Chee the Clown has gone too far
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The Straits Times today reports that Chee the clown plans to hold a rally outside Istana to protest over worker's rights. In the report, he said that he would be applying for a permit to carry out his rally, but would continue anyway regardless whether a permit was issued or not.
In my own opinion, Chee has gone sickening too far. While it is okay to disagree with the government over issues, to do such a move without respect to the law of the land is another.
If he ever becomes the leader of Singapore, would laws be subjected by feelings per se?
Comments -
I've said it before but it bears repeating... I think the man's on PAP's payroll 'cos its really impossible to be so stupid unless someone has made it worth your while to try very hard
He is a disgrace to local politics.
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I never saw a wild thing
sorry for itself.
A small bird will drop frozen dead from a bough
without ever having felt sorry for itself.
D. H. Lawrence -
Can't we have a more capable and abled Opposition Leader? Or are the SDP a joke of local politics? I have not seen this Mr Chee do anything worth mentioning except getting into the headlines for all the wrong reasons.
I still think what he should do now is to butter his arse for a good 'humping' by the senior ministers in the court! -
Another publicity stunt, staged at the behest and sponsorship for his foreign puppeteers to satisfy
1) His own self-serving agenda ie. his unquenchable thirst for attention
2) the foreign interests who sponsor his antics, to satisfy THEIR agenda.
Small wonder Chee "Gimme my Queens Counsel or I'll start bawling" Soon Juan never gets elected, while other opposition memebers with less publicity but more substance do. -
He sulks about the disunited opposition, then when the other parties try to form a united front at the last election, he says no to joining them.Originally posted by Eyezer:Can't we have a more capable and abled Opposition Leader? Or are the SDP a joke of local politics? I have not seen this Mr Chee do anything worth mentioning except getting into the headlines for all the wrong reasons.
A professor who behaves like a loanshark during the elections, maybe he might get voted in in Taiwan, but this is Singapore Mr Chee, we expect a little civility from our politicians, which obviously is too much to ask from Mr Chee "369" Soon Juan -
You know what, just let the clown have his queen's counsel. Our AGC is more than able to give them a smackdown. The more the govt tries to push him down, the more 'attention' he gets..the sort that he wants anyway. As if he was some martyr fighting for us.
The problem with our government is that while they have totally legitimate reasons for taking action against Chee, their refusal to let him get his own lawyers just adds fuel to the fire that the govt 'has something to hide' which they don't. -
If this clown is so unhappy about things here, wisen up and suggest good alternatives...otherwise leave Singapore. There are countries that are willing to take him and his nonsense. Freedom and democracy figher my foot....Originally posted by No Frill:You know what, just let the clown have his queen's counsel. Our AGC is more than able to give them a smackdown. The more the govt tries to push him down, the more 'attention' he gets..the sort that he wants anyway. As if he was some martyr fighting for us.
The problem with our government is that while they have totally legitimate reasons for taking action against Chee, their refusal to let him get his own lawyers just adds fuel to the fire that the govt 'has something to hide' which they don't. -
Can someone just explain to me how someone like him leads a party? And works as a lecturer in our National Uni? Does that mean politics and a 'career' doesn't mix?And he happens to be a DR. as well? Anyone knows in what area?
I would prefer a politician to put more constructive ideas in to improve our society, and way of life and to stand up for the people, not entertaining us with all the 'acts'. We want actions and results, not a clown!! Are we gonna see people like that in SDP for the next 10 years? If so, might as well disband them....it's a disgrace to our country politics! -
He doesn't work in NUS any longer... got canned years ago for misappropriating taxi funds or something...
A PhD isn't THAT inaccessible... anybody who's got time and money can pursue one and being an academic doesn't always mean that you'll be good doing at what u teach...
Woodrow Wilson was a Professor of Governance at Princeton... but the best he could achieve in politics was to start something he couldn't finish... USA never joined the League of Nations or rectified the Versailles...
Not to suggest that Wilson is a good comparison for Chee but it does show that much more capable individuals have fallen short of achieving their goals despite their academic credentials, what more Chee the Clown?
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I never saw a wild thing
sorry for itself.
A small bird will drop frozen dead from a bough
without ever having felt sorry for itself.
D. H. Lawrence -
Pardon my ignorance on the issue but could someone explain the rise in GST to 5 %?
The Government annouced that the income tax rate will be cut but this announcement has no impact on the lower strata of our society who will be directly impacted by the GST hike. I understand that the restructured tax regime with its cut in taxes across the board is meant to increase Singapore competitiveness but this implies a cut in government revenues and they need to find way to make up for shortfalls in order to continue funding normal services is it not? If the GST tax hike is meant to compensate for the decrease in revenue, the middle and lower class will be the ones who bore the brunt of the impact. Having a nice national balance sheet is nice but when the lower strate is chaffing under increase financial strain is not right.
I am not an SDP supporter and I share similar sentiments about Chee Soo Juan. However, I do find the raise in GST inexplicable and perharps some one will enlighten me. -
As much as I don't like Chee as a politician myself, I have to point out that the opposition is barely functional and unreliable 'cos the PAP has made it so.
