Mah Boh Tan said it again, govt will not serve opp wards
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If those idiots in power try to behave other wise, the more we must resist their discourse of trying to merge both party and state.Originally posted by walesa:It never ceases to amaze me when, despite the perpetual shananigans of reports like those cited here, imbeciles could still make a case for the state and the party being separate entities in dictatorships...
If you do not sound out that they are different and should stay different, you are equally guilty of allowing it to continue. -
There is now no line between the party and the government. It is so blurred that PA has jointly held a cyclethon with YoungPAP who later after the bad publicity over the police rejection of WP's anniversary Cyclethon had quietly withdrawn this cyclethon event from its website.Originally posted by LazerLordz:If those idiots in power try to behave other wise, the more we must resist their discourse of trying to merge both party and state.
If you do not sound out that they are different and should stay different, you are equally guilty of allowing it to continue. -
actually i'm not surprised they do that although its not right. the problem is he actually said it out right...........
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It is not right but he still said it. Why? Because the simpletons will believe the threat that they may be served last if they voted for opposition and lose upgrading etc so at the end it is politically right for him to said it even if he does not think it right to do so in order to win more simpletons' votes out of fear.Originally posted by hisoka:actually i'm not surprised they do that although its not right. the problem is he actually said it out right...........
It is clear that it is only politically right for him to drop such broad hint. -
Go over some of the more ancient threads in these forums...Originally posted by kramnave:where ? who ?
The primary irony therein lies the fact tyrants and despots function on the premise of merging the entities of the state and party and blur the line of division.Originally posted by LazerLordz:If those idiots in power try to behave other wise, the more we must resist their discourse of trying to merge both party and state.
If you do not sound out that they are different and should stay different, you are equally guilty of allowing it to continue.
The only thing more ironic than not realising the seemingly impossible separation of the state and the party in dictatorships is the blissful ignorance of the naive who actually believe the mindless propaganda they've been ceaselessly inundated with. -
It strange that you quote me saying that as it seems mighty unfamiliar to me
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In fact its lazerlordz...not meOriginally posted by LazerLordz:If those idiots in power try to behave other wise, the more we must resist their discourse of trying to merge both party and state.
If you do not sound out that they are different and should stay different, you are equally guilty of allowing it to continue. -
No matter what, there are always some people that love a pygmy horse.
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Edited the post.Originally posted by kramnave:In fact its lazerlordz...not me -
hey. got what. PAP giving out money but LKT say not enough
http://www.straitstimes.com/Free/Story/STIStory_174399.html -
Hey what a spectacular sight to see a pygmie horse running vigorously fast to try chasing the big horse.Originally posted by googoomuck:No matter what, there are always some people that love a pygmy horse. -
I agree with you Spartans. Unfortunately the bleedy PAP think that if you don't support them it means you are not a loyal citizen. Loyalty to country and loyalty to a political party is hardly synonomous. They have illusions of being God. We all know many of your policies have backfired. One very clear example for which all Singaporeans have to pay dearly is their elitist policy of "stop at 2, or 1 is even better if you not as highly educated as them!".Originally posted by Spartans:Seriously, they should separate the agendas of Government and PAP clearly.
Tax payers money belong to all Singaporeans while being in charge by the Government. It should be used to serve all Singaporeans, regardless of the wards.
This money does NOT belong to PAP. It is really wrong to say Government will not serve opp wards. Do residents in opp wards pay taxes? Yes they do! Then why are they deny their rights?
Once again, those 'elite' ministers must get it clear. Government is government, PAP is PAP.
The job of the government is to SERVE ALL SINGAPOREANS.
Yes, a government should serve all. The only way to win back opposition wards is to give service and not talk rot like the bleedy mahbok tan. Didn't the last election prove that? Even when they called in LKY and Goh CT to walk around the opposition wards, it didn't help them win back the wards. Even all their threats and promises didn't win back the wards. And the results in the PM's ward was also a revelation - here the arrogant PAP said the opposition was sending a "suicide" team to contest them. But what a dismal win for the PM! And it was really unfortunate that the PAP just narrowly won Aljunied!!! At the last election, many Singaporeans spoke up and said that those who live in opposition wards are Singaporeans and they pay taxes and they don't want them to be penalised When will our views count? We applaud those who live in opposition wards and have voted for good strong opposition candidates. We hope there are more of them as it is more than time to end this 1-party majority. Don't penalise those who live in opposition wards, REWARD them.
