Jaslyn Go’s Blog

To all my readers;

I will be away for holiday from 16 Nov - 30 Nov..

I will not be posting during these 2 weeks..

Happy Holiday

Rejected ST letter written by Mr David See Leong Kit

HDB’s reply “Market-based pricing of flats fairer to all” (ST Nov 11) is a good example of the frequent exasperating “half-answer” replies from our public bodies that Forum writers have impatiently tolerated for years.

It did not address various points I raised in my letters nor Forum writer Tan Kim Chuan’s contention that “the HDB is either over-pricing its flats or is profiteering from the property boom”.

Our private property market is now facing a downturn. But the HDB resale flat market is still firm due to Permanent Resident buyers pushing up prices.

Under such a scenario, HDB’s pegging the price of its new flats to the prevailing market price of similar resale flats will result in prices of new flats and resale flats chasing each other in an upward spiral that is detrimental to buyers of both new and resale flats.

The Total Breakeven Cost of a new flat comprises Construction Cost (CC), Land Cost (LC) and Other Related Cost (ORC).

Its Pinnacle@Duxton project comprise 1,848 units in 50-storey blocks occupying a very small plot of land.

From available public tender information, the CC component of each unit is known to be $150,000. It now remains for the HDB to be transparent in disclosing the remaining LC and ORC components so that HDB buyers will know the actual Total Breakeven Cost

A quick estimate of the LC plus ORC is about $70,000, leading to an estimated Total Breakeven Cost of each new flat to be around $220,000.

When launched in 2004, average Selling Price was $370,000 (actual range: $288,000 to $450,000), which translates to an average profit to the HDB of $150,000 per unit sold.

428 unsold units were recently relaunched at average Selling Price of $550,000 (actual range: $450,000 to $645,000), which is $180,000 higher than initial launch prices. This arose from the HDB market-based pricing approach as the prevailing market prices of similar resale flats in the vicinity was in the $593,000 to $670,000 range.

Applicants of HDB new flats are mostly young Singaporeans wanting to get married, move into their own homes and start a family by producing babies.

Why then is the HDB not living up to its role as a not-for-profit low-cost public housing developer by passing on to such citizens the economy-of-scale cost savings in its hugh developments through pricing new flats on a cost-based breakeven basis?

A recent Trade and Industry Ministry reply on the huge electricity price hike had stated that “the Government’s approach is to price goods and services at their full cost”. Why then the double standards in the HDB statement that “the prices of new HDB flats are based on the market prices of resale HDB flats, and not their costs of construction”?

For the average Singaporean, his HDB flat is the single most expensive purchase item in his lifetime. Thus, it is of utmost urgency for the HDB to clear the air once-and-for-all through providing transparent direct replies to the above two simple questions, and to disclose actual cost figures for its Pinnacle project.

http://www.sgpolitics.net/?p=1202

I know my girlfriend - Gela as I affectionately called her, since our secondary school days.

We always meet up for manicure, pedicure, spa, shopping spree and teas..

During one of my recent meet up with her, I casually asked her how is her dad, “oh, didn’t I tell you he passed away liao” was her reply.  No sense of sadness, no sense of loss..

Shocked I probe her further as to what happen, why so sudden.  Was told that he died of liver cancer, and when he was send to the hospital, it was the last stage of his liver cancer.  Her mum, younger brother and herself, did not visit him during his 2 months stay in the hospital.  When the hospital called to says that he has passed on, the 3 made their way down to the hospital to claim his body and send straight to Mandai Crematorium for cremation, without a funeral service for him.

He wanted very badly to see the 3 of them but he died without having his last wish fulfilled even though initially when he was able to talk, he called them up personally, and during the later stage, the social worker took over the calling.  Still the 3 of them remain unmoved.

When Gela’s dad finally passed away, many unkind remarks were passed by her dad’s relatives about the 3 of them being heartless and etc…

Well, though I do feel a certain sadness for the dad not having his last wish fulfilled, I fully understand their actions.

Gela’s dad left them when her mum was pregnant with her younger brother who is 6 years our junior.  Gela’s mum was 5 years older than her dad and he left the mom for another younger woman.  With 1 kid and another on the way, the dad shirk himself of his responsibilities as a father, a husband.

Gela’s mom painstaking bring up these 2 kids herself.  During school days, I will accompany Gela every monday to Serangoon, her paternal grand father house to collect a measly $100.  It wasn’t a pleasant visit and each time, Gela would quickly take and go.  At times, some of the relatives who were there, would eye us, it makes me feel like we are beggars coming to beg for money.  Much as she dread going there, they have no choice as they need the money to survive. $400 per month for 3 of them plus a elderly grandmother (maternal) who is staying with them!

DAD, came from a rather well to do family who is related to one of the property magnate.  He squander away all his money with his mistress.  The mistress left him when he has no money left.  Her dad at that time wanted to go back to the family, but none is willing to accept him.

I remember once Gela mentioned to me, at times when her dad relatives came over to their place to visit them, Ah Bin seeing their shoes outside his house, will wait downstairs for them to leave before going back.  Even Gela mentioned that till now, she hates to pass by Serangoon area as that will always bring back all the unpleasant memories.

Gela added that, if not for what the dad has done to them, he would have a good life.  They were once poor, but now, Ah Bin is a scholar working at MOF, Gela herself is doing well in GSK.  Both of them are very filial to their mom, they could have been filial too to their dad, if only he didn’t abandon them when they were young.

Given what her dad has done, who can blame them for being heartless to a dying man.  I know I can’t bring myself to do what they did, afterall I feel no matter what, he is still your dad, but that because I did not grow up without a stranger who later in life told me he was my dad and he want to see me before he die.

Somehow, I am sadden by the passing of Gela’s dad, not because he died (I don’t know him), but sad that it was only when he was near to his death, that he regretted what he has done to his family and wanted so badly to see them and perhaps seek forgiveness from them but he never get to.  He died a lonely man with no family by his side.

I missed out one point.

The prosecution maintains that there are only 3 “material facts” that needs to be established in this trial and nothing else matters. That is “whether we ought to have reasonably know” that it is an offence to participate in the protest. Kai Xiong commented that this can be directly investigated by questioning the TBT 18 during our police investigation.  Our presence is a given, so ultimately there are only 2 witness the prosecution needs to call.

