Zainal Abidin is a new name to me. Upon googling, I was surprised to learn that he's been a Minister of State for the past five years. In that period of time, I wrote about 800 articles about Singapore's current affairs. The fact that Zainal managed to entirely escape my notice for that long suggests to me that in that time, he had done .... NOTHING .... that was noteworthy to me.
Lim Hwee Hua has been in charge of public transport. Sorry, Hwee Hua, that means you get an instant black mark in my book. Public transport standards in Singapore have fallen drastically in the past five years. The trains and buses are way too crowded, the MRT stations are slowly rotting away and leaking rainwater, and I even have the photos to prove it. What happened to your quality controls?
Ong Ye Kung is a relative newcomer to the political scene. He is a unionist from NTUC. In some other countries, being a unionist is a badge of honor and it would be fair to assume that the person is committed to defending the rights of ordinary workers. In Singapore, things are very different and it has been largely impossible, since the events in 1968, to make such an assumption. So Ong has nothing in his CV that makes me want to vote for him.
Last and possibly least, we have Cynthia Phua. This name I recognise, and back in May 2008, I also blogged about a Straits Times article which quoted her. Alas, the ST article contains nothing that would make me regard her more positively. On the contrary, re-reading that ST article now just makes me feel wary about what clever new ideas the PAP might come up with, to extract more money from Aljunied residents.
I reproduce below my blog post from 2008 - it's entitled Aljunied Town Council and A Matter of Principle.
Those interested in the full story from 2008 should click on the earlier link and read all the comments too (plus the my related post dated 12 May 2008).ST May 5, 2008Would it be right, as a matter of principle, for Aljunied Town Council to raise conservancy charges in the manner proposed above? Let's discuss.
Aljunied trash index aims to wipe out litterbugs
Conservancy fees may be tied to index, with dirtiest precincts paying more
By Alfred Siew
TIRED of hardcore litterbugs, Aljunied GRC plans to start measuring the cleanliness of its precincts under a new litter index to be introduced in October.
Officials also said they will consider raising the conservancy charges for the dirtiest precincts to cover the extra work that goes into maintaining them.
The index, the first of its kind in Singapore, was unveiled on Saturday by the GRC's Members of Parliament. They said that it was designed to encourage residents to change their attitudes towards tossing trash.
Aljunied Town Council chairman Cynthia Phua said that the index would be based on the cleanliness of lifts, the condition of public property and how large pieces of rubbish are disposed.
She told The Straits Times yesterday that the council would tie conservancy charges to the index only if it found an objective measure of cleanliness. The plan is under consideration and would not be confirmed until next year, she said.
The most obvious objection is that all the residents in the dirty precincts would have to pay higher conservancy charges, even though the large majority of them may be civic-minded residents who do not litter.
Once again, it would be a case of innocent Singaporeans being punished for a wrong they did not commit and could not personally prevent.
It is one thing to catch a litterbug and impose a fine on him. It is quite another thing to impose a fine (or a higher conservancy charge) on a resident, just because he happens to live in an area with more litterbugs around.
All the residents are already paying their usual conservancy charges. The amount they currently pay is already more than enough to maintain the cleanliness of the Aljunied GRC area. Check out the Aljunied Town Council's financial statements yourself.
In the 2006/2007 financial year, the Aljunied town council collected $31,955,492 in conservancy and service fees. They spent only $4,237,162 on cleaning works.
Their accumulated surplus for the year, as at 31 March 2007, was $4,964,022. Which means that in 2006/2007, they could have spent DOUBLE the amount they actually did, on cleaning works, and still have money left over.
Just as a side point, what about their gigantic sinking funds? Check out the Aljunied Town Council's balance sheet. They have more than $90,000,000 in surpluses accumulated over the years. And yes, the bulk of which would have come from the conservancy and service fees paid by Aljunied residents.
Of that amount, $36,270,609 is reported to be sitting in the bank as fixed deposits. Another $44,045,035 is reported as being held for "trading investments". What's that? On further inspection, we see that it means $12,587,775 invested in stocks; $21,082,590 invested in bonds; and $11,981,315 invested in unit trusts.
