thing of educating people with public money? It is true that the system is imperfect, and it is the failing of the system, something which the policymakers have failed to take it up in action.Originally posted by bratpig:Personally, it does not matter to me where you choose to make your stand or opinion. A whiner is still a whiner. Everybody should understand that a blog is no longer a personal diary that you can keep hide. It is hosted in public domain. You should go read those newspaper articles on bond-breakers first before you condemn Mr Yeo.
Mr Yeo has that one thing which those whiners do not have. He has passions in his work and company. Remember how much he contributed to EDB. Those whiners do not have passion. They only care about their own gains.
By the way, you have yet to answer me. Is it right to use other people's money for your education then go on and whine about how pathetic that person is? Is this how you want to see the society is degrading into? You like ingrates as your friends?
P.s. I admire Mr Yeo for his passion and character. These are what seperates the boys from the men.
And my opinion is based on the comments he made. It is not about bond-breakers. So please do not bring that into this argument, as they are 2 arguments (for now). These guys aint bond-breakers...yet. They are just pointing out the inadequacies and the failings of the system which they are going through currently.
Passion and character is one thing. Shooting off the cuff and labelling guys who go through NS who complains as whiners ain't. He has gone through it...has he?
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I'd agree. Honest opinions in this world ain't well-received, esp when it opens up the flaws of a system inherent to the larger community of ppl, i.e. the society. Those who aim to shut such honest opinions up are the real whiners, as they do not admit the system's inadequacies and failings. Such people are losers and as such, will never progress.Originally posted by I-like-flings(m):whiner in some eyes maybe honest ppl on other's eyes...some ppl just cannot admit that they choose the wrong ppl in the first place..then start calling other ppl names....well to mi that is the real whiners.... lost liao come kpkb
be a man..... admit that is something wrong with the system and change it ... same things goes with the "stop at 2 story", china suzhou development, tv station merger and de merger and the list goes on..
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It's been recorded by historians that the longer a despot sat in power the more he was likely to become detached from the ordinary citizens and ground realities..... and
... the old dictator would, in his sunset years, usually rely on few old faithfuls for their views, be it political or economics.
I believe this Yeo fellow is a good example of a few good men.
The other thing is - try asking about the cost of living to the old dictator. He will not hear a word of it. In fact, so far, I did not hear him tell his merry good men, publicly, to tackle our high cost of living.
And I wonder why the entire cabinet have not spoken at length on this taboo subject too ??? -
His underline is....as long as we make money, who cares a sh|t about the rest?Originally posted by miong:It's been recorded by historians that the longer a despot sat in power the more he was likely to become detached from the ordinary citizens and ground realities..... and
... the old dictator would, in his sunset years, usually rely on few old faithfuls for their views, be it political or economics.
I believe this Yeo fellow is a good example of a few good men.
The other thing is - try asking about the cost of living to the old dictator. He will not hear a word of it. In fact, so far, I did not hear him tell his merry good men, publicly, to tackle our high cost of living.
And I wonder why the entire cabinet have not spoken at length on this taboo subject too ??? -
cannot like that say.. wait tio sue ar...Originally posted by deathscythe99:His underline is....as long as we make money, who cares a sh|t about the rest?
must say..
as long as we are the talent and the elected one, we should be well paid(if not i accept kopi money not my fault hor), and the cost of living is not an issue here as I am paying for the increases due to inflation and change of times.. i am not complain about the expensive 60" plasma tv i just bought ....so the rest of the ppl are the whiner and quiters so dun bother about those loser, they can jolly well leave the country if they want (but i seriously doubt they her haha served them right) we got all the foreign talent we need to keep this country going(and continued paying us big money while we play golf).... -
Thought you were talking about scholars breaking bonds and whining then u complain Mr Yeo whining what? Isn't this more appropriate than bringing up NS?Originally posted by deathscythe99:Then, why not just forget about the whole thing of educating people with public money? It is true that the system is imperfect, and it is the failing of the system, something which the policymakers have failed to take it up in action.