Yet as everyone knows the story by now, there are 27 witnesses, most of whom are arresting officers.

A friend of ours from Taiwan who has been following TBT 18 trial was intrigue by this, he commented that in Taiwan, the judge would throw out all the witnesses irrelevant to the case to save time. The longer the trial drags on, the more unfair it is to the defendant(s).

The DPP never gave any answer to this.

Our trial was nearly stood down again because AGC for the Kangaroo trial wanted to arrange a last min PTC for John and Shafie at 9am in Supreme Court today.  Finally at about 6.45pm on Thursday, John manage to postpone the Kangaroo PTC to next week.

The TBT trial continue with Dr Chee cross examination with PW 2.  Through Dr Chee’s cross examination, the following has been established ;

1) On the SPF website where Dr Chee applied for the protest permit, there was no indication to input his DOB.

2) On the evidence submitted by the Prosecutor, Dr Chee’s DOB was stated.

3) PW 2 has absolutely no idea how this could happen.

4) The court rules all the above irrelevant as they are not interested to know how the evidence came about because the fact still remain that no police permit was granted, irregardless of whether the evidence was manufactured or fabricated or tampered.

5) It is stated clearly in SPF website that the NORMAL processing time is about 7 working days from the receipt of the application but SPF took 28 days to respond instead.

6) When trying to probe further if Dr Chee’s application was normal or not normal, Dr Chee was told that it was irrelevant again with the same reasoning that Dr Chee should take up Judiciary Review for such line of questioning.

At one point of time, TBT 18 stood up in unity (less the 3 of us who were represented by counsels) in support of Dr Chee and urge the Judge to disallow further objection from the DPP.  Though seated in my seat (with due respect to my counsels), I am in total support of the TBT 18.

Kai Xiong later pointed out to the Judge that if this trial is based on the fact that there was no police permit and that a illegal assembly and procession did took place, then the Prosecutor need not have 27 witnesses on the stand and instead just need 2 which is the Licensing Officer, to testify no police permit was issue and the video taken on that day to prove our participation.  He is baffled as to why then the need to submit 27 witnesses to waste everybody time!

It seem to me that if the court take such stand as that of the DPP, they might as well ask TBT 18 to show cause, instead of wasting time to stand trial since it is establish that no police permit was issue, PERIOD!

As to why the police permit was not granted, who makes the final decision to reject Dr Chee’s application, is there biasness when SDP protest is not allow but CASE protest is allowed, why it took 4x the NORMAL time for them to process Dr Chee’s application, why the application form printed from Dr Chee’s online application and that produced by the Prosecutor is different, why the DOB appears on the Prosecutor evidence when Dr Chee’s did not input his DOB in his application can only bring it up for Judiciary Review.

I am deeply disturb by the on-going of our TBT trial. Disturbed by the fact that as long as evidence is being produced in court by the DPP, the Judge has no interest to know if the evidence might have been tamper, manufacture or fabricated.

This is the first time in my entire life that I was standing as a accused person in court, it is also the first time I have come so up close with the court, the Judge, the Prosecutor, and somehow, I feel that I am already convicted even before the trial ends.

I always remember my first visit to SDP office some time back.

It was my first time stepping into a political party office.  I have never been to any other political party office before.

As I walked up the stairs to the 2nd floor where SDP office was, I could smell popcorns Dr Chee and Mrs Chee greeted me warmly.  As that was my first time setting foot there, Mrs Chee was fussing over me, serving me with hot milo (it was raining heavily and I was a little wet from the rain) and pop corns from the kitchen.

I took a little tour of their humble office.  Humble as it is, it was rather cosy., I could feel the warmth around.  Friends were happily chatting, words of greeting can be heard whenever a friend pops in. It was a casual gathering and the Chees were very hospitable, preparing pop corns for us, serving us drinks.  Francis even bought Roti Prata for us.

Now I am a frequent visitor to their humble office. My kids loves to play with Dr Chee’s 3 kids and they will always bug me to bring them over for a play date with them.  Mrs Chee no longer fuss over me as she did on my first visit, now I have learn to make myself at home instead.  Knowing where to get my own drinks, where the Mama Shop is (Siok Chin’s room is a mama shop stock up with lots of tibits..haha)..

As I looked back, I realise I have come so far with SDP, from being critical to becoming friends .  From being distant to being more involved.  The once reserved and quiet Jaslyn is now a more open up and chatty Jaslyn to them.

I wanted to write more updates about the court..but end up I am always so tired after court each day..

Tired not because of the action in court, but tired of the wait in court.

Judge stand down of 10 mins usually end up 1 hour instead and 30 mins ended up 2hrs+..

It doesn’t help when the presiding Judge is one who is rather indecisive.  He allows argument to escalate, letting DPP time to address him on issues raised by Dr Chee when we thought after court dismiss for the day, he would come to a decision in the morning when the court adjourned.

Due to this, DPP ask for 30 mins break to do research and that 30 mins ended up took 2 hours and 10 mins with the court officials coming out to inform us that the DPP will be late..That aside, DPP return with research and presented his arguments.

As it was almost lunch time and John and Shafie need to be at High Court to answer their “kangaroo tees” charge at 1430, the court was dismissed for the day without counter arguments from TBT 18.

When the court adjourn the next morning, TBT18 ask for more time to do research to counter DPP arguments, most of the TBT18 are not legally trained and given the fact that 2 of the TBT 18 are over at the High Court for a different matters yesterday afternoon.

Judge then rule that Dr Chee could not continue his line of questioning to PW 2. (without hearing the defense of the TBT 18)  That line of questioning is that who makes the decision to reject SDP’s application for a police permit for the March 15 protest..

It is final - The police rejected Dr Chee application for a police permit for the protest, as to who, why and on what basis the permit was rejected he is not allowed to ask.

hmm..I suddenly get reminded of my mummy..

When I was a kid, mummy always disallow us this and that, when me and my siblings challenge my mummy as to why are we not allow to say, play with our neighbourhood friends, mummy will always replied us “because Mummy SAID SO”..that it..no reason given..mummy words will be final.  That is always the best answer mummy could give when she had NO answer for us.

