Coming Elections

[C.S]

i sell ice cream, because i want to do something, not becos i need the money

 

so, dun want to earn ur 1$, cano or not?

i rather throw the ice cream on the ground, to feed ants, rather than sell u

 

:lol:

[BottleCap]

Pple here talking about politics le dan i wan buy ice cream while watching rally le..... -_-... Please be more friendly le.

[C.S]

ur problem

go buy from the other one

[wacko]

from wat i hear,..

the last rally..

it nearly spark a massive riot..

hopefully its not as bad..

[jiaju]

SINGAPORE (AP) -- Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong offered an apology Friday if he offended anyone by saying he would need to "fix" the opposition if they won too many seats in Parliament at weekend elections.

 

Opposition leaders demanded an explanation from Lee after he made the remarks at a campaign rally on Wednesday.

 

In the remarks, Lee said that if the opposition were to hold 10 to 20 seats in Parliament he would have to spend more time dealing with them, which would distract some of his attention from running the government.

 

"Instead of spending my time thinking of what is the right policy for Singapore, I have to spend all my time thinking what is the right way to fix them, what's the right way to buy my own supporters over," Lee said.

 

At a campaign rally on Thursday night, leaders of the opposition Workers' Party demanded an explanation from the prime minister

 

A statement from Lee's press secretary Chen Hwai Liang said, "What (the) PM meant by his remark was that if there were many more opposition MPs in Parliament, the government and opposition would spend all their time and energies countering each other, and Singapore would be worse off for it."

 

"He used direct language to get this important point across to a mass rally crowd. If the exact words he used offended, he is sorry," the statement said.

 

Singaporeans cast their votes Saturday in an election expected to be dominated by Lee's ruling People's Action Party, which has governed the country for more than four decades and is credited with bringing growth and stability to the resource-scarce tiny territory.

 

Opposition parties currently hold two out of 84 elected seats in Parliament, and Lee's People's Action Party hold the rest.

 

© 2006 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Learn more about our Privacy Policy.

 

He has apologized... through his secretary... Shall we move on? Or dwell and harp on this matter?

[leongms]

Here another cut & paste article for your reading pleasure!!!

 

PM sorry? Not from the statement The PM has apologised for saying he would fix the Opposition. Let's dissect his press statement and see if he is truly sorry.

But first, here's the statement, released by his press secretary today. "At the lunchtime rally in UOB Plaza on Wednesday, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong addressed the issue of opposition MPs in Parliament. He said that if the opposition were to hold 10 to 20 seats in Parliament, he would have to spend much more time thinking what was the right way to "fix" them. What PM meant by his remark was that if there were many more opposition MPs in Parliament, the government and opposition would spend all their time and energies countering each other, and Singapore would be worse off for it. He used direct language to get this important point across to a mass rally crowd. If the exact words he used offended, he is sorry."

 

And here's what the PM said, in his own words, as reported by his old faithful, The Straits Times (which removed the offending words in its printed edition): "Supposing you had a Parliament with 10, 15, 20 opposition members out of 80. Then, instead of spending my time thinking of what is the right policy for Singapore, I'm going to spend all my time thinking - what is the right way to fix them, what's the right way to buy my own supporters over, how can I solve this week's problem and forget about next year's challenges?"

 

Point No. 1: Why didn't he say sorry himself? The PAP makes very strong demands of the Opposition. Not only was it unhappy with Mr James Gomez saying sorry; it wants the WP leader to drop him, and it also wants the WP leader to "come clean."

 

Now we ask: Why was it your press secretary who has to apologise on your behalf? Why didn't you personally apologise to the Opposition for saying it? Why didn't you personally apologise to all those Singaporeans who heard you at the rally, on the radio, TV and the internet?

 

Point No. 2: He's no fool to use the wrong words Mr Lee is an Oxbridge graduate, highly intelligent and with an impeccable command of the English language, as evidenced by the words he has used throughout this election and during the past few years as a national leader. He knows the meaning of the word "fix" and especially in the context of the way it was used. He is not a stupid man.

 

Fixing the Opposition is really what the PAP does – and very well, too. From banning the use of podcasts and other technologies, to increasing deposits, to the number of candidates in a GRC, to the regular redrawing of electoral boundaries – these are all tools used to fix the Opposition, even though the PAP keeps saying they want to keep the bar high for political aspirants!

 

Point No. 3: Why no apology to Singaporeans for saying he would buy them over?

In his rally speech, the PM also said he would have to "buy over" the Singapore voter if there were 10, 20 Opposition MPs in Parliament.

 

Why has he ignored the anger among Singaporeans who felt insulted by this statement? Why didn't he apologise to every Singaporean for saying he would buy them over? Are Singaporeans that cheap that he can afford to ignore them?

 

Point No. 4: He wasn't even sorry about the idea of fixing the Opposition

In the statement, it is clear that all Mr Lee was sorry about was the use of language. In other words, he did not give any guarantee that the PAP would NOT fix the Opposition. He left the question unanswered which must mean that the PAP has done that, is doing that and will continue to fix the Opposition.

 

Point No. 5: Why the delay in apologising?