And my opinion is based on the comments he made. It is not about bond-breakers. So please do not bring that into this argument, as they are 2 arguments (for now). These guys aint bond-breakers...yet. They are just pointing out the inadequacies and the failings of the system which they are going through currently.
Passion and character is one thing. Shooting off the cuff and labelling guys who go through NS who complains as whiners ain't. He has gone through it...has he?
Mr Yeo's comments came about AFTER those bond-breakers gave interviews in National papers to whine about the org sponsoring them for their studies. You did read this article didnt you?
Now you wanna bring in the system too? Personally, I do not agree with the system. Is that ok with u all?
I just feel that you all should not just shoot off your mouth and condemn Mr Yeo just because he blasted sg male. I'll have to agree with him that some guys are like that. Do not let your ego cloud your judgement. As long as you know that you are not one of them, it is more than enough.
Mr Yeo is one guy that you should respect.
P.s. I do not know him personally. But, go read up on the things he achieved with EDB -
But who is he to blast ALL sg men just because of a few bad eggs? You don't write off an entire community simply because a handful of them treated you bad.Originally posted by bratpig:Thought you were talking about scholars breaking bonds and whining then u complain Mr Yeo whining what? Isn't this more appropriate than bringing up NS?
Mr Yeo's comments came about AFTER those bond-breakers gave interviews in National papers to whine about the org sponsoring them for their studies. You did read this article didnt you?
Now you wanna bring in the system too? Personally, I do not agree with the system. Is that ok with u all?
I just feel that you all should not just shoot off your mouth and condemn Mr Yeo just because he blasted sg male. I'll have to agree with him that some guys are like that. Do not let your ego cloud your judgement. As long as you know that you are not one of them, it is more than enough.
Mr Yeo is one guy that you should respect.
P.s. I do not know him personally. But, go read up on the things he achieved with EDB
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He is very passionate about the things he does. Maybe he got carried away. But IF you all know that you are not sich persons. Why bother? Unless there are people feeling that wayOriginally posted by iveco:But who is he to blast ALL sg men just because of a few bad eggs? You don't write off an entire community simply because a handful of them treated you bad. -
Seriously speaking, I think he's just narrow-minded...thats allOriginally posted by bratpig:Thought you were talking about scholars breaking bonds and whining then u complain Mr Yeo whining what? Isn't this more appropriate than bringing up NS?
Mr Yeo's comments came about AFTER those bond-breakers gave interviews in National papers to whine about the org sponsoring them for their studies. You did read this article didnt you?
Now you wanna bring in the system too? Personally, I do not agree with the system. Is that ok with u all?
I just feel that you all should not just shoot off your mouth and condemn Mr Yeo just because he blasted sg male. I'll have to agree with him that some guys are like that. Do not let your ego cloud your judgement. As long as you know that you are not one of them, it is more than enough.
Mr Yeo is one guy that you should respect.
P.s. I do not know him personally. But, go read up on the things he achieved with EDB
Whatever he has achieved is secondary when you put his personality into perspective
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Wrong. It's disgusting to hear him blasting off in a shot of all Singaporean males. Come on! He's also one of us (a male) right?! And he's saying himself, shooting himself in the foot.Originally posted by bratpig:He is very passionate about the things he does. Maybe he got carried away. But IF you all know that you are not sich persons. Why bother? Unless there are people feeling that way
It's outrageous, and seriously, a little unbecoming of the head of one of the main non-government bodies (or maybe...partial) in Singapore -
We do not know him well to comment on his personality lehOriginally posted by deathscythe99:Seriously speaking, I think he's just narrow-minded...thats all
Whatever he has achieved is secondary when you put his personality into perspective -
1)
My friend hit the spot when he said that Mr Yeo is just looking for people who are willing to passively and blindly follow what he says and instructs them to do. It seems to fit the picture, guys who went through NS would have gone through the rubbish and get 'trained' to stand up for themselves when they get bullied and not take any nonsense. In this sense, perhaps a bigger portion of ladies when it comes to dealing with bosses, tend to be more passive. Guys who DO follow him blindly and not make any resistance... those are the real whimps. Also, didn't he himself threaten to sue someone 'defaming' him in blogs and more recently about scholars who break bonds and how singapore boys are whiny etc?