As a mother myself now, I will always make conscious effort to explain to my kids as to why mummy forbid them to do certain things, it takes alot of patience and yes at times it can be frustrating when my kids refused to listen and find 1001 ways to convince me otherwise.  Through it all, my kids have been able to hone their negotiation skills and at times able to convince and assure me of my concerns (sometimes unfounded) and thus allowing them to do what I initially set out to forbid.

Well..our SPF doesn’t work this way!

Looking at how things are going, I am expecting more objection and more irrelevant from DPP and Judge will still continue to allow the arguements to go on and on before making his decision.

27 witnesses from the Prosecution side, we coming to the end of our 2 weeks trial yet we are only into the 2nd PW, Dr Chee being the 1st to cross examine, and he is perhaps halfway through his questioning, there are 13 more to go..

Looks like this trial will take a very looooong time..

It was a thursday morning. I actuall went to Court excited and looking forward to have fun in the court.

The trial started with E-Jay pleading guilty to the illegal assembly charge and having the procession charge taken into consideration.  The matter was stood down to 11am and thereafter 1530 for E-Jay’s counsel to prepare his mitigation plea and DPP to prepare the statement of facts.

When I returned back to court after picking up my kids, I was told that E-Jay was handcuffed in public and escorted to pay his fines. Damn it! did they have to resort to that?  Was that necessary?  Mas Selamat himself, a terrorist was not even handcuffed when he went to the toilet and why then is E-Jay treated worse than Mas Selamat?

Anyway, when the court resumed sitting at 1530, it took almost 2 hours for them just to read out the charges to all 18 of us.

Upon the DPP’s application for joinder of trial, District Judge Chia Wee Kiat next asked all the accused whether they were agreeable to a joint trial, most of the accused objected to the joinder with Yap Keng Ho.  Judge Chia granted DPP application for joint trial eventually which make me wonder then why ask us in the first place if the decision was to allow it even though majority was against it?

The 1st day of trial came to an end with Jeffrey George expressing his intention to plead guilty to the charges as the judge refused to grant a disjoinder of his trial, refused to grant an adjournment and disallowed his application to be excused from attendance despite his offer to be bound by the proceedings in his absence.

The 2nd day of trial started with DPP finally providing some answers to the provision of the video recording which the Police intended to adduce as evidence.

We returned to court at 2pm to view the video together. We all had a good laugh as this is the first time after the protest that the TBT 18 sat down and re-lived the experience of the protest. As we viewed the video. We were laughing away at some of the scenes. e.g. when Seelan was dragged and the police videographer was focusing on Seelan’s shoes..Seelan lifted up his legs and commented that he is still wearing the same pair.

We also laughed at the silliness of ASP Willam Goh insisting that we move from the junction when the traffic light was clearly red.

I guess when this video is replayed again during cross examination, it will definitely draw laughter from us and from the public gallery..

When court was resumed at 1430, the first witness was put to stand.

A little time into the cross examination by my co-accused, it became clear that this lady police officer, who was assigned to take pictures of the locations 4 months after the protest did not know the following;

1) what sort of camera she was using despite according to her, she was a police photographer 1 year after joining the force, which means she has 7 years 9 months experience as a cameraman.  As a police photographer, she did not know the brand/focus length of her camera and lens.  This to me is rather unbelievable.  A police photographer who does not know her tools is akin to a policeman not knowing his personal issue weapon.

2) She is not sure that the parliament house is a gazetted area. A Police Staff Sergent who is in the force for 8 years 9 months is not sure so then why the Police Commissioner who issue the Police Summons to me expected that I reasonably ought to have known that the area was gazetted when his own subordinates do not?

Jufri Mahmood questioned the witness if she knew what gazetted actually meant but DPP objected to that citing irrelevance to which John made a very good rebuttal as he pointed out that even she as a Police Staff Sergent is not aware of Parliament House being a gazetted area and why are the rest of us laymen expected to reasonably ought to have known, hence he believe the relevance to Jufri Mahmood questioning of her understanding of the word “gazetted”.

But before the Judge could gave a reply to John, Yap hijacked the cross-examination with his request of asking the witness to leave the courtroom for 1 minute as he need to address certain issues with the court without the witness presense. INTERESTINGLY, the judge allowed Yap’s request and witness was told to leave the court room and Yap addresssed the issue of authenticity of the pictures blah blah blah. I drifted off after two sentences from Yap as I decided that what he was saying was utter rubbish.

When the witness returned, Yap went on to blah blah and blah..John passed a note to my counsel Thiru, in it he wrote “DPP, aren’t you going to object to this?” Thiru was laughing and say no no..he is not going to pass that to DPP.  We too were wondering why did the DPP and Judge allowed his line of questioning which was totally irrelevent and Yap was just trying to show off his knowledge of the camera.

Ti Lik finally stood up and objected to Yap’s questioning commenting that he was surprise why the DPP had chosen not to object when it was obvious Yap questioning has no relevance to the case and he is not objectiing but yet chose to object to question from the accused which are relevant. Jufrie Mahmood commented that Yap seemed to be applying for a job in the police force and that brought the whole courtroom into laughter. I caught the DPP laughing too.

After composing himself, DPP explained that he was of the view that the questioining was relevant. The Judge himself agreed with the DPP.

Kai Xiong, who studied photography for 3 years and worked as a freelance lighting assistant, too stood up to dismiss Yap’s line of questioning.

The trial ended with Yap finally decided to abandon his line of questioning. Another day wasted.. ;(

Hopefully Tuesday will be exciting..as it will be ASP Willam Goh turn to take the stand to be cross-examined

The trial begins - Part 1 - The Dilemma

I was at the meeting place early on Thursday and met SDP’s Assistant Treasurer Jeffrey George Since it has been some time since we last met, we were both elated to see each other. It turned out that Jeff had been away since his project started about a month back. Jeff then shared with me about his dilemma - that he needed to be back at work that evening and would not be available for the entire trial period.