Does the Aljunied Town Council sound poor to you?
(The sinking funds can't be used for general cleaning works, but their enormous size raises other sorts of questions, which I'll discuss in a future post).
64 comments:
Cynthia Phua looks like a fat pig.
Not like me, demure and slim. LOL :)
Hey, it sounds like what they do in the army. The sargents punish the whole platoon if one guy screws up. If that guy screws up too many times, then the whole platoon gets mad and then throws a blanket party. Maybe that's how they want it to work.
Well, if they want to fine residents in an area, just because there are mor elitterbugs, maybe they could try implementing this on the WHOLE of Singapore, because we are all one nation, one people, and one Singapore....then, we will see whether there is really any real acceptance of it......Uniquely Singapore! (brrrr......in a corner)
Hwee Hwa was "bottom of the PAP heap" (to quote George) in the last election when she contested with George & co. in Aljunied. And yet PM goes and annoys Singaporeans by promoting her into PMO despite her poor performance in the polls.
Today, PM was singing her praises as a meticulous person but the traits he mentioned are traits needed in a sycophantic secretary not a politician. She also gives lousy interviews: "we enjoyed working with Aljunied residents, we hope to work with them again" How BORING and bland. She deserves to be kicked out.
I should point out that a few days later in 2008, Cynthia claimed that she had been misquoted / misunderstood and that she had never meant to charge the residents more money.
You've never heard of Zainul because he handles foreign affairs and on the topic, our foreign affairs is in bad shape. S'poreans are now enjoying false security because our govt doesnt bother to cultivate people in neighbouring countries. MFA only issues endless kosong statements. Or fighting with our neighbours by making ill-considered remarks.
Hwee Hwa, I believe is Ho Ching's friend. So, you can understand the plot.
is she the same person that had a boy slammed a chair out of frustration ?
http://singaporemind.blogspot.com/2009/05/boy-arrested-for-slamming-chair-at-mp.html
And yet the PAP claimed that all their chosen ones are tested and capable.
I am starting to believe that they were rated capable, more likely in fouling up and moving out.
This goes to show that the GRCs are the perfect cover for the poor performers. It will be difficult to single out who does well and who does not deliver.
Could GRC have been used to reward supporters? Because many of these candidates could never have won on his/her own merits.
Hwee Hwa is Ho Ching friend; Tin Peh Ling is wife of PPS. Ah soh! we get the plot.
No wonder they can proclaim who is ministerial material, even before they are elected.
Like a magician, it is all a rope trick.
we had magic in tanjong pager. according to LKY, they don't just pull out rabbits from magicians hat but that was what happened. our pap all magicians & clairvoyants hahaha
Anonymous said...
And yet the PAP claimed that all their chosen ones are tested and capable.
I am starting to believe that they were rated capable, more likely in fouling up and moving out.
This goes to show that the GRCs are the perfect cover for the poor performers. It will be difficult to single out who does well and who does not deliver.
May 2, 2011 11:05 PM
PAP is very smart. Once someone is made a minister, they are never kicked out no matter how bad a mistake they make. This is so that they can claim that their people are of high calibre.
With this policy, opposition do not have any examples of bad selections. But on the other hand, you see poor performing ministers stay on until they retire.
Mr Wang, I'm also a resident in Aljunied. If I'm not wrong, we are already paying one of the highest conservancy charges in Singapore. Is it fair to charge the residents more when the PAP town councils are already sitting on so much surpluses? I think the they have forgotten what the convervancy charges are intended for, just like why they are running as candidates now.
Not just ministers stay on until retire, our ambassadors also! chang heng chee for example
PAP use town council funds to invest and then got burnt. Nobody took responsibility for it, right?
The fact that the PAP town councils had so much surpluses to gamble away in stocks already means they have been overcharging conservancy charges to residents.