WHO is the whiner now?
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Regarding what someone said in page 1 about the female scholar having intellect and looks, so what? She needs wisdom as well as MORAL, KEY aspects of a person imo. -
Even if that idiot Chng woman did well in school, that is not evidence of actual intelligence per se, just exam smarts. Indeed, the sheer stupidity of her remarks demonstrates that there is not necessarily any correlation at all between academic performance and intelligence.
And I agree - Phillip Yeo's whining about Singaporean men, and all the other independent-minded people who actually have the guts to challenge his policies (shock, horror!), marks him out as the real whiner.
In any event, I think those two clueless nitwits' comments about NS conclusively demonstrate that our sacrifice of 2-2.5 prime years of our lives is not appreciated at all. On the contrary, they even spit on us in contempt for our service to the nation.
There is only one course open to us - make sure our sons are spared this abominable treatment. Get your families out of Singapore before the government can get its filthy claws on your sons.
With this government and its cronies in power, Singapore will not last long, anyway. May as well start looking for greener pastures elsewhere ASAP. -
Article by former Straits Times editor.
Philip Yeo
Passionate, volatile
His harsh, verbal lashing and legal threat will not help PM Lee Hsien Loong. By Seah Chiang Nee
May 15, 2005
In a way reminiscent of Mr. Lee Kuan Yew in another era, blunt, controversial civil servant Philip Yeo has hit the headlines again, but for the wrong reasons.
At a time when the government is projecting Singapore as an inclusive, tolerant society, the powerful bureaucrat cracked down on a student critic, threatening to sue him for defamation.
The University of Illinois student, Chen Jiahao, was accused of damaging the reputation of a government agency, A-Star (that Yeo led), in his personal website.
The threat was withdrawn only after Chen shut the website down and apologised for the second time for his comments.
This was followed by a newspaper interview in which Yeo launched an attack on male government scholars, describing them as "whiny and immature".
These actions stirred anger within the Internet community to an extent rarely seen in the past decade. Many men read it as a personal attack on them.
Yeo is a pillar of Singapore's biomedical industry. He's also chairman of A-Star, whose task is to nurture research talent by offering scholarships to A-grade Singaporean and foreign students to study in some of the world's best universities.
The students are then required to work for the government for six years. Keenly sought by global MNCs, however, many have been wriggling out of their bonds. Chen is one of them.
Bond-breakers anger Yeo in a way that surprised some members of the ruling party. He calls them ungrateful and disloyal and had in the past publicly shamed them.
To put it into perspective, privileged youths reneging on their scholarship promises are not popular with the public and Yeo is generally supported for insisting that they pay back their dues to society.
"The scholarship money is from my research institutes. This is not your Ah Kong's (grandfather's) money. So you jolly well make sure you study hard and excel," he said.
But the way Yeo is lashing out is widely criticised. Many believe it could have been done with greater finesse.
One critic said, "It is like using a machinegun to get a mosquito in a room full of people."
Yeo observed that all government scholars who broke their bonds since 1990 had been Singapore males, and they also made up most of the web critics against the programme.
"I have no bond-breakers among the girls, no bond-breakers among foreign students.
"Maybe I should give more scholarships to non-Singaporeans who are bright, eager and hungry, and then help them get Singapore passports. The rest, I give to the A-level girls at 19 years old," he said.
"I don't want whining Singapore boys. They are not mature even though they have done national service and are over 22 years old when they take up undergraduate studies. They give me so much trouble and waste our precious time."
People who know the high-achieving bureaucrat are not surprised by the outburst.
Twenty years ago, the whole thing would have passed as just another government scolding, but times and politics have changed.
