SM Lee and the Alpa-S fiasco
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The recent SIA Alpa-S fiasco with SIA..
showed that he still have a lot of influence even in things like this.. what surprises me is his ability to obtain all the information.. Learning about Capt Ryan's Goh daughter not liking the school in Australia then coming back to Singapore..
where did he pull that one out from?
In a time like this, why is he the only voice around? Where is the other's? Noticeably GCT? Total news blackout from him.. Shouldn't this have just been something that should have been handled by MOM (or MOT). What does this show about these ministries? Even about the shadowing of GCT's politcal influence when he speaks.. -
SIA made up of the same acronyms as.. ISA??
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Or in Ah Ma words...SAI.Originally posted by the Bear:SIA made up of the same acronyms as.. ISA??
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When the 'almighty' is in power, he will use any and all means at his disposal (even if it means bending the law or abusing his position) to dig up anything that can be used as ammunition to discredit the concerned party.
That's the style of our ruiling party not just the senile minister. To protect a legacy, they will throw a smear campaign at anything they deem 'distruptive' to the nation, even a national carrier like SIA.
By now if it's not clear to you, there are no unions in singapore. None that have free will and free negotiation powers at least; and all with a tight leash to 'big brother'. -
Does it surprise you that Big Brother sees all, hears all in Singapore? Cos it doesn't surprise me one iota.Originally posted by Ecxentrique:The recent SIA Alpa-S fiasco with SIA..
showed that he still have a lot of influence even in things like this.. what surprises me is his ability to obtain all the information.. Learning about Capt Ryan's Goh daughter not liking the school in Australia then coming back to Singapore.. where did he pull that one out from?
In a time like this, why is he the only voice around? Where is the other's? Noticeably GCT? Total news blackout from him.. Shouldn't this have just been something that should have been handled by MOM (or MOT). What does this show about these ministries? Even about the shadowing of GCT's politcal influence when he speaks.. -
mi no comment lah.. coz u all said it all already lah.. sighz......sadsadsad way to live man....
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This thread is exactly what was stated in my reply posted in 'SIA Girl Letter' by Void Deck.
The attack at Capt Ryan Goh was an undisguised display of raw power, and if that is not Third World strong arm politics at play, by someone who boast of arriving at the First World, what other proof do we need that this idea of Singapore arriving into First World is nothing more then a "BIG LIE".
If SM LKY, or HIS Government Agencies can track the fine details of someone's daughter, it is amazing that this Government has refused to spend a single cent to track down the ex-PAP and NTUC Vice-President PHEY YEW KOK, and bring him back to Singapore to stand trial for corruption.
STATE Money spent to ridicule and debunk a helpless Permanent Resident working as a Pilot FOR THE GOVERNMENT OWNED AIRLINE, and being treated in such a shameful manner by someone who is recognised as a World Class Statesman.
It tantamount to calling in the Elephant to get rid of the Ants.
Where is the value system in Singaporeans, if its only World Class Statesman cannot see the significance of his bullying behavior, and believing himself to be doing a service to Singapore (or was it to himself) ? -
Look like only LKY can do a thorough job in the S'pore govt.
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SM's meeting with pilots: What happened at the Istana
By Zuraidah Ibrahim
'You play straight with me, I play straight with you. You play ducks and drakes with me, I play ducks and drakes with you.' -- SM Lee Kuan Yew
AS THE guests stepped into the pristine hallways of the Istana last Thursday afternoon, it was clear from their expectant faces that they were not there on one of those routine diplomatic goodwill visits.
This was no courtesy call.
The 14 Singapore Airlines pilots - a carefully selected mix of unionists ousted from leadership last November and their successors - were first ushered into a drawing room.
Some sat armed with files. Others waited with folded arms. Eventually, they were shepherded up to the chandelier-draped Sheares Room. Several paused at the bottom of the stairs, staring curiously through glass doors into a roomful of journalists.
Upstairs, they were about to face the man who had served them a series of public rebukes over the past few months.
He was after 'the principals and the ringleaders' behind the ouster of the union leadership, he had said.
'If they play this game, there will be broken heads,' he said on another occasion.
'Think carefully,' he cautioned them later, suspecting that the pilots were on a collision course with management.