Jeffrey George is an Offshore Drill Engineer, an esoteric line where not many people get to be acquainted with. Being skilled enough to start his own business as a private sub-contractor, he works on a project basis, his income is not fixed, and once he finishes one job, he would have to wait for another. He won’t know when his next project will be.

Due to a loss of travel documents recently which the SIR had been slow to replace, he was put out of work for almost a year, and had been living on his savings for the period.  Jeff is a family man with kids and wife to support and the year must have been really hard on him having to balance the need to look after his family, on the other hand, to fight for his convictions.

Like the rest of the TBT 18. We each all have our own difficulties.

For myself, throughout the entire trial period, my day will start dropping off my kids to school in the morning and rushing to court (barely in time for breakfast) and when the court adjourns for lunch, I will have to rush to pick up my kids from school, send them home before rushing back to court by 1430.  This is tough as usually my kids will not let me go, not to mention, I will be skipping lunch when I only have 1.5 hours to rush from the Subordinate Courts to West Coast and then to Bukit Merah before heading back to sub court.

I spoke to another of my co-accused during the 1st day of the boring trial.  I found out that he is a Despatch Rider who is the sole breadwinner in his family. He has a wife and 3 kids, the youngest being only 20 months old.  As he works on a contract basis with no basic pay, 2 weeks absence from work will make him almost $2k poorer. However he remains committed to stand trial for his beliefs.

Jufri and Suraya are in a similar position as well. Jufri is the sole breadwinner. They have 3 kids, the youngest was due to have operation for her tonsils removed.  As both Jufri and Suraya need to attend court, they have to make special arrangement for family members to help look after their 3 kids during their absence.

Shafie - the youngest among the TBT 18, is only 19 years old and a full time national serviceman. He trudges to court everyday from camp with a full pack on his back. He then makes his way back to camp when the Court rises for the day.

Shafie is a very gentle and soft spoken guy.  His mum accompanied him to court on the first day of trial, looking worried and concerned.  This was made worse by the AG-C’s representatives sent to identify Shaffie and Isrizal at the Court and serve them documents for Contempt of Court Committal hearing dates for their wearing kangaroo t-shirts.

Despite being unable to get a lawyer to represent him, he at such a tender age exhibits courage and fortitude in claiming trial together with the rest of us.

My good friend E-Jay who decided to throw in the towel during the 1st day of trial. I am sure he has his personal reasons for doing so.

The establishment is deliberately hurting our pockets to deter us from speaking up making it so easy to be tempted to throw in the towel. The only reason why the rest of us choose not to do so is due to our wish to stick to our convictions but also we face less problems as compared to Jeff and E-Jay who have no choice given their situation and circumstances.

Therefore, my compatriots Jeffrey George and Ng E-Jay, do not let all the unkind words of others affect you.  You have done your best to stand alongside with us in this battle.  I am truly proud of both of you.  TBT 18 will always be TBT 18, there will never be 1 less, let alone 2..

Before I post my experience in court..let me post a invitation to my readers..

Come this Tuesday, the 2nd witness will be put on stand, and that is ASP William Goh..

I would like to invite friends / readers to come join us as this is going to be a exciting witness to cross examine…

Details for our trial :

Court 5 - 9.30 am..

Hope to see you all there

Enjoy the long weekend holiday.

From a friend;

Why should you continue voting for PAP? Here is why:

You voted for PAP, and you get to pay 7% GST instead of 5%.

You voted for PAP and your CPF money gets lock up for another 3 years
more than the original.

You voted for PAP, and your ministers demanded a 85% pay raises.

You voted for PAP, and your job went to a foreigner.

You voted for PAP, and your neighbors become foreigners.

You voted for PAP, and your elderly gets to enjoy the dignity of
employment by cleaning toilets, scavenging trash bins for aluminum
cans and selling tissue papers.

You voted for PAP, and your minsters tell you it is your fault that
Mas Selemat escaped.

You voted for PAP, and your government would rather lose millions at
sinking foreign banks rather than to save you from starvation.

You voted for PAP, and not only do your ministers literally spit on
you, but their scions tell you to “get out of their elite uncaring faces”.

You voted for PAP, and you are amply rewarded with ERPs at your doorstep.

You voted for PAP, and Lee Hsien Loong pledged to fix the oppositions.

You voted for PAP, and you got a Division 3 Prime Minister who needs
2 mentors to hold his hand.

You voted for PAP, and you got a large serving of Mee Siam Mai Hum,
at your own expense.

You voted for PAP, and your salary stayed stagnant for more than a
decade while the cost of living shoot sky high.

You voted for PAP, and you see the foreign kids get a place in school
while you child get zilch.

You voted for PAP, and you find that your public transport is no
longer “public”.

You voted for PAP, and your ministers want to house 1,500 foreign
workers right smacked in the middle of a peaceful neighborhood
without any concerns for you.

You voted for PAP, and the government readily reward your men with
more hookers than they can ever poked in Geylang.

You voted for PAP, and your government happily demands $5000 ang pao
from you when your maid runaway or get pregnant even though you had
nothing to do with it.

You voted for PAP, and your government glorify themselves with
Olympic sized banners of their ghastly faces to scare away ghosts
during the Chinese 7th month, courtesy of your S&C contribution to
your town councils which is suppose to go toward making life in your
neighborhood better.

You voted for PAP, and they protect the interests of the petrol
companies by making you pump 3/4 tank before you cross the causeway.

You voted for PAP, and they see nothing wrong with fining you for
driving a foreign registered car into Singapore.

You voted for PAP, and you discover that world-class super talented
multi-million dollar minister with all the state resources and
manpowers cannot even catch a limping man in this tiny island state
after more than half a year.

You voted for PAP, and you realise that your MP’s job is not to speak
out for you in parliament, but to tell you to tighten the belt, bite
the bullet, eat lesser and work longer.

You voted for PAP, and your kids have to stay with you till 40 years
old, as they cannot afford the cheapest “public” housing.

You voted for PAP, and your government tells you that their
interpretation of subsidies is the profit that they forgo making,
instead of actually paying part of the cost.

You voted for PAP, and everyone in Singapore suddenly got elevated to
Swiss standard of living, except you, and everyone around you.

You voted for PAP, and your neighbors can sell your home for you
(en-block), whether you like it or not.

