Many thanks for the response and valuable views posted up this day.
It is sad to see the knee-jerk attempts to always run down the Opposition irregardless of the person(s) who have been able to write a fine article on the true situation of Politics as it is found in Singapore today.
If one is to attend any of the indoor meetings of any Singapore Opposition Parties, one can see a new breed of young, intelligent, and well-qualified (educationally) persons taking to the floor.
Perhaps in these economic hard times, we have the opportunity to see the true color of the Government from the Ruling Political Party, and if they truly believe in what they preach to the Private Sectors - in holding on to the valuable workers instead of retrenchment, or will the Government Leaders actually follow hard-nosed business practices of cutting the losses of GLCÂ’s and resort to the ever easy option of retrenchment.
As matters stand, we have seen the inaction of the Government Leaders, who are the Leading Members of the Ruling Political Party, with symbiotic relations to the NTUC, all advocating the necessity for Singapore Airlines to act to “stop the bleeding of S$6 million a day”.
What about the private businesses and industries that also need to stop their own bleeding ?
What about the private individuals, and family nucleus, who are bleeding daily without any jobs after being retrenched ?
Who will be the mouth piece for these people ?
Can we get a fair representation from the very same leaders who defend the action of a GLC in retrenching their workers, instead of making alternatives in retraining and re-allocation – as they have advocated so “persuasively” to the multi-nationals when they were making decisions of their own in retrenchment in 2001 and 2002.
While the public display of emotions of the leading Opposition figures are to be lamented, I wonder if their display had as much to do with their own frustrations then with it being their true personality.
Even in the early public political life of LKY, he was not well received by major sectors of the local population, who viewed him as an arrogant Western educated Asian with a pompous superiority complex.
I am a little perplex as to how “Stevenson101” came to his view that “the speech by Tang Liang Hong regarding Chinese Christians, …. found…the reasons for the speech very questionable, and the topics he touched on dubious”.
There are many speeches that are made with good intent, but can easily be distorted by the listener who may have his own political or personal agenda to destroy the speaker - as had happened here, when the Ruling Party prefer to distort the speech made by Tang.
Tang Liang HongÂ’s speech was made at a gathering of Chinese Academics, and his speech was basically made with statistics taken from the Government Statistic Department, that confirm the preference of many in the different Singapore Communities in moving from their own ethnic religion towards Christianity; and with many leaders in Government service also being Christians.
The speech was made in 1994, in the Mandarin language, and not heard by the English speaking Singaporeans; while those who attended hardly mattered in Singapore Politics.
Yet this speech was dragged up as a political weapon to nail down the character of Tang Liang Hong as a Chinese Chauvinist.
One has to be careful to say that many in the Government service are from the Raffles Institution while many who are successful in Business are mostly from ACS; as one can easily be nailed as a Chauvinist in support of a Missionary School.
For a read of the speech by Tang Liang Hong, perhaps reading the speech from an independent interpretation made by someone not from Singapore will perhaps throw a different angle of view.
On religious harmony and the steady development of societySpeech by Mr Tang Liang Hong at Zeng Yi AssociationÂ’s National Day Dinner August 1994http://www.singapore-window.org/tlh0894.htm A translation of the document produced for translation in Serial No 2197 by a:
Wong An Ying
Certified Interpreter / Translator
Federal Court Malaysia
Kuala LumpurI am not sure if I can subscribe to your view that when LKY make his journey to "Pearly Gate", the Opposition Party can become stronger, or that the Ruling Party will disintegrate.
The Opposition Party is becoming stronger with every economic crisis that show up the weakness of the leaders from the Government / Ruling Party, in their own speeches.
There is a conflict of interests in the public policies of the Government, with that of themselves as "Directors" managing the GLCs.
It is like Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, depending on the circumstance of the situation, the true side will show.
Or should I refer to the more current characters of Bruce Banner and the Hulk ?