This episode is particularly damaging for Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, who took over the leadership only last August.
He is trying to convince Singaporeans - and the world - that his is not a punitive, draconian government.
He is preparing to test his popularity in his first general election as prime minister and can do without this unnecessary heat.
Besides, he had just encouraged young Singaporeans in a TV forum to speak up and play an active role in nation building.
Yeo has strengthened local critics' contention that society remains fundamentally as it was in the "harsh old days".
So far the government, ministers and backbenchers have kept quiet, probably gauging ground reaction to determine whether any damage control is needed.
However, Yeo has his admirers, including Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew.
He is regarded as a rare breed of civil servants with vision and the ability to get things done. Some Singaporeans lament that he will not be easily replaceable.
A promotion report prepared by The Washington Times Advertisement Department on behalf of A-Star said in part: "Philip Yeo exhibits all the intelligence of an Albert Einstein and boundless energy and enthusiasm of American exercise guru Richard Simmons. He is a man on a mission."
However, his "arrogance" has gained him many detractors who say his type is becoming irrelevant and negative for the New Singapore.
One sympathetic web message sums it up, "We're dammed if he stays, and we're double-dammed if he goes."
Yeo doesn't take kindly to criticism, frequently blasting away at his critics. "You can call me names," he said last week. "I don't care. Just don't criticise my work ... I will bomb you flat."
His quick temper has resulted in unnecessary flare-ups, even with government backbenchers and a newspaper editor.
In an encounter in 1998, he called on (then) People's Action Party MP Chng Hee Kok to resign when the latter disagreed with his stand that government scholars had a moral obligation to serve the nation.
The repercussion - a civil servant telling an elected representative of the people to resign - ended up in Parliament and resulted in an admonition. Both men later made up.
A-Star's defamation threat has raised several questions. Firstly, how effective is the use of the court as a means of controlling criticism of the government or civil servants?
The agency explained its move was to clear its good name, but even after the conflict was declared over, Singaporeans still have no idea what precisely Chen had said that was defamatory.
It declined to say and Chen said he did not know. It is partly due to this lack of transparency that has swung public sympathy to the student.
One source said it was over remarks made by a third person attached to one of his blogs.
It also raises the question whether the scholarship programme - and the concept of bonding someone to a job for years - can serve a globalising Singapore that thrives on ideas.
Deputy Prime Minister Dr Tony Tan once suggested getting rid of it and replacing it with a student loan plan in which graduates repay the government after they've started working.
Hsien Loong quickly slapped it down. That was years ago. The scholarship scheme may eventually go - or be drastically changed.
(An expanded version of an article first published in The Sunday Star) -
sorry.
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This is the last one, sorry fellas.
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Oh please, the govt shouldn't be the one running the economy lock, stock and barrel. EDB earns a lot of shat because of the fact that it bullies foreign companies to include it in any financial/ co-operation deal with any local company. EDB is there for the money and the money which they earn will be given to either Temasek Holdings(Ho Ching)- which is controlled by the Finance Minister(Lee Hsien Loong himself)- or the GiC which is headed by Lee Kuan Yew.Originally posted by bratpig:P.s. I do not know him personally. But, go read up on the things he achieved with EDB
Have you really seen any overseas govt, using their economic national boards, barraging in on any financial deal that ties two companies from two different countries- apart from security issues perhaps or for monopolistic purposes?
Of course, China does. But what I'm referring to are those countries who really practice free market economies and a truly free private sector. EDB is a national economic committee, part of the red tape created by the PAP to get more money- which they don't seem to lack at all.
So again, what did he achieved with EDB? Besides sucking more of the money up that should have belonged to the employees who worked because of the deals? -
without EDB getting more foreign investment, you would most prob be sweeping the floor and eating shat nowOriginally posted by timothytsgsg:Oh please, the govt shouldn't be the one running the economy lock, stock and barrel. EDB earns a lot of shat because of the fact that it bullies foreign companies to include it in any financial/ co-operation deal with any local company. EDB is there for the money and the money which they earn will be given to either Temasek Holdings(Ho Ching)- which is controlled by the Finance Minister(Lee Hsien Loong himself)- or the GiC which is headed by Lee Kuan Yew.