You voted for PAP, and your organs automatically belongs to the
government (HOTA).

You voted for PAP, and you have to pay administration fee to use your
own money when you are sick (Medisave).

You voted for PAP, and your sons get to spend 2 or more years as free
labour in National Service and 13 more years as reservists, so that
the foreigners can have a safe country to work in.

You voted for PAP, and you found out that each of your son is worth
$30k, because that is what you are going to get if your son die while
serving the foreigners.

You voted for PAP, and you get a grand party every year on 9th August
celebrating more salaries for PAP.Not everyone is invited though, you
will still have to ballot for it.

You voted for PAP, and they tell you that there is a corner called
Hong Lim Park where you can go to talk all you want, other than that,
shut up unless you have something nice to say.

You voted for PAP, and you get a world-bottom “nation-building” press
serving you the latest propagandas, regardless of truth.

You voted for PAP, and in order to buy a car, you have to first pay
for a piece of paper that cost more than the car itself.

You voted for PAP, and you must vote for PAP! You cannot even think
about not voting for PAP. Because a certain inaccurate old man said
that he will call in the army if you don’t.

So vote for PAP. Read the list above again, and vote for PAP. Go
ahead, vote for PAP. More good years eh? Vote for PAP. For Swiss
standard of living. Vote for PAP. Mee Siam Mai Hum ok?

My gf says :
today sg announce technical recession
so maybe got job retrenchment again
so sad
Jas says :
u kno..
if this continues on..
n pap still increasing prices..
ppl ll turn against them..
My gf says :
not pap’s fault lar
is inflation
Jas says :
they allow PUB tarrif 2 go up 22%..
despite PUB billions of profits last yr..
n do nthg 2 stop them from the increase..
My gf says :
they have to make
everythg gg up now
Jas says :
what u mean pap got nthg 2 do with it?
My gf says :
as in the increase is already planned long ago
Jas says :
they raise d cost of living further w/o sparing a thought 4 ppl struggling to make ends meet..
My gf says :
and now economy bad is not what they predicted
Jas says :
how can u say PUB must make $$..
Jas says :
allowing them to make billions at the expenses of the people..
n during recession allowed them 2 raise 22% tarrif?
My gf says :
ya lar, maybe we can set up a blog to discuss and send it ti the govt
Jas says :
my dear gal..
be more aware of current affairs..
dun rely on ST for news..
read on the internet..
My gf says :
i read lar, no worries
i dont even read ST
Jas says (10:01 AM):
n soon u ll realise d rubbish our govert is giving us..
My gf says :
haha
Jas says :
im amazed u say that pub need to make..
n tat all tis price increase was planned long ago..
Jas says :
perhaps u shld see d points from d poorer families..
My gf says :
i do
Jas says:
u kno how tough it is for many of them 2 put fd on their tables now?
Jas says :
gas cost 10% of crude..but costings based on crude prices.
u tnk tat is fair?
My gf says :
i might not really know but i have been thr it once
many things are not fair in this world
fairness will be recieved in heaven
Jas says :
no..u need to fight 4 it..
need 2 speak up against unfairness..
My gf says :
how to?
complain to MPs
you think that helps
Jas says :
no..not just that..
1st of all..
My gf says :
then how to fight?
Jas says :
u need to be aware of what they r doing to us..
den aftr..come forward n speak up against them..
through blogs..
letters..
create awareness among ur frens..
Jas says:
i dun believe in church craps abt not wanting to be involve in politics..
My gf says :
u sound like you from ******’s party
Jas says :
politics is very much in our daily life..
we live n breathe politics everyday..
Jas says:
******* party dun ve balls..pls..
name a better party..
My gf says :
what is dont hv balls
no guts ah?
Jas says:

yes..what have ******* party done 4 us besides keepg quiet?

My gf says :
ok lar, no more politics

The above sounds all too familiar when you speak to some of your friends?

This is the sad state we are in now..

It is no wonder there are many Singaporeans like my girlfriend around that the PAP is still in power..

YOUR ignorance is THEIR strength..it is the ignorance of these people who believes that;

1) we must paid our ministers well in order to have a corruption free government.

2) “Without a competent Government, our mothers and daughters will be maids in other countries.” Minister Mentor

3) We raised GST to help the poor..(from 3% - 5% - 7%)

4) Public transport hikes for better transport service..

5) Higher tariffs have been due to the increase in oil prices (gas cost 10% of crude..but costings based on crude prices.)

6) Foreigners are here to help the locals keep our jobs!

7) Compulsory Annuity Scheme -> National Longevity Insurance Scheme -> National Life-long Income Scheme - is it still compulsory??

8 ) The government does not make money from ERP!!!!!!!

When can we see the awakening of these ignorant fellow citizens?

When we no longer can put food on the table?

When our daughters really ended up as maids in other country?

When our people lost their jobs to foreigner?

When even public transport becomes a luxury?

When all our CPF savings is lost in GIC investments?

When ERP gantries are up at every heartlands?

(p.s. apologies to my girlfriend for posting my private msn with her, therefore, names has been changed to protect her identity..I see the need to highlight the plight of her ignorance which I believe are a reflection of many fellow citizens..Thanks to Jeff for giving me such a appropriate title)

Today I woke up with a heavy heart…

It was a final farewell to Mr JBJ..

Arrived at St Andrew Cathedral at about 1.40pm with Siok Chin, John, E-jay and some others friends..

Uncle Yap was already there and giving out Mr JBJ portraits, while Rizal and Nora  pass us handmade pins of Mr JBJ which they made, for us to pin on our shirts…

We did some flyers too, with tribute to Mr JBJ from Dr Chee and Gandi and a letter from Amnesty International, spreading the words around about Mr JBJ.

As I was distributing the flyers, an elderly lady approached me, this is what transpired ;

Elderly Lady : 请问你，这位先生是谁？

Me : 他是一位出色反对党的政治家。

Elderly Lady : 他做了什么？

Me :他贡献了他的一生为我们人民反对政府不公平的政策， 以及在国会上为人民发表我们的心声。。

Elderly Lady : 他的名字是。。。。。

Me : 请问你是新加坡人吗?