And does one realise that the surpluses are more than adequated to pay for all the Lift Upgrading Programmes without requiring the residents to pay anything. The fact that they say there are only charging a token fee is in fact another con job and for the PRs, a real rip off.
PAP is not known to be both cunning and calculative for no reason.
Wang, on this I may differ with you. The higher fees may not be fair for "heppened to live" in the area. But it prompts people into action. It makes people more aware and might even make people start catching litterbugs. Good way to push residents into action.
Which to my next point, if you (not you really, but everyone else who) want your MPs changed, what do you do? Wait to vote?
Or start talking to your neighbours to reduce fear of voting for the candidates you both like, or even rationalise and convert them to voting the same choice?
What are Singaporeans doing really? Sitting our butts out and hope that Facebook, Twitter and Youtube are miracles.
Fat hope I say.
I stay in Taman Jurong. Last time was a nice guy MP call Ravi. Now is a Minister Tharman. You see, we have to walk through this big patch of grassland to reach Lakeside MRT station.
Under Ravi, it took them 2 elections to build a road on the mudpath. Tharman took another 2 terms promising shelter on that path, but nothing came up.
Now looking at the elections map, then I realise how difficult it is for my MP to get the project done.
You see, that grass patch happens to belong to ANOTHER GRC. Although both are under PAP, somehow they can't seem to help each other! =(
Is this the same Cynthia Phua?
http://singaporemind.blogspot.com/2009/05/boy-arrested-for-slamming-chair-at-mp.html
Right on the night of nomination day 27 April, Zainul made house visits to my area. He had a big entourage (around 10) of people with him.
This is only the 2nd time I see him since 2001, when he first became MP for my area. The first time was in 2006 election.
Every day during the May Day long weekend, PAP lorries were going round blaring messages to vote for them.
I also see their posters everywhere.
In contrast the Workers Party for Aljunied only slotted a pamphlet into my letter box.
There were no visits, not even posters of them.
So you can see how much resources, people and material, PAP has, as compared to the opposition.
The last time i saw an empty PAP lorry blaring out the message, except for the driver and the pictures of PAP candidates. There you have it, only paper PAP MPs are serving us!
Can we publicise all these blog posts and comments so that we have better information and people will not feel so conflicted about not voting for George Yeo's team?
I had the opportunity to meet with one of the MP's spouse in a professional setting some time last year and I left feeling somewhat disturbed - when I recounted the situation word-for-word to 2 separate colleagues who had worked at the top of their profession for 20 to 30 years, the only comment I get is "Wow, so rude and patronising! Can you not work with him?"
And now, I read about how Cynthia Phua and Lim Hwee Hwa tried to charge a frustrated 17 year old Singaporean boy for slamming a chair in the door, and thus land him with a criminal record, instead of trying to help him via counselling (anger management) and easing the pressure on his family, I know that these are obnoxious people who do not care for nor empathise with the masses.
A recent conversation with an anti-PAP guy showed that he still feels something for George Yeo, whom he credits for pushing through the FTAs - I'm not sure about this, but I wonder whether this is enough for voters to tolerate a at-best tidak-apa team and turn away the best opposition team in a long while, a team that is significant for Singapore's development as a healthier democracy and country.
Look FTAs are not enough to base your foreign policy on. PAP is all about trade, GDP, facts and figures. Ask yourselves this: Do Malaysians like us? Do Indonesians like us? Do Thais like us? No. Because of our foreign policy - always so cocky with neighbours.
I remember some years back, George Yeo, as Foreign Minister, was reported to have made some comments about Taiwan at the UN assembly.
The Taiwan foreign minister then was not appreciative of that and perhaps even angry, by calling Singapore a "peesai". (Hokien for small dried nose snot).
So much for foreign diplomacy.
And please do not forget...
Some of these FTA...especially the ones with India requires Singapore to open its PMET and many professions to India's fresh "graduates" to replace local professionals and malaysians PRs (who were the original ones doing the job stealing)...
Seems PAP is more interested in protecting their own interests than Singapore & its people.
Stoopigs!