Have you really seen any overseas govt, using their economic national boards, barraging in on any financial deal that ties two companies from two different countries- apart from security issues perhaps or for monopolistic purposes?
Of course, China does. But what I'm referring to are those countries who really practice free market economies and a truly free private sector. EDB is a national economic committee, part of the red tape created by the PAP to get more money- which they don't seem to lack at all.
So again, what did he achieved with EDB? Besides sucking more of the money up that should have belonged to the employees who worked because of the deals? -
Free market economy?
Boy ah, grow up lah. No countries ever really practise free trade. Even country like your US of A is trying to bully China by imposing textile import quota on the latter
Talk is cheap. If your were the one promoting SG to foreign investors, I seriously think you would fail miserably
Don't think you are great when you have yet to achieve anything worth mentioning in life -
Australia and UK have a freer market than Singapore. SingTel is allowed full control of Optus, while ComfortDelgro owns all of Metroline.Originally posted by bratpig:Free market economy?
Boy ah, grow up lah. No countries ever really practise free trade. Even country like your US of A is trying to bully China by imposing textile import quota on the latter
Talk is cheap. If your were the one promoting SG to foreign investors, I seriously think you would fail miserably
Don't think you are great when you have yet to achieve anything worth mentioning in life
In Singapore, Connex will NEVER have the chance to own SMRT and shake things up even if there is an urgent need because of the restrictions of foreign ownership of communications assets. Even privately-owned banks (the only enterprise where the government has little shareholdings) can't have foreign dominance. -
try countries like malaysia...if u all wanna compare, i would think that it is only fair to compare the good and the bad...seriously i think you all should learn to love and appreciate your own country more...we have already have it good here as compared to life in most other countries
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At least Malaysia allowed Temasek Holdings a stake in one of its major banks.Originally posted by bratpig:try countries like malaysia...if u all wanna compare, i would think that it is only fair to compare the good and the bad...seriously i think you all should learn to love and appreciate your own country more...we have already have it good here as compared to life in most other countries -
Originally posted by timothytsgsg:
this i have to speak up for philip yeo thou...
It's not about one damn single issue, it's a whole lot of issues by itself. I hv said it time & time again, if the system was so good, then why are there such discussions about the A*Star system now?
If people have had complaint in their various blogs about the way the system is, then obviously there's something wrong somewhere and it means that not only one person is responsible for it.
And again, the way some "I love kissing the PAP's ass" A*Star scholars, like the US based racist scholar and that Chng woman responded only shows how idiotic our system has become.
In this respect, the selection system has become completely flawed, the person and people who implemented the system(and whose head is Yeo himself) is similarly flawed and a smart aleck as well, and also the people whom were selected are people who [b]absolutely do not deserve these awards- based on their character, the way they preceive things and current issues, their maturity, their leadership and the way they conduct themselves.
The system needs reform as I said, from top to bottom, from left to right. And the people who implemented the system, both Yeo and the PAP needs to be sacked for total incomptency. And those scholars who take their awards as their god given rights to education, needs not only to wake up but needs to be given a total violent shot(such as sacking them from their scholarships) so as to remind them that they are not divine gods just because of their rich backgrounds and the As that they have had. [/b]
in my understanding.. b4 the days of phlip yeo and astar...
things were so much worse...
the seggregated uni-linked institute were known to be
a place to 'idle' and a tax payers money wasters in the industry..
eg CWC, DSI, etc...
i myself is in the R&D industry and have heard alot of bad things
abt them then....and wud definitely not want to join any of
them and spoil my resume....
but even now... i have frens in Astar who still say things
arent goin that well....but at least superficially to me...
via media astar did one thing rite: glamourising R&D field...
its one way to attract more people..