The PM made the remarks at lunchtime on Wednesday. Why has it taken nearly 48 hours to apologise? Was the PAP machinery sleeping? Did he think the scandal would blow away, hoping Singaporeans would miss it? Was he taking Singaporeans for granted, yet again?

 

Point No. 6: It is a conditional apology

You will notice the last sentence which says: "If the exact words he used offended, he is sorry." This means that he is only sorry if people were offended by the exact words, NOT the idea of fixing the Opposition.

 

So if you were not offended by his remarks, then Mr Lee is not sorry. He meant what he said.

 

Point No. 7: If he can't explain something simply, how can he explain bigger and more complex issues facing the nation?

Here is where the problem is. His press secretary, who takes instruction from the man, has to interpret what his boss really meant. Which brings us to the question: What if there was something of great complexity that the nation is facing? How is Mr Lee going to explain it so that the lowly-educated Singaporean as well as the intelligentsia like himself can understand?

 

THE BOTTOM LINE: THE PRIME MINISTER IS NOT SINCERE

From all the above, it is crystal clear that the apology is not sincere at all.

 

My conclusions: This man is not fit to be the Prime Minister. If he cannot handle 10, 20 Opposition MPs, how can he handle bigger issues that would face Singapore in the next five, 10 years?

 

For example, how can he handle the situation when the International Monetary Fund meets in Singapore soon? There will be thousands of protestors from all over the world who will move into Singapore to voice their dissent in front of an eminent gathering of world leaders.

 

How can Mr Lee cope with an angrier, more sophisticated, more cunning, more highly-organised, more powerfully-backed group of dissenters? Wield the same iron fist as he and his father have done successfully in Singapore over the past four decades? You must be joking!

 

If the PM cannot choose words with more care, how can we trust him when he meets world leaders?

 

If he does not have the gall to apologise personally when it comes to a minor issue, how can we expect him to tell us the truth when the issue is far bigger?

 

And finally, if this man is not sincere even in his apology, can we trust him to be sincere when he says to Singaporeans: "Don't worry"?

 

I tell you, I am worried if Singapore is led by such a man! Give me Chok Tong anytime. At least the man's decent and sincere.

[yctradingsg]

me too! i'm a supporter of mr goh too....he's still fit and raring to go....

dunno why he had to step down.

[jiaju]

Nice write up by bro leongms.

 

Since when was he sincere? I remember some negative comments he made in the past.

 

1.)I think the CPF readjustment is good. We did a poll and 8 out of 10

agreed it is good. If it is not good, you would have seen 1million

people protesting at the parade square!

 

Wonderful load of crap. I wonder if any bros/sis remember this statement that he made.

[jiaju]

Does the coming election mean anything to you?

No, never get to vote in my life. [ 2 ] [4.26%]

No, vote or no vote verdict still the same. [ 18 ] [38.30%]

No, what is elections by the way? [ 1 ] [2.13%]

Yes, I get to vote in my area this year. [ 10 ] [21.28%]

Yes, I want the future Singapore to be led by efficient leaders. [ 16 ] [34.04%]

Total Votes: 47

 

Closing the poll. Can see that many do not really care abt the politics. All busy earning money ah.

[DM]

Originally posted by jiaju@May 5 2006, 09:07 PM

agreed it is good. If it is not good, you would have seen 1million

people protesting at the parade square!

interesting... considering the fact that just 5 people holding a peaceful rally at raffles place incurred the wrath of the riot police.

[josefcaballero]

Someone mentioned that we shouldn't completely believe whatever is said, written or shown on the local media. Below is the reason:

 

 

 

SINGAPORE (AFP) - Singapore has again received dismal marks for press freedom in an annual survey, placing it 140th out of 167 countries due to the "complete absence" of independent media in the city-state.

 

Paris-based Reporters Without Borders (RSF), in its World Press Freedom Index for 2005 issued late Wednesday, ranked prosperous Singapore below countries like Afghanistan, Ethiopia, Russia, Sudan and Yemen.

But it was an improvement on Singapore's 147th place in the 2004 edition of RSF's index, which officials here dismiss as a biased Western ranking that favours adversarial media regardless of domestic circumstances.

 

In the 2005 RSF index, the top place was shared by Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Ireland, the Netherlands, Norway and Switzerland. The bottom position went, as it did in 2004, to hardline communist state North Korea.

 

"Singapores low ranking was due to the complete absence of independent newspapers, radio stations and TV stations, the application of prison sentences for press offences, media self-censorship and the oppositions lack of access to the state media," the RSF said in a report accompanying the index.

 

The RSF report coincided with campaigning for Saturday's general election in which the People's Action Party (PAP), which has been in power since 1959, is seeking to retain its almost total control of parliament.

 

The PAP is credited with turning Singapore into one of Asia's richest and most modern societies, but condemned by critics for restrictions on dissent.

 

Foreign publications have paid heavy damages or suffered circulation restrictions after publishing articles critical of Singapore's leaders.

 

In a forum with foreign correspondents last week, Singapore's founding leader Lee Kuan Yew defended the country's record.