Leaving aside the track record of the PAP (which is good all things considering, over the past 50 years), as well as the good job they could conceivably do in the next 5 years, my biggest fear is that a system of government like ours currently is open for abuse of power.
Yes, our past and current ministers are ok but what's to say that we don't get a new PM who becomes a dictator and abuses power? Who is going to stop him? We don't have the parliamentary system to stop him as we have no opposition to stop any constitutional changes. A one party parliament can theoretically amend constitution to do away with elections altogether (well they have been gerrymandaring anyway so it has been proven to have happened before).
This is a serious matter all Singaporeans need to be concerned about. Students of history know that such abuses have happened before and so can also happen again.
Ong Ye kung (new PAP candidate in Aljunied) said Mr Yeo 'skilfully pulled together' trade ministers from the world over during the Doha World Trade Organisation talks in 2001.
And look at where Doha is today? Still unfinished. They talk nonsense
Saw Phaik Hwa is also Ho Chng's friend!!!
I think the PAP should stop going on like a broken record on their broken record.
The voter revolt is basically because of the poor performance for the past 5 year track records. HDB, Mas Selamat (Took, etc), YOG, FT, PM having to "save" NEH over MT issue, etc.
This is what I call not knowing the ground.
Now we are told that Mr George Yeo would be a loss if he loses in Aljunied GRC. In other words he is indispensable. I thought it is a well trotten argment of the Government that NOBODY is indispensable and that a SUCCESSION plan should be in place? So what has happened to all the flaunted management theories the government hires foreign consultants to tell us poor serfs?
In any case no matter how INDISPENSABLE Mr George Yeo is he is ONKY INDISPENSABLE as Foreign Minister and not as Senior Minister unless I am wrong. In which case it would be an honest mistake.
Concerned Citizen.
Your worry is true and valid. Ask what you can do for this country?
There are few scenarios that Singaporeans must understand in this GE2011:
1. More voices but no change - To have less than 1/3 opposition seats in parliament will not change anything already done, e.g. cost of living, FTs, property prices, etc except that opposition MPs can make more noises and suggestions that PAP in majority may not listen. There is also a risk that PAP back in power will find ways to suppress all oppositions so that there will not be any chance of voting like in this GE2011.
2. Partial change - To have more than 1/3 and less than 2/3 opposition seats will be likely to change some already done as above but will not change the Constitution that allows GRC, NMP, NCMP, and election boundary redrawing. PAP will still be in power or sharing power with oppositions. This may be harder for PAP in power to diminish the oppositions.
3. Complete change - To have more than 2/3 opposition seats means the alternative party will be the government and PAP the opposition. This can change everything including the Constitution. However, Singaporeans must make sure the elected government rewrites the Constitution to abolish those ill clauses and introduce check and balance clause. Also, to ensure Constitution is not allowed to change without referendum. Otherwise, the next non-PAP government may have the chance to abuse the Constitution as well.
Basically, this GE2011 is not about local town upgrading, FTs, or cost of living, etc. It is about whether Singaporeans would like to take back the political power and have a say on the future of Singapore. Once the people take back the power, they can then have a say on how to run this country and all those policies and problems will be resolved to their preference.
Singaporeans must vote wisely on 7 May to decide what they want in the future.
Dear Mr Wang
I noticed that one of the postings uses the phrase "an honest mistake". Not having been educated at Balliol or Corpus Christi I am a trifle bemused. I write to bother you with a possible answer in particular as I never see my elected MP since he obviously is too busy with other matters and therefore cannot be blamed for ignoring citizens at large. I see his face on posters nowadays but my father used to tell me that you should never judge a book by its cover. So that is not very helpful to me.
In any case to come back to my question. I do ramble being old and that could be one reason the MP never gets round to seeing my friends and I. we tend to ask too many questions and I know that he is a busy man.
Still to the question now: I know what the meaning of a "mistake" is.
But what exactly is an "honest mistake"?
Are there "dishonest mistakes" then? And if so what is "dishonest" and what is "honest"?