That Thursday afternoon, Senior Minister Lee Kuan Yew began with an explanation.
'I decided to take up this issue since I've been involved with Singapore Airlines from the start,' he said.
In case the pilots needed reminding, he pointed out that it was he who had secured the pact for SIA's first and most lucrative route then to London. It was he who had asked for Changi to be built, despite expert studies favouring Paya Lebar. It was he who had seen the airline through its turbulent early years.
'So,' he said, 'I have no intention for it to go down'.
If the pilots had anticipated facing an uncompromising force, they were right.
But if they had feared that this determination would extend to siding completely with SIA's management, they were wrong.
Instead, he gave his word, several times, that SIA management would be put right.
'There will be no sacred cows,' he said, meaning this clearing of the way of past agreements and positions would probably apply equally to the union as it would to management.
In the two-hour exchange that followed, he also gave them a tutorial on industrial relations, what it meant to be an effective union, and the importance of non-confrontational, cooperative labour-management relations within Singapore's formula for success.
He came to power on the back of union support, he recounted to those in need of a history lesson. As a lawyer new to politics, he had done work for unions for free. His pro-union credentials were as unimpeachable as his pro-business record, he appeared to be saying.
But what he could not countenance was an adversarial relationship that could bring Singapore down.
Thus, he reasoned with the delegation, to win their minds rather than break their heads.
First, however, there was a reading of the riot act to one Captain Ryan Goh.
The master politician was at work.
You were the prime mover, were you not, behind the machinations to vote against the union leadership, he asked.
This, even though you were on the very council of the Air Line Pilots Association-Singapore (Alpa-S)?
That fateful ouster was what had brought the pilots that afternoon to the Istana.
Alpa-S - which guards jealously its status as an independent union that stays out of the tripartite loop - booted out its leaders after rueing the wage cuts that they had accepted and members had earlier endorsed.
The pilots agreed to the lower pay during the Sars outbreak when the airline was bleeding. But after it made a stunning turnaround a quarter later, a whispering campaign began about the union being weak. The larger battle ahead - negotiating a new collective agreement then in its last days - needed stronger stomachs, the sentiment went.
Reading from a file, Mr Lee pulled out the following facts about Captain Goh.
A Malaysian with permanent residence status here, he had accepted Australian PR in 2002, moved his wife and children to Perth, shipped his car and sold his flat.
You told someone from IE Singapore that the grass had stopped growing in Singapore, did you not, he asked.
He turned to one of the pilots and asked if he knew the Malaysian had bought a house in Australia and had this option to bail out.
No, the person answered.
'No?' repeated Mr Lee.
'That's deception, isn't it?' he asked Capt Goh.
The pilot in the hot seat tried to defend himself but it was too late. The line in the sand between him and the Singaporeans had been drawn for him.
'My daughter is still in school here,' he tried saying, adding this showed he still had roots in Singapore.
But wasn't that because she did not like school in Australia and came back, Mr Lee shot back calmly.
Silence.
The castigation, no doubt a tactic of divide-and-rule, also established a more significant point: It is not up to PRs or other foreigners to get into union matters and play around with decisions that affect the rest of Singaporeans.
Capt Goh had tried to undermine the interests of SIA and Singapore, he said. 'If Singapore goes down, you go down,' he told the Singaporeans across the table. 'He doesn't go down.'
With that out of the way, he laid out what he wanted to achieve out of the meeting: a fresh start.
'You play straight with me, I play straight with you. You play ducks and drakes with me, I play ducks and drakes with you,' he told them.
'Tell me whether we can cooperate.'
Yes, they could tell him one thing and act another way, but he was not interested in that.
'I don't hold you to blame for everything. Nor is the management responsible for all the things that have gone wrong. 'I want to create a new partnership of trust and cooperation, not confrontation,' he said.
The pilots needed to understand what was at stake. When members ousted their leaders, their actions jarred and suggested they were clueless about the environment they operated in: An economy on the remake trying to ease its cost pressures and an aviation industry that will be forever changed by the wringer it went through these last few years.
SIA did not need hostile industrial relations that would weigh it down at a time when the connectivity that the airline and Changi provided was facing intense competition. Without that connectivity that other parts of the economy were premised upon, Singapore would suffer.