Think about it. Why does the opposition sux. because smart people who should be in it don't want to get involved, because PAP attracts all the smart people, because PAP has consistently and effectively weeded out all credible opposition voices.
So, don't just complain that the opposition sux and lacks credibility. think. why is this so and have WE actually brought this about through our apathy and our pessimism.
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I never saw a wild thing
sorry for itself.
A small bird will drop frozen dead from a bough
without ever having felt sorry for itself.
D. H. Lawrence -
Either that, "he" *in no way reffering to any particularly radical local politician*, is trying to tbe the "Anwar" of Singapore. Of course, we know what Anwar had to do to attain that "Martyrdom." Is "He" willing to go to that extent too?
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In my own opinion, Chee is a clown and i don't quite agree with his action most of the time. That's a 100% fact. But it's also a fact at least that he's one of us, a singaporean. Do you guys feel great putting down your own pple. Did he do great harms to you guys to earn such a verbal bombardment from you guys? Did he raise the Taxes and benefit from it to make life difficult for you pple during this crisis. I really don't understand. Why is there lack of transparency within the political system such that we the commoner don't even know what the government is up to or did behind our back? Since the government have total legitimate reasons for taking action against Chee, why did they refuse to let him get his own lawyers who offered their service in sympathy for a singaporean's predicament on the political stage that is notorious for it's unfairness. Scare to take up the challenge or lose out when the truth is being presented on the table? The government has anything to hide? Do you guys know for sure they don't when there's no transparency?
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Well, the government need lots of money to spent to simulate the economic as the biggest spender as explained by some, esp during this time when they had made so much loses in past thru their brilliant oversea investment that we do not know of OF COURSE. So much hidden loses to be incurred on us the pple. And still so much club house, golf field to be built to satisfy all the rich and influential pple, SAF officer etc. Lots of redundent stuffs needing lots of money from you pple. Of course need to raise GST eventhough more and more pple kena retrenched and out of jobs. When more pple are unemployed, they need to find others mean to extract more money while loosen their own burden thru income tax reduction but GST Hike.Originally posted by solaris:Pardon my ignorance on the issue but could someone explain the rise in GST to 5 %?
The Government annouced that the income tax rate will be cut but this announcement has no impact on the lower strata of our society who will be directly impacted by the GST hike. I understand that the restructured tax regime with its cut in taxes across the board is meant to increase Singapore competitiveness but this implies a cut in government revenues and they need to find way to make up for shortfalls in order to continue funding normal services is it not? If the GST tax hike is meant to compensate for the decrease in revenue, the middle and lower class will be the ones who bore the brunt of the impact. Having a nice national balance sheet is nice but when the lower strate is chaffing under increase financial strain is not right.
I am not an SDP supporter and I share similar sentiments about Chee Soo Juan. However, I do find the raise in GST inexplicable and perharps some one will enlighten me. -
Well, kyo23, why is it that you seem to be continuously against the idea of MP being paid a high salary and also about mindef willingless to take care of its men. If Govt don't pay a high salary, do you think anyone will want to take up the burden of running the country. It is the same analogy why CEOs are paid higher salary than factory workers. Both of them have different responsibilities. As for the club house for SAF officers, if I recall, there is only one for officers and one for WOSEs. THe rest of the SAFRA clubhouses are for NSMen to use. That shows that SAF does not just favour officers or any other higher ranked specialists. If you are still unhappy about it, do something to change it, set up your own political party and run for the next election. Until you can do that and do a better job than them, perhaps you should try to understand how difficult the job is for a MP.
Wonder why people keep on complaining about the 5% GST? Have they lived in Europe before?Let me tell you from my experience as well as my fellow british students while I was studying in UK, the tax there is a lot higher and it does not benefit the citizen or as what you think. Yes, you don't have to pay for medical consultation but you have to pay £6 for each prescribed medicine. People needed to wait at least 3 months before they get to see a specialist. The income tax is about 25% for annual income less than £33K and about 40% for anything more. Everything you buy is charged at a 17.5% VAT (GST equivalent). It is even worse in other european countries where the VAT can go as high as 25%. Why is that so, because the govt takes care of people who chose not to work and still get some allowance each month. Not to mention feeding those drug addicts.
Cars are cheap here, but not the cost of maintaining it. Petrol in UK is the most expensive. Imagine buying a normal CD and it costs £15. That is equivalent of paying S$40 for it. And a simple fish and chip cost £2.50 (S$7.50). So that's how expensive it is to live in UK.
So before anyone harped on 5% GST is unbearable, maybe they should take a look at how other countries are faring with their even higher tax.
[This message has been edited by cez (edited 27 April 2002).] -
Kyo23, there you go again with your baseless accusations. I take offence at 2 points that you made:
1) That we are victimising Chee
2) That the S'pore political / judicial system is unfair
on 1)
The point of this thread so far has been on Chee's incompetence qua opposition 'leader'. It has never been about him not being a Singaporean and not representing or reflecting our views. Of course he does to a certain extent, trust me when I say that his phrase 'the new poor' did indeed strike a chord with me. But being able to come up with a little catch phrase is different from substanting it and putting it into effective political gain. And it is on that point that Chee is being criticised here, inter alia, for his abhorant behaviour and his lack of civic mindedness, and his political clumsiness.
on 2), your allegation of the unfairness of the political system. You allude to the the system being slanted against opposition members here, so:
I hereby challenge you to prove it here substantially. I'm willing to put myself on the line here and rebut each and every one of your substantive (if you have any) points on why, where, how, when the political / judicial system has been unfair.