Elderly Lady : 我是啊!

Me :对不起,你是新加坡人但你不懂得这位先生是谁吗?

Elderly Lady : 我没听说过也没看过这位先生…

Me :那为何不如你跟我们一起追悼这位为我们贡献了这么多的惹耶纳南先生..

The elderly asked a young gal who was with her if she would like to go in with her to pay respect to Mr JBJ, but the younger gal refused to and ask the elderly lady to leave the place.  She wanted to return the flyer back to me, but I told her to keep it and read about him, hopefully she will get to know Mr JBJ, even abit..

I later proceeded on to the funeral service..sigh..I cannot believe this old lady..my guess is she could be around the same age as Mr JBJ..but yet..she doesn’t seem to know him at all!

The establishment has truly succeeded in making it’s citizens apathetic towards politics..

I grew up in the Bukit Merah area.

As the ward of Anson is close by, since young, I heard more about Mr JBJ than my own MP - Dr Ahmad Mattar.

I remember back then in 1981, when JBJ won the Anson ward, the loud cheers can even be heard from my side, I was barely 10 years old back then, but I can tell, this man must be doing something right to win so many cheers from the people.

As I grew up, I beginning to get to know more and more about Mr JBJ through a close friend of mine who stayed in Blk 104 Jalan Bukit Merah, which at that time was under Anson area. She used to tell me stories about JBJ. Her parents even mentioned that their support for JBJ are very strong and don’t the PAP think they can send anyone to replace him.

JBJ was removed from his parliamentary seat back in 1986 by a conviction in Court which was later overturned. He was also sued for defamation.

From that time on, I often see him at Bukit Merah Bus Interchange selling the hammer. Even though I was a poor student back then, I would struggle with the limited money I have to purchase a copy of the hammers just to ’show him my support’.

In May last year, I had the honour of meeting Mr JBJ in person, though not somewhere lavish, a old coffeshop to be precise, it was like a dream come true to be able to sit down and have a coffee with someone I admired from young. The coffeeshop owner, refused to accept payment for the drinks when he knew that one of the drinks in the entire tray was meant for Mr JBJ. That was the respect Mr JBJ has earned for himself through his years of fighting against the establishment.

I shook Mr JBJ hands and told him of my growing up years seeing him selling his newspaper in Bukit Merah Bus Interchange and how proud and honoured I felt being able to meet him in person. The meeting was a informal meet up about the formation of Reform Party.

Mr JBJ spoke at length with us, his conviction and why there was a need to come forward to oppose the current government on the basic fundamentals of democracy and human rights. How he felt his fellow Singaporeans are being deprived of the freedom to speak up, the freedom to stand against injustices and the need for the government to return the power back to the people.

JBJ would listen intently to what we had to say. One thing I noticed about him was the fire in his eyes when he spoke of his convictions, it was full of determination, but when it was my turn to speak, his gaze inevitably becomes “gentler”..That “gentle” side of him is a privilege that not many get to see.

A week or two later, I was overwhelmed when I received a call from Mr JBJ that he wanted to meet me personally for a chat to continue our discussion that day. I was elated. Who would turn down a chat with a great man like Mr JBJ.

I remember going up to his office to meet him and Teck Siong, we went down for a drink at a nearby coffeeshop. Throughout our chat, many strangers walk up to him, shook his hands to thank him for fighting for them. Some are youngsters just like me, who had great respect for him as they held on to his hands for quite awhile. I continued to meet up with him a few more times after that and though I told him I wasn’t ready to join any political party yet, I am willing to help him as and when he needed my help.

I attended the Reform Party’s inauguration dinner in July this year. People from all walks of life came to support him and hear him speak at the dinner. He was a happy man that night, the dinner was such a success and he made a great speech that night.

The last time I saw him was at SDP’s Hawaiian Night dinner. I was at the reception when he greeted me with a warm handshake. He addressed me by my name and asked how I had been. Despite being 82, Mr JBJ was still alert and remembered me. For me to have Mr JBJ calling me by my name was itself an honour.

I was invited to a dinner with Mr JBJ the following Wednesday. I turn down that invitation as I was feeling rather lethargic that night. It was such a waste that I missed my final chance to come up close and personal with Mr JBJ. The dinner as I understand from friends who attended was nice. They shared many ideals and dreams of opposition unity, insights on democracy and human rights.

When I received new of Mr JBJ’s demise early Tuesday morning, I couldn’t quite believe it. Yet I know, the source that informed me, couldn’t possibly be someone trying to pull a fast one.

Soon, news of his demise was announced on TV and Radio. My heart sank. Singapore has lost one of her greatest opposition fighters. I was suppose to meet Siok Chin for breakfast, but we decided to go to TTSH instead to see if we could see him for one last time and help the family in any ways.

We went from TTSH - SGH and finally Singapore Casket. The press were already there waiting when we reached. We met Teck Siong and Edmund there..Mr JBJ’s two sons wanted one last final moments with Mr JBJ and we decided to take our leave.

I attended Mr JBJ’s funeral that very night with Siok Chin, Gandhi and Uncle Bentley. As I stood by Mr JBJ’s saying a little prayer for him, I fought back my tears. I shouldn’t be crying for the loss, but I should have been happy for he could finally rest. I understand that God has been kind to him, even till he breath his last, he did not suffer any pain.

The next day was full of reports from our mainstream Media about the passing on of Mr JBJ. It is nauseating to read article after article of insincere self glorification by members of the establishment, who in the name of sending “letters expressing condolences” had put down nothing nice in the letters.

Perhaps to an opponent who has fought hard against them. They are afterall, still sore despite winning.

Mr JBJ was described as “irrelevant”, “not destined to see through what you have been fighting for”, “trying to demolish PAP and their system of Government”, and one even described JBJ’s ideals as being “ahead of times” - to all these comments, I have only this to say, I am sure what Mr JBJ has been fighting for will not be in vain for there are people like me, who believe in what he has been fighting for, and are prepare to carry on the fight.

Given Mr JBJ’s background, he could have led a luxurious life if he choose not to care or chose to be co-opted into the establishment, yet he choose the harder route to bring about more freedom for us. Even at the expense of being jailed and bankrupted, Mr JBJ still fights on.