Yet they still don't learn their lesson! More and more, they are showing themselves to be self-serving with little regard for the man-in-the-street who has to struggle for his bread and butter. Now you see, when the taxi drivers suddenly take to touting, they say it is bad image for the country and call in the police to handle them. Why don't the labour minister and union chief step in and assist the poor taxi drivers. Diesel prices have gone up and yet Comfort has also increased the daily taxi rental charges. The taxi drivers are taking a lower wage unlike the bleedy ministers who gave themselves a bleedy inflated pay rise
Recently there was the case of the 3 bleedy english dickheads who bullied a poor elderly rickshaw driver. The press interviewed other drivers who say it is not uncommon! Why hasn't STB done something about this? Isn't this also affecting the image of Singapore? Or is it okay if locals are bullied but we cannot bully foreigners because it is not good PR??
Sorry for rambling ah, but always the topic of PAP make my blood boil! -
don't you guys think all this will change in say, 10 years?
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Sorry for rambling ah, but always the topic of PAP make my blood boil!
Don't get too agitated, bad for health. -
they are...
every gabrament in power will try to blur the line..
it is up to the people to ensure the line is not blurred...
have we lived up to this responsibility?Originally posted by walesa:It never ceases to amaze me when, despite the perpetual shananigans of reports like those cited here, imbeciles could still make a case for the state and the party being separate entities in dictatorships... -
Hanor.Originally posted by the Bear:something i would like to ask tho'
truthfully... if places were reversed, would those who stand in opposition now do exactly the same thing the MIW is doing?
i wonder because mostly, politicians are cut from the same rancid piece of cloth...
Next time should an opposition party win the elections, those former ministers will be asking the newly elected government why there is a need to pay million dollar salaries to ministers.
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Every citizen deserves to use the money from the country like money used to improve living environment.
We must respect democracy.
Sg money does not belong to one person.
Sg money belongs to all citizens.
this is merely simply basic right, in my humblest opine.
so basic that I feel ashamed to have to even remind. -
really wonder if opposition wards' building collaspe due to natural degrading factors and not yet to be upgraded as they are opposition
will they say due to the present system,is not their turn to be upgraded.
does anyone konws if the opposition qualifies for the new upgrading scheme?
don misinterpret my question,i am asking ,not accusing. -
WP chief rebuts Mah's remark on fund access
Straits Times Online, The (Singapore)
Nov 11, 2007
OPPOSITION MP Low Thia Khiang has disputed National Development Minister Mah Bow Tan's statement on a fund that can be used to improve estates in a constituency.
Mr Low, the MP for Hougang and the Workers' Party leader, said that while the funds have always been available, they were for potential People's Action Party (PAP) candidates and not elected opposition MPs.
He was referring to the Community Improvement Projects Committee (CIPC) funds, which Mr Mah said on Friday have always been there for opposition MPs to make use of.
'This is factually incorrect and misleading,' said Mr Low in a statement he issued over the weekend as chairman of Hougang's Town Council.
He cited two examples to support his charge.
In September 1995, the Hougang Town Council made an application to the Hougang Citizens Consultative Committee (CCC) for CIPC funding to install illuminated carpark direction signs.
'Contrary to Mr Mah's statement, the funds that were 'always there' were not made available to the town council, as no support was given for the town council's proposal by the adviser to the CCC,' said Mr Low.
'Instead, the CCC itself submitted an application to the HDB about two weeks later in October 1995 for a similar project.'
As a result, his town council's application to HDB, the landowner, was held in abeyance by the HDB, said Mr Low.
It was only in September 1997, after the CCC withdrew its application, that the HDB gave the town council the go-ahead for the signs, he said.
'No CIPC funds were given for the project.'