'So it puzzles me. Pilots are intelligent people. How is it you are out of touch?' he asked rhetorically.
It was partly because, someone had told him, he said, pilots were out of the country half the time. Partly also, they were out of the know because they were not under the National Trades Union Congress, which would have kept members apprised of the slightest twitch of its trouble-on-the-horizon barometer.
Whatever the case, he set the parameters for future moves.
All National Wages Council recommendations must be accepted if the airline was to achieve flexibility and nimbleness to outlast the competition.
Wages would have to be as variable as possible. Profit-sharing must factor in return on capital. Retrenchment benefits must be capped at 25 years. Medical benefits would no longer be fully paid for, a bitter pill almost all Singaporean workers have already swallowed, some as far back as a decade ago.
But all these changes did not mean the pilots were being sold down the river. They will be paid market rates and when there are extras, they will get more, he explained.
'Now, I want to hear what you have to say,' he said after an hour.
Over the next, the pilots vented their grievances, imploring for understanding.
Captain Mok Hin Choon, the new president of Alpa-S, said the company had to reflect and see if it could bring along its people, pointing out that even its NTUC-related unions were unhappy.
'Trust has been missing for the last few years,' he said, adding that 'it takes two hands to clap'.
Out of the bag leapt their biggest bugbear - the overseas-based pilots. The company kept rebuffing their proposals to relook the scheme which they said was inefficient, wasteful and resulted in rostering that left them with scraps while their overseas counterparts cherry-picked the juicier routes.
Flight operations was in charge, came the reply, when Mr Lee asked who was behind it all if they were right about the matter.
'If all this is true, then the flight operations must be blind or stupid! ... I want an explanation from them because I cannot believe this,' he said.
'You give me a paper, I will look at it.'
He promised the human resources of the airline would be revamped and urged the pilots to give new chief executive officer Chew Choon Seng a chance.
As trust was rebuilt, there should be more information sharing so both sides could work together.
They told him 38 pilots had left in recent months. Where were they going, he wanted to know.
There will be changes, he said.
'I am assuring you that the Government will make sure that SIA acts in good faith,' he said.
Mr Lee went on to answer one of the main questions on the minds of Singaporeans: Why did the Government need to intervene in an internal company matter? 'We are the majority owners and we will ensure that they act in the interest of the country, and the interest of the country requires cooperation, trust and confidence from the unions.'
Why did it have to be the Senior Minister?
As he explained it, he had dealt with the airline from the beginning, it was fair he saw to it that the restive relationship between the pilots in the early years still continuing today, end.
But he was also realistic enough to concede this much: The residual feelings of suspicion would still be there.
Capt Mok too made this plain enough when he told the media later Alpa-S was not ready to embrace NTUC.
But yes, he and the others pledged to work on a clean slate, work in partnership with management and give things a go. They would use the negotiations for the new collective agreement as a time for trust-building.
By the end of it, it felt as if the fog of suspicion that had settled between Government and Alpa-S these past months had a good chance of lifting.
As the press walked in at the tail end of the meeting and posed questions, Captain Mok insisted on looking forward, vowing to make a clean start.
Details of difficulties with management? No, he wasn't keen on hitting the headlines with that.
Details of demands? No, not keen either.
Management should thank him for closing the books thus.
The meeting ended with handshakes all around, even with the solemn-looking Capt Goh.
If there was any sense of deja vu in the room, Captain Freddie Koh must have felt it most.
He was among a posse of union pilots Mr Lee summoned to the Istana in 1980 for daring to fan a go-slow action to vent their disgruntlement over pay and work conditions.
He told them then in unvarnished language: 'I do not want to do you in but I will not let anyone do Singapore in.'
When trouble with Alpa-S began, Mr Lee said he wanted to clean up on the restiveness that was resurfacing. 'This is a job that has to be finished and I'll finish it.'
Thursday afternoon moved towards that conclusion.
Looking back, throughout it all, the Senior Minister in effect employed the familiar strategy of good cop, bad cop. Except that he played both roles.