Mr JBJ, you are a remarkable man, even though the Lord has taken you, the respect I have for you can never be taken away.

Rest In Peace Mr JBJ, let us carry on the fight towards a democratic society in Singapore and bless us from where you are now.

Goodbye Mr Joshua Benjamin Jeyaretnam.

Re: Unlawful Parking made by Police Vehicles (SIU 3494/2008)
Thursday, 11 September, 2008 2:20 PM
From:”Paul TAN”

—–Inline Attachment Follows—–

Dear Ms Jasly Go,

I refer to your email dated 8 Sep 08.

2 Police have taken internal departmental action against the officers concerned.

Yours sincerely,

Paul Tan
for Quality Service Manager
Singapore Police Force

A friend, who after reading the rubbish article on Zaobao, send me this info ;

i guess the actions will speak for itself that readers are attracted to “extremists”

Need I say more?? haha

Lianhe Zaobao, Saturday 20 Sept 2008

Mr Brown (Blogger Lee Kin Mun)’s hilarious “Bak Chor Mee” blog post shot to fame two years ago just before the General Elections. This incident made Chinese paper readers who usually do not surf the internet start to notice the presence of new media.

Since PM Lee Hsien Loong announced the intention to liberalise the internet and new media hemisphere in the National Day Rally, the government-commissioned new media working group has also expressed in their report that the government should pay more attention to the voices of web users. In addition, they also recommended that the government should examine how to better use the new media communication channel to connect with web users.

The newspapers readers who do not participate in online forums may have the impression that web users have a uniform voice, just like the government uses a uniform approach to propagate its ideologies and policies. Some readers are only aware of the existence of Mr Brown or assume that most bloggers are similar to him.

On the contrary, the blogosphere and mainstream society are the same. They are a common space formed by people with varied viewpoints, inclinations, parties, objectives and temperaments.

If newspaper readers receive emails occasionally from their friends which includes hyperlinks to certain blogs, short videos or critiques that claim to shed the light on certain issues or uncover the wrongdoings of certain political figures, please do not believe them readily, or assume all web users think the same way. Other web users may also have strong opposing opinions, and thus various conspiracy theories and personal attacks abound.

Local English current affairs website “theonlinecitizen.com” is a recent example. This blog was set up after the last General Elections and covers news, interest topics, current affairs comics, columns and even translates part of the articles to mandarin to enlarge its reader base. It offers an alternative view to politics and mainstream media reports and is one of the top local websites of its kind.

However, this week someone resurfaced the conspiracy theories that were the hot topic in february earlier this year in the forum sammyboy.com. The user claimed that the persons in charge of “theonlinecitizen.com” are secretly put in place by PAP to act as internet spies. Allegedly, they offer alternative opinions on the surface, but in reality do not attack the key government blog sites.

The writer went on to claim that mainstream media were listening to instructions from ‘above’ to support “theonlinecitizen.com” and help it to gain popularity and therefore cause the genuine anti-government blogs to lose favour with web users.

These writers also pointed out that the person behind “theonlinecitizen.com” , Andrew Loh had switched allegiance from the PAP to WP and now no longer with WP. The other founder, Choo Zhengxi (NUS Law Faculty undergraduate) had previously worked as the speech writer for the West Coast GRC nominee He Yu Chu, drawing a salary of $500 for five consecutive months. Last but not least, one of the editors of “theonlinecitizen.com”, Liu Chuan Zhi (SMU Political Science undergraduate) is a member of Young PAP and have participated in various grassroots activites and maintains the same blog with the Foreign Affairs Minister.

The writers also highlighted that since the last elections, PAP has established a new media working group headed by the education minister and one of its objectives is to establish 20 communications representatives to participate in online forums and blogs to deflect and object to anti-government messages. It’s claimed that “theonlinecitizen.com” is one of its products.

This sounds like an exciting scene right out of the popular Hong Kong movie “Infernal Affairs”. When interviewed yesterday, the founders of “theonlinecitizen.com” denied that they were a propagation tool set up by PAP. Andrew Loh mentioned that they always used their real names in these activities and had nothing to hide, in contrast to the forum writers who hide behind anonymity.

This is just one of the methods on the internet to ‘dish dirt’ on and slander others. The real truth is of no interest to non web users. However, such online furore has brought to question the issue of whether web space can tolerate moderate, non-extremist opinions.

People who are anti-government likes to congregate in web forums, because they feel that mainstream media does not give them an opportunity to air their views. Hence, they are intolerant of any pro-government voices in such forums. Political blogs and forum topics are frequently critical towards policies, the government and PAP. On top of this, some web users feel that moderate viewpoints have no ‘marketability’ and the arguments that draw the most attention are the most harsh and extremist arguments. Thus, sites like “theonlinecitizen.com” which are moderate and non-confrontational are thus labelled as pro-government.

Highly anti-government web users not only gauge blogs by such benchmarks, they also ask the same of opposition parties. The Workers Party, who successfully placed two members in Parliament, is widely acknowledged as the most successful opposition party, but in the internet world, it is slammed by a small group of web users. They claim that giving WP a vote is equivalent to giving PAP a vote.

During the last elections, Education Minister Ng Eng Hen gave the Workers’ Party a degoratory nickname - ”Wayang Party” (Wayang Kulit Party) which prompted blogger Fang Zhi Yuan to set up a blog named wayangparty.wordpress.com to criticise WP, along with all the other Singaporean opposition parties for doing nothing except putting up a ”wayang’ or ’show’ for Singapore citizens to watch. Fang felt that these opposition parties do not dare to seek redress for the citizens or speak out against the PAP. They are merely there to help PAP validate their claim that Singapore parliament is not a one party monopoly, thereby legitimatizing their authoritarian rule.

However, when some bloggers who blog on current affairs were interviewed, they opined that they will not be demoralised by the small group of extremist views and do not agree that fierce online arguments showed that local web users were immature.

National Solidarity Party leader Mr Goh Meng Seng （singaporealternatives.blogspot.com） said “Extremist viewpoints may draw the attention of people and garner the support of other extremists, but most web users will still want to hear balanced, moderate, mature arguments. This is also the reason why the SDP website is rapidly losing its readers.”