Read the full report in Monday's edition of The Straits Times.
Time to adopt a new direction for estate improvement fund
Straits Times, The (Singapore)
Home
November 7, 2007
Author: Peh Shing Huei
OVER the last 17 years, like a pebble in the shoe, Mr Chiam See Tong has found himself feeling routinely hobbled by the acronym CIPC.
While the prosaically named Community Improvement Projects Committee (CIPC) may not mean much to the average Singaporean, it has been a source of frustration for the veteran opposition MP.
Since 1990, when the CIPC was first formed, he has asked repeatedly in Parliament for a share of the funds which are used for minor improvement works in housing estates.
But the response, presented by different Ministers and Ministers of State for National Development, has always been that he can apply for it, through the Citizens Consultative Committee (CCC).
And when the CCC is inevitably helmed by a People's Action Party (PAP) man, it means that despite being the elected people's representative, Mr Chiam has had to suffer the humiliation of asking for the funds from the very men he defeated at the polls.
He has endured that, only to find himself in an even more demoralising situation of being rebuffed. From Mr Andy Gan to the present Mr Sitoh Yih Pin, Mr Chiam's requests for money to build amenities have always been rejected.
Now, in an unexpected development, as The Straits Times reported yesterday, the CIPC funds are close to reaching his hands after nearly two decades of exasperated appeals.
As the Government seeks to achieve barrier-free access for all public housing estates by 2011, it is finally willing to give Mr Chiam and the other opposition MP, Mr Low Thia Khiang, the funds to build ramps and handrails.
The Government has maintained that the decision does not mark a shift in position - the CIPC funds are still disbursed through the PAP's advisers to the CCC.
That is why in Potong Pasir, a joint committee has been set up with representatives from Mr Sitoh's CCC and Mr Chiam's town council.
In Hougang, Mr Low Thia Khiang has submitted a proposal to the PAP's Eric Low.
But the bottom line remains that the two sides are now working together and money will be given to the town councils eventually to do the upgrading works.
Why is the Government doing it?
National Development Minister Mah Bow Tan said that it is to meet the tight deadline of 2011.
There is no such arrangement for the much more desired Lift Upgrading Project (LUP), which is due for completion in only 2014.
The LUP promises lifts on every floor for almost all Housing Board blocks, but Hougang and Potong Pasir are at the end of the queue as they are opposition territory.
Nanyang Technological University Associate Professor Ho Khai Leong said the Government's move is likely to be driven by the administrative considerations of a pressing deadline and the need to spend the money in the Budget.
But he added that political motivations cannot be ruled out.
'The PAP is definitely not trying to enhance the legitimacy of the opposition MPs. They must hope that by pumping in the money, they would ultimately take back the two wards.'
Another pragmatic reading is that the PAP simply has no choice, but to work with the town councils on such a project.
If this reading is correct, then such collaboration is probably a one-off exercise or contingent on when it benefits the Government's agenda first and foremost.
If so, it would be a disappointing outcome.
The bipartisan tie-up has already attracted applause.
As a reader wrote on the Straits Times Online: 'The only good piece of news in the ST today! People elected into public office should always work for the common good of the average person on the street.
'Truly hope this will be the new direction Singapore politicians will take - after all they are elected to care for those who put them there in the first place.'
Another reader said that it was 'something really fair'.
The Government can, and should, distribute more of the CIPC funds to the opposition wards, whose MPs it has repeatedly described as responsible and credible.
Instead of channelling the funds through the CCC, why not through the town councils which are in charge of the estate anyway?
A step forward has finally been taken after 17 years. A few more paces in the same direction, minus the pebble in the shoe, would be even better.
[email protected]
Copyright, 2007, Singapore Press Holdings Limited -
$100k offered but Low wants $381k to improve Hougang
Straits Times, The (Singapore)
Home
November 7, 2007
Author: Peh Shing Huei
OPPOSITION MP Low Thia Khiang finds the $100,000 offer from his PAP opponent to improve Hougang for the elderly and handicapped 'grossly insufficient'.