Now that he and the Government have said their piece and the pilots have made peace, SIA needs to break its deafening silence. Soon. -
ICA serves notice to Ryan Goh on Entry and Re-Entry Permits
SINGAPORE : The Immigration and Checkpoints Authority has served notice to cancel the Entry and Re-Entry Permits to Mr Ryan Goh, an SIA pilot.
Captain Goh, a Malaysian, is also a permanent resident in Singapore and Australia.
He will no longer be PR here once his Entry and Re-Entry Permits are cancelled.
Mr Goh may within the next 7 days write to the Controller of Immigration against such action.
An ICA statement said it acted after the Home Affairs Minister decided that Mr Goh was an undesirable immigrant.
He was recently singled out for his role in instigating the sacking of the previous pilots' union executive council during a recent dialogue with Senior Minister Lee Kuan Yew. - CNA -
You know what?Originally posted by shawnsh:ICA serves notice to Ryan Goh on Entry and Re-Entry Permits
SINGAPORE : The Immigration and Checkpoints Authority has served notice to cancel the Entry and Re-Entry Permits to Mr Ryan Goh, an SIA pilot.
Captain Goh, a Malaysian, is also a permanent resident in Singapore and Australia.
He will no longer be PR here once his Entry and Re-Entry Permits are cancelled.
Mr Goh may within the next 7 days write to the Controller of Immigration against such action.
An ICA statement said it acted after the Home Affairs Minister decided that Mr Goh was an undesirable immigrant.
He was recently singled out for his role in instigating the sacking of the previous pilots' union executive council during a recent dialogue with Senior Minister Lee Kuan Yew. - CNA
Gahmen is getting crappier by the day.
Oh man, you guys notice that since last decade, Singapore gahmen is making many awful policies?
Is this why SM Lee decides to stay on? -
Reading from a file, Mr Lee pulled out the following facts about Captain Goh.
its very obvious tat SM Lee dun like this Ryan Goh dude...
A Malaysian with permanent residence status here, he had accepted Australian PR in 2002, moved his wife and children to Perth, shipped his car and sold his flat.
You told someone from IE Singapore that the grass had stopped growing in Singapore, did you not, he asked.
He turned to one of the pilots and asked if he knew the Malaysian had bought a house in Australia and had this option to bail out.
No, the person answered.
'No?' repeated Mr Lee.
'That's deception, isn't it?' he asked Capt Goh.
The pilot in the hot seat tried to defend himself but it was too late. The line in the sand between him and the Singaporeans had been drawn for him.
'My daughter is still in school here,' he tried saying, adding this showed he still had roots in Singapore.
But wasn't that because she did not like school in Australia and came back, Mr Lee shot back calmly.
Silence.
The castigation, no doubt a tactic of divide-and-rule, also established a more significant point: It is not up to PRs or other foreigners to get into union matters and play around with decisions that affect the rest of Singaporeans.
Capt Goh had tried to undermine the interests of SIA and Singapore, he said. 'If Singapore goes down, you go down,' he told the Singaporeans across the table. 'He doesn't go down.'
look at the slightest detail abt Ryan Goh daughter schooling... -
just saw today papers. like bros have mention. it surprise how much detail information SM lee can collect through secret agency of spore to such details about capt ryan daughter education situation.
in europe and american we heard about airline staff stop work because of pay. cathy face the problem few years back and resume amicably after negotiation.
If SM lee can simply authorise a person PR status to be revoked, it serve 2 notice.
1. non singaporean be careful. dont fool ard with singapore govt. else PR be revoked.
2. singaporean who aspire to be leader of union or join opposition party think twice. you could be follow and wire and even citizen status can be revoked too.
so what can we do :
1. PR leave singaporean while you can. here in singaporean you cannot have political idea or even fight for your own rights.