Mr Goh was thrust into the web forums arguments more than one year ago and was forced to leave the “Worker’s Party”, but he does not feel that such extremists online arguments will hinder the general development and maturity of web forum users. “If the web only allowed one form of viewpoint, then it would be no different from communism”.

Mr Zhu has adopted a calm attitude towards the personal attacks against him on online forums. “When someone criticises my opinions of current affairs, I will treat their opinions seriously and debate with him actively. However, I will not be bothered if they launch personal attacks.”

Original Chinese article:

Mr Brown（博客李健敏）令人捧腹大笑的“肉脞面”播客，在两年前的大选期间一炮而红，让许多不常上网的华文报读者也第一次注意到新媒体的存在。

自从李显龙总理在国庆群众大会上表示要开放新媒体空间之后，由政府委任的新媒体咨询理事会也已在所发表的报告书中，建议政府用心聆听网民的声音，并且研究该如何善用新媒体与网民接触。

没参与网络舆论的报纸读者也许会有这样的印象，就如政府有一套上下连贯、横竖统一的思想和说法，即网民的声音也是单一且鲜明的。一些读者也许只认识Mr Brown一个博客，或以为所有的博客都跟他差不多。

其实，网络空间和普通社会是一样的，是一个由不同观点、倾向、派系、目的、脾气的人组成的共同空间。“网民”不是单一、综合的个体，而是分化、分歧的群体。

报纸读者如果偶尔收到朋友传来的电邮，电邮上贴上某某网民的 播客、短片或评论，披露某某事件的“真相”或揭发某某政治人物的“恶行”，可别太快信以为真，或以为所有网民都这么想。因为其他网民也许会有很强烈的相反 意见，于是种种被指为阴谋论的谣言和人身攻击，也开始流传。

本地英文时事评论网站“网络公民”（theonlinecitizen.com）是一个最近的例子。这个博客网是在上一次大选后成立，除了有新闻和专题报道、时事漫画、专栏评论等，也把部分文章翻译成华文，以扩大读者群，对政策和主流媒体的报道提出尖锐批评，点击率在本地同类网站中算是数一数二。

但是，本周有人在热门网络论坛（sammyboy.com）上重提今年二月已炒过一轮的阴谋论。匿名者声称“网络公民”的几名负责人受到人民行动党的幕后主使，是行动党派来渗透互联网的卧底，终极目的是制造一个表面上提出另类观点，但实际上却不攻击政府要害的博客网站。

匿名者称主流媒体因接到“上面”的指示而力捧“网络公民”，使它大受网民欢迎并得以攻下网络空间，以致“真正”批评政府的博客网站失去读者。

这些匿名者还指出，创办人卢鸿佩是从行动党青年团跳槽到工人党青年团的，现在也已离开工人党。另一名创办人朱正熙（新加坡国立大学法律系学生）则曾经当过西海岸集选区议员何玉珠的国会讲稿写手，连续五个月领了每个月500元的津贴。而“网络公民”的编辑之一黎传智（新加坡管理大学政治系学生）则是行青团团员，不但参与基层活动，也跟外交部长杨荣文经营同一个博客。

匿名者也指出，行动党自上届大选过后成立了由教育部长黄永宏医生领导的新媒体委员会，任务之一就是派出20名信息科技达人，以匿名方式进军网络论坛和博客，以驳斥反政府的言论。“网络公民”就是这个委员会的“产品”之一。

这个有如电影《无间道》式的情节，听起来既耸动又刺激。当事人昨天受询时，否认了“网络公民”是行动党工具的说法。卢鸿佩说，他们几个人都以真实姓名写作并参加活动，没有见不得光的勾当，反而对方始终保持匿名，不愿露面。

这只是网上多种“扔泥巴”，以诬蔑别人的其中一种行为，真相到底是什么，网外人也许不会知道，也没太大兴趣知道。不过，这场小骂战却带出了有趣的思考，即网络空间是否能容忍温和的观点？

反政府的人喜欢聚集在网络论坛，因为他们认为主流媒体没有容 下他们的空间。他们于是无法容忍网络空间里有非反政府的言论。政治博客和论坛上的言论倾向批评政策、政府和行动党，少数网民则认为温和的评论没有市场，批 评越尖锐越刺耳，才越能引起共鸣，并吸引眼球。而像“网络公民”这类尝试以较理性、四平八稳的写法呈献观点的博客，则容易被扣上“捧政府”的帽子。

反政府情绪高昂的网民，不但对博客有这样的审核标准，对反对党也有同样的要求。将两名议员送入国会的工人党，被公认为本地最成功的反对党，但在网络空间里却受到一小撮网民唾弃。他们打出“投工人党一票，就等于投行动党一票”的标语。

黄永宏在上一次大选时称工人党（Workers’ Party）为“Wayang Party”（皮影戏党），批评该党光说不练。网民方志远也套用这个词，设立了wayangparty.wordpress.com，批评工人党以及所有新加坡民主党以外的反对党，都只是在跟执政党一起做戏给人民看。他认为反对党都不敢为民请愿，没有实质的反对效用，反而让行动党可以理所当然地说“你看，国会里有反对党，我们不是一党独大”。

不过，几名评论时事的博客受访时，都表示不会因受到少数偏激网民的攻击而灰心，他们也不认为骂战的出现意味着本地网民还不够成熟。

团结党中委吴明盛（singaporealternatives.blogspot.com）说：“偏激的言论也许能哗众取宠，博得一些立场本来就偏激的人拍手叫好，但大多数网民要看的还是客观、成熟的评论，这就是评论一面倒的新加坡民主党网站已大量流失读者的原因。”

他一年多前因卷入网络论坛的骂战而被逼退出工人党，但他也不认为类似涉及“网络公民”的骂战，足以阻挠网络社群的成熟与发展。“如果网络上只允许一把声音，那跟共产党没两样。”

朱正熙也对匿名者在网络论坛上所做的人身攻击处之泰然。“当有人批评我对时事课题所提出的看法时，我会认真地看待并积极同他谈论。但是，如果对方是批评我个人，我才懒得理。”