 

"We're not going to allow foreign correspondents or foreign journalists or anybody else to tell us what to do," said the 82-year-old former prime minister, who won a new five-year term as an MP after running unopposed.

 

His son, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, is leading the PAP into an election for the first time after inheriting the job from Goh Chok Tong almost two years ago under a pre-arranged succession scheme.

 

Media watchdog RSF said Singapore has exercised a "very sophisticated strategy for silencing Singaporean and foreign journalists ... the threat of heavy fines or distribution bans have sufficed to bring press groups to heel."

 

"Singaporeans have ample access to foreign media, but the two large national press groups, Singapore Press Holdings and Mediacorp, are run by ruling party allies. Their journalists censor themselves on domestic issues although the quality of their international coverage is good."

 

The RSF earlier condemned Singapore's restrictions on political discussions in blogs and websites ahead of the election.

 

Videocasts and podcasts -- recorded messages that can be downloaded over the Internet -- cannot be used for campaign purposes.

 

All political party websites and overtly political blog sites have to be registered with a media regulator.

 

excerpt taken from AFP on yahoo asia

[archenemy]

sorry to dwell on the gomez issue...

 

ok..he might not have submitted his minority candidate form...he may have lied about it...

 

but all this is a political manoeuvre wat..to create an illusion that he is to contest AMK but in the end contest Aljunied..

 

i dont see anything wrong..have the PAP not resorted to political manoeuvreing? they are using the popularity of SM Goh to support Sitoh & Eric Low isnt it? thats a tactic as well...because they know no one will contact SM Goh on his home ground..

[FoOLs]

Originally posted by Aldebaran@May 5 2006, 07:48 PM

me too! i'm a supporter of mr goh too....he's still fit and raring to go....

dunno why he had to step down.

Bcoz theres a father and son in there ruling...

 

I dun c any SM or MM in other country like in sillypore

[Throttle]

Actually, all the rallies and talk have not been impressive nor charismatic nor passionate. maybe Singaporeans cant talk or express themselves well enough.

 

As a voting adult, what i am not bothered to see during campaigning is the childish arguments betweens parties about who can or cannot, who has or has not. Simply pinpointing each others mistakes doesnt make either party a better choice to me.

 

Just be honest and truthful and passionate about what you would want to do or hope to do for the people and outline the pathway that is feasible to go about doing it. Address the worries, joys and inspiration of the people and show sincerity, kindness or strength to overcome adversities. Identify the situation and be able to accept that while there are differences, there are common goals that even opposing parties can agree to.

[yctradingsg]

i await the peoples' choice....hope justice will prevail

[C.S]

HOUGANG returns to WP

Potong Pasir returns to SDA

[calyban]

after observing the polling results, i suddenly realised that li ao's comment on the stupidity of sgporeans might be more accurate than we would like to accept.

 

ppl keep grousing bout the policies and plans that the govt churns out from the parliament, but dun realise that the proportion of representation seats in the parliament is already grossly skewed. Instead of increasing the voices which are capable of representing our dissent on these large issues in the parliament, we stifle them for the sake of 'carrot' precints upgrades and transient beautification of our immediate neighbourhood.

 

can a society's whose govt are already decided by 'default' votes be still considered as democratic?

 

anyway, cant help feeling that we are such narrow-sighted fools...

[bobo_rider]

Finally the show is over... haiz... got vote like no vote... everything still remain.

[-PeNsKe-]

PAP juz won the election and on my way back juz now i already saw 2 TPs on the rd and 1 hiding at 1 corner. Maybe to take back the Progress Package tat they given out. :nono:

[C.S]

Originally posted by -=[PeNsKe]=-@May 7 2006, 01:26 AM

PAP juz won the election and on my way back juz now i already saw 2 TPs on the rd and 1 hiding at 1 corner. Maybe to take back the Progress Package tat they given out. :nono:

 

i saw them too

 

 

NO WAY AM I RETURNin them my Progress Package

[hydrop]

I still think the 1991 elections more exciting....most is like 55% vs 45% kind of match.

 

[yctradingsg]

congrats mr low tia kiang and chiam see tong.

 

this election has quite a close voting percentage.

to think amk grc wasn't won by a HUGE percentage, given it was out PM's home ground. guess he must be quite pissed too.

Look at aljunied GRC. Sylvia Lim seems to be doing quite a good job. the results show that singaporeans aren't that affected by the gomez incident. mr yeo should be counting his blessings that he got back the seat and not being so proud. His was the nearest percentage GRC. Imagine if there wasn't the gomez incident...maybe WP would have won the GRC. and damned...tampines was lost....

[Aie]

No surprise this time round. Still the same as before. 2 oppositions and the rest PAPs...

[hydrop]

I think they should make the release of results like the project superband/superstar like that....candidates stand on the stage and those with lights under their feet win....like that more exciting hee hee....

 

[SanzZ]

Originally posted by hydrop@May 7 2006, 02:17 PM

I think they should make the release of results like the project superband/superstar like that....candidates stand on the stage and those with lights under their feet win....like that more exciting hee hee....

 

hahaha..i tink u tink too much liao..