2. singaporean either behave like cowards and be scare by govt action or coming election use your vote to do the talking. i agree some opposition have chee.... . so dont for those you dont like neither dont vote for those who dont care for you. simply draw a doremon or hello kitty on the ticket. at least PAP know we dont like their policy through the outcome.
singaporean have to bear the fruits of the consequences of the recent saga, by the way, PAP did won the previous election by big margin over opposition thus sending a signal to PAP to do what they want. -
Basically, all it goes to show is that the general mentality of govtis anti-union. even more so if they are not under the NTUC umbrella. I won't even call a Union led by a minister as a union. defeating the purpose.. just like having a repulic without elections.
when this whole issue was blown up. the gun was pointed at the union.. allthe media limelight is on the union.. the mgt?? I m sure, there were also meetings, but none that took limlight.. more of internal lashings from SM himself to the mgt.. and as usual covered up..
basically, there is no assurance from being members of unions in singapore anymore, cos govt is at the back pulling the strings and making decisions or asking union leaders to make decisions that support govt policies. So if you want to be a union leader, chances are you are just a puppet, the one doing the dirty work and washing all the dirty laundry when govt want to push thru things like wage reforms and cpf cuts and union leaders have to tell their members.."ok look, here is why we have to accept this..." -
PR will be revoke.
The people who wants to work here will read about it on the internet , will say to themselves that it's not worth it and work elsewhere. -
If Sauron has his crosshairs on you, you are in serious trouble, with the One Party of Power to rule all of Singapore, what hope can we have?
I viewed the news with dismay, but not much surprise. I suppose if he was a citizen he would be harder hit. What's new in this news?
And what's all this gibberish about drawing the lines and who's going down with who anyway? As if The Party would go down with us Singaporeans if the nation really had to ditch. If anything, I don't have any illusions who's gonna suffer if Singapore really goes down and who has a pretty well stocked escape route of a fallout shelter funded by the people. -
SIA pilot Ryan Goh to appeal revocation of entry permits
SINGAPORE : Singapore Airlines' pilot Ryan Goh, reacting to the Home Affairs Ministry's notice that his entry and re-entry permits would be revoked, said he would appeal.
Captain Goh was recently singled out by the government as the instigator behind the ouster of the former SIA pilots' union leadership.
The notice means Captain Goh will lose his Permanent Resident status in Singapore.
He has seven days to appeal.
Captain Goh said: "At this stage, I do no have any plans or in fact I do not quite know what I should do. It is not something you plan, you know like if this were to happen and this is what I should do next.
"I have spent more than half my life in Singapore. So this is home, you cannot just pack up your home and just go, you know. So obviously there is a problem for me now and I will have to sort out what I can do."
The 43-year-old pilot had been declared an "undesirable immigrant" by the Home Affairs Minister.
He has until Thursday to submit a written appeal.
Captain Goh said he would do so and address the issues of his property purchases, his children's future and his role in the ouster of the pilot union leadership.
Captain Goh said: "Yes, I had caused a change in the leadership. It is not as if I have changed a very, very good team with a wide support or popular support in exchange for one that is incompetent or lousy, with no support.
"We now have a good team which is able to work with management and Senior Minister Lee himself has endorsed this team, and invited them to go on board. So obviously, it is a good team and a change for the best."
For now, he intends to stay in Singapore.
Captain Goh said: "There are ample opportunities out there, they are not new, they have been many openings for a long time now. These opportunities were available to me, I have not packed off and gone off, I am still here. I would very much like to remain here if it is possible."
When asked if he had been treated fairly, Captain Goh said he could have easily been told to leave within 48 hours, but has been given a week to sort out his appeal.
He dismissed his past contributions to ALPA-S, saying he was just doing his job. His aim is to clear his name.
Speaking at a community event earlier on Sunday, Transport Minister Yeo Cheow Tong was asked for his reactions to the SIA pilots' meeting with the government at the Istana.
Mr Yeo did not want to comment on the status of Captain Ryan Goh, but said that the meeting with the pilots went well, and he is optimistic that meaningful agreements can be reached.
Mr Yeo said: "The dialogue went off very well. Senior Minister Lee stated the facts and the pilots' union leaders Captain Mok and all responded very well.
"I was very, very encouraged and I am sure in this present mood, very conciliatory mood of going forward in the cooperation, both sides would be able to sit down and come out with a meaningful outcome. Both sides are being open and that is very important.
"If you want to have a long lasting relationship, both sides must be open, must be frank and must be logical, you don't play games, then there will be a climate of trust and confidence. Then that is when meaningful agreements can be made." - CNA -
ducks and drakes huh?