Good article to remind Singaporeans what the rest of the Aljunied A-Team of the PAP looks like.
Can you also do one for Marine Parade.. it will be good to vote this team out also...
Had this conversation with one of my family members (older generation - 60 years and above), and oe of them indicated that the fatimah... was a cocky bi..h. However she is still getting most of the Malay votes, and now they include a Tin Kate Spate? my god what next... 1st time in 19 years to vote in the Marine Parade GRC. Having to register every year to vote overseas and with obstacels after obstacles, requesting of information they clearly have in their immigration data. To perhaps snare you for any minutest of mistake since this is a statutory declaration.
No brainer to know who I will vote for..
I freeze everytime PAP asks me to think about the "future". You see, maybe they don't realise how contradictory and self-inflicting it is to ask us to think of the "future".
The "future" to me raises question which I have to make reference on PAP's past 5 years' records. And by all counts, they have been dismay for the past 5 years.
Do I want my kids to be unable to afford a HDB in the "future"? Mah has been unwilling, to put it mildly, to assure us that new HDB flats will be within an acceptable range and acceptable SIZE. S$200k for 50sqm flat you want? Then it's your fault for not having kids, despite not having space to house them.
Do I want to be made obsolete due to age and PRICE because we don't have much of an economic direction except to be a CHEAP MANUFACTURER?
Do I want to put my faith in a group of people who broken my trust by fielding candidates who are arrogant and tells me Singapore cannot survive with a smaller SAF budget, and an obvious flop who loves a certain branded bag, refuse all other economic suggestions even after theirs failed?
What kind of "future" can I see with this team?
If PAP wants our votes, please, at least be sincere. Show us your CONCRETE plans. Blasting others for not having something that you also don't have, does not help your cause. I am still willing to vote PAP, IF they show me CONCRETE plans that we can agree to.
Yes, wise enough to understand that
You either vote for short term gain but long term pain or
Vote for short term pain but long term gain.
I chose the latter over the last 20 years in Hougang.
I do not regret nor do I need to repent. The ones who punished Hougang and Potong Pasir residents are the ones needing to repent when the time comes.
With all respect, is PAP telling us that only GY is indispensable? So we can vote out all other Ministers?
If all Ministers are indispensable, then is PAP forcing Singaporeans to vote 100% PAP in all GRCs?
If all Ministers are indispensable, why can't PAP put all of them into Tanjong Pagar so we will not be emotionally stressed on having a good Opposition team we have waited for DECADES and an indispensable member to PM Lee?
I don't think we should be held responsible for PAP failing to plan properly?
Thank you.
@ Anon, 3 May 2.04PM.
What is long term? It is a cumulation of many short terms. If you cannot survive the short term, you don't have any long terms!
I live in Hougang Ave 1, under Aljunied GRC. Sometime last year they raised the conservancy charges
(together with JurongGRC). I wrote in to he TC manager, not once but twice and have yet to receive a reply.
I wrote that iso of raising charges, they should think of ways to cut costs.
If you were to tour around the GRC, you would find hugh spotlighted billboards boardering everying few blocks. These serve no purpose other than to propagate the presence the the 5 MPs in the area as they change the banner displays on every festive occasion.
The money definitely do not come from PAP but from the TC, paid by residents.
If you ask around,bearing an upset ,Aljunied GRC is good as lost for the incumbents
George Yeo was the Minister who pushed for the casino in 2004/5.
Most of the other Aljunied GRC MPs also didn't say no to the casino during the Parliament debate in 2005..
I think this turns many people off them..
PM Lee apologised for the past 5 years' "track record". I moved me. I feel sad that my Prime Minister has to aplogise to us. I hold the political office in high esteem. I believed they were great people.
I will vote for PM Lee, for his current humbility. That we have driven him to his knees, saddens me. Read my words properly. I will vote for PM LEE.
I cannot bring myself to vote for the rest. Those high and mighty "get out of my elite uncaring face", "I am sorry it has happened", "only once in 50 years", "I was caught offguard", "bring my parents to Universal Studios", "you want to eat at hawker or resturant", "YOG is money well spent", etc etc.