And when i mean substantial, I don't mean your own opinion of that 'your friends thought so to'
Prove it on points of law and on points of fact.
PROVE IT.
or retract your statement. -
In fact, as an additional point, I also take offence that you assert that the system is non-transparent. I find that highly offensive; myself being a person that operates in this system which you have just insulted.
So the challenge remains.
Prove it, and I'm sure I'm up to the challenge to refute your baseless allegations of my profession. -
Let me a non-Singaporean make take a view in this matter. Kyo23, there is no such thing as equality. Equality among people itself is a myth. The closest U can come to it is meritocracy which your government is or attempting to implement in your nation.Originally posted by No Frill:In fact, as an additional point, I also take offence that you assert that the system is non-transparent. I find that highly offensive; myself being a person that operates in this system which you have just insulted.
So the challenge remains.
Prove it, and I'm sure I'm up to the challenge to refute your baseless allegations of my profession.
Even in communist states, there is no such thing as equality among the people. If U were to pay a highly educated person whose responsibility is much greater than a lowly educated one, who in the right mind would want to work his ass out? Get real...there is no scuh thing as people working for free or for peanuts....U pay peanuts U get monkeys.
To get the top talent, U need to pay out the best salary. The government and MNCs are competing for the same brains. The only pull or push factor that would bring one to the other is the money involved or paid out.
And if U think 5% is alot....do go Australia and have a look. U can rest assure that taxes there are much worse.
And lastly, as for Chee, I do not wish to say anything since this is not my country and I have no wish to interfere. -
Kyo23....if you feel so strongly against things here, why don't you stand up and solve it? Lip-service amount to nothing.
Great harm you say? Much rubbish had come out from the tongue of his which seriously undermines his credibility as a Singaporean much less an opposition leader.
No transparency? If there is anyone to blame, the first to be so is yourself. Instead of ranting here, why don't you ask some one from the civil service or even better your MP? There is also the Straits Times forum for you to write to. If you had not done all these, then don't accuse the other party first. There is no initative on your part to ask in the first place.
[This message has been edited by Rudin (edited 27 April 2002).] -
Maybe kyo23 should take a leaf out of one of JFK famous phrase.
"Ask not what the country can do for you, but what you can do for the country." -
For someone like kyo23, I don't even dare to raise the suggestion that he be a proactive contributing member of society. No, for someone like him, I'm pegging the bar for him much much lower.
If he can't help out in S'pore's development, then the least he can do is to shut his defamatory mouth; which unless he can prove his statements of Singapore's lack of transparency.
Which I'm still waiting to hear from . -
Frankly, I don't think that there's much transparency here as well but of course, its futile to compare with someplace like America..
While I agree that administrative matters are undoubtedly dealt with in an impartial and fair manner, we have a long way to go when it comes to opening up the government to at least partial public scrutiny.
My main complaint here is that unlike many western countries (USA for instance, which has the F.O.I.A) which periodically de-classifies government documents for academic research and public access, such a practice is non-existent here because of the immense suspicion the government has of its own citizens.
Its too afraid of revealing the morbid details of its day to day dealings because it doubts if the public is mature enough to view such information objectively. And its too concerned with the ensuing fallout if the information revealed should contradict it's position or reveal more insidious details which are better left unsaid.
Comments anybody?
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I never saw a wild thing
sorry for itself.
A small bird will drop frozen dead from a bough
without ever having felt sorry for itself.
D. H. Lawrence -
Hi Cx,Originally posted by CX:Frankly, I don't think that there's much transparency here as well but of course, its futile to compare with someplace like America..
While I agree that administrative matters are undoubtedly dealt with in an impartial and fair manner, we have a long way to go when it comes to opening up the government to at least partial public scrutiny.
My main complaint here is that unlike many western countries (USA for instance, which has the F.O.I.A) which periodically de-classifies government documents for academic research and public access, such a practice is non-existent here because of the immense suspicion the government has of its own citizens.
Its too afraid of revealing the morbid details of its day to day dealings because it doubts if the public is mature enough to view such information objectively. And its too concerned with the ensuing fallout if the information revealed should contradict it's position or reveal more insidious details which are better left unsaid.
Comments anybody?
Such declassification usually happens after decades....our nation is hardly 50 years old -
Thank you Rudin,Originally posted by Rudin:Hi Cx,
Such declassification usually happens after decades....our nation is hardly 50 years old
But I think I know my histoy... In the USA, its 10 years. Here, there is no official policy of de-classifying documents at all. Its not how old a country is, but whether its committed to the principles of a civic and open society or not. -
Hmmm. I thought information can be made available in a "need to know" basis?