Presidential Election 2011

[matrix0405]

http://www.sgpolitics.net/?p=7053


Written by Ng E-Jay
19 August 2011

An Open Letter to Dr Tony Tan

Dear Dr Tony Tan,

I do not support booing. I believe there are far better ways for voters to express their disapproval of your candidacy, such as voting against you on polling day.

However, do you know why you were booed? Do you know why people turned up at the nomination centre to call you “jiak liao bee” — a Hokkien slang meaning “good for nothing”? Do you know why some people shouted the name of your son Patrick (NOT that I would EVER condone such behaviour)? Do you know why the crowd chanted “nonsense” at the end of your speech?

Booing of election candidates happens very often in developed countries. The Prime Minister of Australia has been pelted and booed. It is boorish and unproductive behaviour that should never be encouraged. However, what happened on nomination day in Singapore was a different matter.

The ruling People’s Action Party (PAP) governed Singaporeans with an iron fist for much of our nation’s history since independence. In the early years, the government under former Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew shut down civic organizations, eradicated political opposition, and co-opted all influential segments of society to serve the PAP’s interest exclusively.

As cabinet minister from 1980 to 1991, and later, from 1995 to 2005, Singaporeans see you as part of that enormous PAP machinery that hollowed out civil society and clamped down on freedom of speech and expression. Unlike Dr Tan Cheng Bock who was a PAP MP from 1980 to 2006, you never offered vociferous opposition to policies and governmental actions that manifestly served the party’s rather than the people’s interest.

For a long time, the mainstream press has been part of this machinery that perpetuated PAP’s dominance and kept dissenting voices from being aired. As Chairman of Singapore Press Holdings (SPH) from 2005 to 2011, you remain in the minds of the younger generation a potent symbol of how the government has muzzled citizens. You are seen as part of the force that has tried to hold back change.

You have been openly and repeatedly endorsed by key PAP ministers, as well as trade unions, clans, and other civic organizations that have no businesses entering the political arena. I do not know if all this endorsement will work in your favour, but I certainly hope they backfire. These endorsements tell me you are not independent as you claim to be.

Singaporeans have lost life and limb serving National Service. All they ask in return is that every citizen is treated equally and fairly. Yet when the time came to be transparent and forthright about your son’s 12-year deferment, you were neither. You had one chance to set the record straight, but you fled like an apparition encountering the first rays of the morning sun.

You have participated in defamation suits that ultimately led to the bankruptcy of J.B. Jeyaretnam and Tang Liang Hong.

You were a silent supporter of the 1987 ISA arrests unlike Mr Chiam See Tong, who despite not being in the PAP inner circle, knew that those arrests were a breach of human rights and had the courage to speak his mind in Parliament in defence of those 22 innocent social workers.

Compared to the suffering of these people, your being booed on nomination day pales in comparison.

In a nutshell, other candidates were cheered while you alone were booed because other candidates want Singaporeas to overcome their shackles and aspire to greater heights, but you alone want Singaporeans to be content with the status quo.

Singaporeans are no longer content to remain in shackles or to accept the status quo. They want change. You do not represent change. You represent an era of government oppression that held back change and incarcerated or even bankrupted those who campaigned for change.

I do not believe you should be booed. But I firmly believe you should not be president. You do not deserve that honour.

[growie]

concern2:

Strparent, didn't know TCB is a Teochew! Very funny video! Thanks for sharing.

Agreed..the first video was very funny and well scripted!! I enjoyed it tremendously. Tks Strparent. :imcool: :rotflmao:

[growie]

concern2:

3Boys:

Is Chinese fluency a key criteria to be President? I have no opinion on the matter, just curious as to what people are thinking.

It isn't, 3Boys. But perhaps TT is trying to win the votes of the NEW CITIZENS?

Never cross my mind on that...but highly probable. It is not a pre-requisite to be able to speak Chinese fluently to be deemed capable to be a President. He can always engage a Chinese tutor to improve on his speech and diction.
But my mind will wander off once TT speaks. His art of answering in circles and the endorsement by the various clans, business associations & other 'heavy weights' just kinda backfire. IMHO :sad:

[kittybank]

Can someone pls pls tell me where to view tt’s speech in mandarin? I need that to motivate my kids.

[Rafy]

you can find it on CNA website

[kittybank]

Rafy:

you can find it on CNA website

:thankyou: heng ah, didn't ask ds to watch before his oral exam.

[verykiasu2010]

wormy:

Rafy:

you can find it on CNA website

:thankyou: heng ah, didn't ask ds to watch before his oral exam.

can tell your DS it is negative demo mah .....

[kittybank]

verykiasu2010:

can tell your DS it is negative demo mah .....

Ya hor, the NOT to do list

[3Boys]

First of all, i find the use of the word ‘potato’ to be pejorative, and having been inflicted with it by a hardline Chinese teacher in my p-school days, find it particularly disgusting. My Chinese language education experience can be found in a different thread and i shan’t repeat. Therefore, in my view, the appointment of an education minister who is steeped in a particulate culture and second language, and has found the going easy, quite possibly, is the worst outcome. Particularly now that a large proportion of Singaporean children do not in fact speak mother tongue at home, and for any potential ed minister to then impose some unrealistic standard or approach would be disastrous.

[Strparent]

wormy:

Can someone pls pls tell me where to view tt's speech in mandarin? I need that to motivate my kids.

Hi Wormy, below link as posted earlier.
( How Not To Read Hanyu Pinyin on placards :siam: )

Strparent:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_t6iW5FjrWs. pls click for link

Glad this election campaign also throws up some laughter and humour.