PM Lee, we, the citizens of Singapore feel for you. We love you as our leader, and we will stand by you. But not the people who have caused you such defeat, and turned our opinions against you. If they cannot feel the pain of their boss, cannot be humble as their boss, PM, please forgive us for doing the necessary, by voting them out.
We believe you can find better men and women after these elections. Take heart PM, you still have us for your humbility.
That is exactly why we need more opposition MPs in Parliament.
The PAP MPs will tell you they are not yes-men or women, but as one candidate said, they may debate the issue, but of what use? They still voted in favour of having the casinos.
And crying later to repent?
Anon 2.12
Who says I cannot survive the short term? I have voted for the opposition for the last 20 years. I have survived more short terms than you can imagine.
Same can be said of my courageous Hougang neighbours and friends.
We are not that daft and stupid as described by MM. We don't just swallow the propaganda vomit of the PAP, like some people, and still support them blindfolded.
Check this out.. how many MPs actually said NO to the casino
http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:KWcTjDW_asEJ:iamsg.blogspot.com/2011/05/who-said-yes-to-casino.html+iamsg.blogspot.com&cd=2&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=sg&source=www.google.com.sg
Cynthia Phua - my wife saw her in 'action' one day at a Fairprice outlet just before CNY. She was shopping for mandarin oranges and was accompanied by an personal assistant of sort and the outlet's manager who was no doubt instructed to dance attendance upon her.
My wife wished she had her camera with her when she saw CP nonchalantly stacked boxes and boxes of oranges on the poor assistant's arms oblivious to the weight and height as the poor guy struggled to balance the boxes of fruits cradled in his arms. There were trolleys in the supermarket, yet no attempt was made by her to use one.
That's the sort of PAP MP we have.
having an alternative voice in parliament sounds very attractive.. what we need is a reliable and credible team who can deliver what they promised and i am not sure if WP team can do so. shd we play safe or take a risk?
We take a bigger risk by entrusting everything to one party.
I am a Christian and I take offence to the word "REPENT" the Old Dying Man used. He has been a lawyer and is very well versed in the English Language. Therefore, no excuses or leeway can be given. He has always chosen his words calculatively. So this word REPENT is not a slip of tongue made in the heat of elections, nor can it be attributed to old age syndrome.
(If he has problems with old-age syndrom or with his mind, then he should not have stood for Elections in this GE2011, and be returned 'unopposed' through an underrhand technicality of 35 seconds late.)
To tell us to repent means he considered himself GOD, or near-God.
Actually, he is the one who should repent and apologise to all Singaporeans for the sufferings that he has inflicted upon us.
His son, who started the casinos, should repent for generations to come.
George Yeo, the one who proposed the Casinos under the cunning guise of Integrated Resorts, should repent and pay the rettributions!
Who the hell the PAP thinks they are? What arrogance and uncaring attitude! Their elistist mentality and behaviour have become the unashamed hallmark of their rule in recent years.
Singaporeans, if still have any balls left, should unite and cast a resounding unmistakable voice loud and clear to this bunch of self-enriching, self-righteous unrepentants and irresponsible elitist hypocrites.
May God have mercy upon you, PAPPIES!
Heard that the PAP is supremely confident of victory. With the exception of Aljunied, they have put down the deposits for the victory celebrations of yet another 5 good years !
In the off chance than George and Co somehow survive, they have even made contingency plans for extra tables at the Marine Parade celebration.
Oh yeah, they always are supremely confident.
In Hougang, in 2006, the chikus were ripe for them to pick, they proclaimed. It turned out that Low Thia Khiang was the one picking the chikus.
Did they make contingency plans for empty tables as well, just in case? They should.
Anon 3:35pm,
Great link, it turns out Lim Boon Heng actually said yes to the casino. I thought in his speech he was against it? Either he was lying or he didn't want to vote but was forced by 'group-think'. No wonder he cried. After voting yes against his will he still got kicked out and lost his million dollar salary.