He urged the Government to spend $381,000 - an estimate which his town council believes is necessary for building ramps and handrails in the ward's HDB estates.
'I am confident that this is affordable, as just a year ago during the General Election campaign, Senior Minister Goh Chok Tong had said that $100 million for upgrading Hougang constituency had been set aside,' he said.
The statement he issued came a day after The Straits Times reported that for the first time, Singapore's two opposition MPs and their PAP rivals are working together.
They are teaming up to create a barrier-free environment in Hougang and Potong Pasir, an upgrade that is part of a nation-wide project to make HDB estates elderly- and disabled-friendly by 2011.
In the 2006 elections, SM Goh had pledged $100 million to improve Hougang but only if the People Action Party's (PAP) candidate, Mr Eric Low, won the poll. But the PAP man lost to incumbent Low Thia Khiang, the Workers' Party (WP) leader.
Similarly, the PAP's man in Potong Pasir, Mr Sitoh Yih Pin, lost to incumbent Chiam See Tong of the Singapore Democratic Alliance.
Yesterday, Mr Sitoh told The Straits Times that a joint committee has been set up for the project, with representatives from his grassroots and Mr Chiam's town council.
In Hougang, Mr Low Thia Khiang said yesterday that a proposal from his town council was submitted to Mr Eric Low in July, and he has not heard from him since.
The WP leader added that contrary to what Mr Eric Low had said, he has not accepted the $100,000 offer from the Government.
Mr Eric Low was reported telling The Straits Times that he has funds of about $100,000 to build ramps and handrails in the ward.
But yesterday, he clarified that the sum was an estimate from him and it is Mr Low Thia Khiang's 'prerogative' to ask for more.
'The Minister for National Development will have to approve it. I'm just the supporter,' he said.
As the adviser to the Hougang grassroots, Mr Eric Low, and not Mr Low Thia Khiang, has access to the Community Improvement Projects Committee (CIPC) fund, which will be used for the barrier-free works.
The CIPC, which reports directly to the Minister for National Development, disburses funds for minor improvements to estates.
On the point that Hougang's town council had submitted a proposal, Mr Eric Low said he had not replied to it because he needed to go through the plans.
'Some of what he has submitted is for rebuilding, which is cyclical works. I won't support that,' he said, adding that he did not want to get into a slinging match with his opponent.
'This is for Hougang residents. I don't want to make it a political thing.'
Copyright, 2007, Singapore Press Holdings Limited
hypo.
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Double standards
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just now did anyone watch ch 8 news?
PM Lee was criticized WP r bunch of AWOL party becos some of their team members (refer to Ms Han) migrated to other countries n come back only for election. n urge us not to trust them.
wonder who is the pot calling kettle black? PM Lee's son AWOL from NS duty too. -
You can't teach an old dog new trick; You can't ask an old soldier to chance his habit.Originally posted by kongbaochicken:don't you guys think all this will change in say, 10 years?
Change WILL ONLY come if singaporeans want it - collectively. Together, Singaporeans must will for these changes.
We must not expect the politicians to serve our (greater) interests over theirs, can we?
It is in the hands of Singaporeans to tell arrogant politicians, like MBT, that a political party != state.
Only singaporean can tell our politicians that political matter is politic and national is matter is national. They are NOT the same thing. -
No surprises... mahbok tan always talk gila. It was a prophecy that's why his parents named him so! He doesn't know what he is talking. I ever emailed him about some housing matters and his reply to me was utterly useless. I got hold of a deputy director in HDB who within 24 hours solved my problem. mahbok earns too much money to be of any use to the common citizen!
During the last elections, the PAP broadcasted how funds for Potong Pasir were spent. We have yet to see how the funds in any PAP constituency were spent.
And what was the bull about the contest for Aljunied seat was so close only because the public felt sympathy for James Gomez? Oh well, if they need to lie to themselves .... -
THAT"S WHY I SAY WE NEED LOCAL GOVERNMENT ELECTIONS.
ALL TOWN COUNCILS SHOULD BE INDEPENDENTLY RUN AND GIVEN AUTHORITY TO ISSUE PARKING FINES.