Lim Boon Heng was against the casino, before he accepted it finally. His parliament speech was basically saying he accepted it, with great reluctance..
This case was featured in Dream Potter Episode 7, i think the son's name is Kevin.
Aurvandil said...
"Heard that the PAP is supremely confident of victory."
---------------------------
If PAP is supremely confident, then there could be something up its sleeves, e.g. switching the ballot boxes mid-way while they are being conveyed to the counting centre from the 870 balloting centres.
Do the Opposition Parties have sufficient manpower to trail the vehicles that covey the bollot boxes to the Counting Centre to ensure nobody does anything to them on the way?
Even if there are sufficient people to follow those vehicles, will the Opposition Parties' representative be obstructed from following these vehicles?
Is there any way that the ballot boxes could be switched at the Counting Centre?
How sure are we that pre-prepared duplicate voting slips already marked in favour of the Papies have been stored in balloting boxes in some secret place either at the Counting Centre or in special vehicles parked at the Counting Centre?
Is there 100 PER CENT Safety and Security that the Ballot Boxes won't be switched in one way or another?
Food for Thought, no?
Let me quote you an example: I lived in that "famous A" GRC, and we get flyers left on our main gates. I'll usually threw away those left on my gate the correct way. However, my nieghbour simply ignore them and sometimes these flyers landed on the floor of the corridor. I can see the same flyer on the floor for days even though the cleaner do come up to my level to "sweep" the floor. However, miraclously, last week and this week my corridor was very CLEAN.
I love elections.
They give money, they apologise, they 'try' (not promise) to do better next time, the PM even has to wait at the MRT entrance to shake my hand.
Yeah, for a few days I feel like the master.
Silly me, the feeling will not last.
"flyers still left on corridor"
BTW I forgot to add that I'm paying $39 for 3-room flat. Also, because of financial difficulties 3years ago, I was late in paying the S&CC for 3 months. Guess what they sent me a legal demand letter and of course the legal fee was charged to me.
"In the 2006/2007 financial year, the Aljunied town council collected $31,955,492 in conservancy and service fees. They spent only $4,237,162 on cleaning works. "
The cleaners used to wash my flat in the Aljunied constituency once a month. In the last 6 months, I think they have washed it, perhaps, 4 times. I wrote in to the TC on 1st May that the flat was not washed in April. Strangely, it got washed today.
I spoke with the Bangla cleaner a few months ago. He told me he works from 6am and finishes work after midnight. He does not get days off, except for half day on Sunday. How much as these guys paid? Is Aljuned TC abusing these workers? Where is the $4m going?
This seems a bit personal. But I've always wondered about LHH's status as 2nd minister of Finance versus her husband's entrepreneurial activities as founder of Tembusu Partners - which gets preferential treatment and money from the government and specific government policies. Is there absolutely no conflict of interest? How does she ensure that he gets absolutely no preferential treatment?
Even if all the above is above board, I can't help wondering about the poor taste of a million dollar minister to have such a direct way of getting even more money from the government, and eventually the people of Singapore.
Or have they grown so rich and used to getting their way that they don't even realise how bad it looks?
I wonder why in the first place is Town Council even allowed to "invest" residents money without our consent?
Someone very senior has said George has done nothing wrong to be voted out. If this really happens because of the other 2 rotten apples in his team, I will be laughing all the way. The GRC scheme is a double-edged sword. Not only can keep oppositions out, it can also cause their so called star ministers to be out of the game!
What goes around, comes around!
But no way the GRC scheme will be abolished. They will have more to lose if their candidates do a 1-to-1 fight. Just look at the quality of their candidates. Speechless.
Uhhh .... Just in case the PAP tries to get me into trouble, let me just say, in relation to the comment at May 5, 2011 10:12 AM,
that I have no idea who LHH's husband is, or what Tembusu Partners is all about,
and I do not know whether anything in that comment is true or false or valid or invalid, and I express no opinion on that comment whatsoever.
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