A wonderfully penned letter with good suggestions from Miss Samantha Lee, a 23-year old Singaporean.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
An open letter to PM Lee
by Samantha Lee on Sunday, May 8, 2011 at 1:01pm
Dear Mr Lee Hsien Long,
Congratulations on winning the majority of the seats in Parliament. You promised to listen to us and I sincerely hope you would. In all due honesty sir, I think a great deal of reflection is needed on the PAP's part. You should have seen the power of social media by now. Whilst I do not condone the endless stream of hateful messages liberally discharged onto Miss Tin Pei Ling and Mr Vivian Balakrishnan's Facebook pages, I think more attention should be paid to what is being said on Singapore politics by Singaporeans. Given the general atmosphere of dislike by the younger tech-savvy generation and the PAP's declining popularity figures, it could be inferred that the PAP would not be here today if not for the loyalty of the older generation.
My intention here is not to be accusatory nor malicious. On the contrary, I only wish to say my part on Singapore's behalf by highlighting key issues that I feel concerned about and my suggestions for dealing with them. Unfortunately, I'm not great stateswoman, so my suggestions are very much surfacial and crude. I would humbly request for your patience as you read through them. As such, on the behalf of Singaporeans, I would like to request the following:
1. Public referendum to establish if Singaporeans would like GRC system to be abolished in favor of and return to single seat wards, and should any MP resign or is deemed unfit to remain, we can then have proper by-elections.
Previously my first point was towards the creation of a "public referendum to establish if Singaporeans would prefer Mr George Yeo in Parliament over Miss Tin Pei Ling." My argument was that "As you said many times before, Singapore needs an A-team of officials and I feel that we should deem their qualities across the board (i.e. a good worker is good to both his/her boss, colleagues and subordinates). I'm sure many other Singaporeans would agree with me that despite her qualifications, Miss Tin is still not yet capable of being an competent MP. Her lack of experience could mean that her contributions could probably never match up the Mr Yeo's decades of experience." I stand corrected on this issue. A friend has pointed out to me that this move would completely unconstitutional and dangerous towards our political stability and our focus should be on eliminating the GRC system.
"While I dislike the GRC system, it is what we voted under. If it were so simple a matter as to replace an MP, then the whole elections would be invalidated. Both Aljunied and Marine Parade voted for a team, and what happened is that a good Minister was left out and a potentially mediocre MP got in, but that is how it works currently. "
2. Public accountability.
For us to trust the government, I feel that there is a need to establish accountability. For example, Mr Balakrishnan spent over $387 million for the YOG and no one really knows how the money was spent. On an entirely depressing note, we won't even know if he or his team pocketed the money. In fact, we wouldn't even know if he or his team took the bulk of the money and shared it with all the ministers in Parliament. Please don't misunderstand me. I'm not accusing the government of being corrupt or doubting Mr VB's integrity. My main point is, we don't know what's going on- we never did. I would even blame the SLA corruption scandal on insufficient checks of government expenditure. Till date, the PAP has never failed to react harshly towards corrupt members. But what if these culture fails? As such, I would propose setting up a team of public auditors randomly drawn from the public (the same way the USA forms its jury).
3. Public Housing.
As a young 23 year old Singaporean, I find it entirely depressing that I would have to live with my parents till the day I hit 35. There's is nothing outstanding about me enough to feel assured that I can afford a private home before 35 either. I also feel that it is entirely unfair to give priority to married couples. Marriage is something that doesn't happen overnight and it is always better to do it well once with great conviction rather than through a series of failed "experiments". Given Mr Mah's general crassness and obtuse nature, I actually expect a rejoinder that I can perfectly well move out and rent a place on my own. But think about it this way, if I rent a place, that place is still not mine. And given the obscenely high cost of HDB here, I should be saving up for my own home instead of "giving" money to a landlord. I hope you will lover the age bar for owning private homes as well as make small units available to single Singaporeans.
4. Birth rate.
I honestly think the Baby Bonus scheme would work if a HEAVILY subsidized 4 room flat comes with the package for each couple's first child. I'm sure many young Singaporeans would agree with me- by the time they can afford a flat and their flats are built, they're too tired and broke to have children. And once they recover from this financial burden, their factories have ceased production.
5. Foreign Talent.
I would like to urge the government to re-look at their policies of the wholesale importing of foreigners to increase our GDP. For one, our infrastructure cannot cope with such a huge influx of people. Attempts to suddenly "upgrade" the infrastructure so rapidly might be dangerous, especially if quality is being compromised for the sake of quantity. Another issue with FT is a neo-racism where it is no longer the artificial Chinese, Malay or Indian divides but rather the Singaporean vs PRC divide. It might not be clear to you but in our daily lives, we encounter PRCs bragging about how stupid we are to invite them so openly into our country with little concern about their loyalty or personalities.
We need to scrutinize such individuals more before granting them PR status- where is home? Is it still in mainland China or is it Singapore? Besides, I find it in exceedingly bad taste that so many PRCs are being brought in till the point that our multicultural diversity is being bred out. It has a reached the point that wherever I go in Singapore, all I have to do is throw a rock randomly and chances are, I'll hit a PRC instead of a Singaporean. We once used the slogan "Malaysian Malaysia" for our neighbours and yet we can't even achieve a "Singaporean Singapore". Very depressing.
6. Pegging Ministerial pay to GDP.
Unfortunately many Singaporeans would agree with me that whilst your team deserves a high pay, what you earn now is nothing short of ridiculous. What makes a good politician goes beyond his ability to spin money for his country, it is his heart- to improve the lives of those under his charge (from their perspective, not his; bottom-up approach). I disagree that high ministerial pay deters corruption because New Zealand, Sweden and Denmark did so much better than us and their ministers earn a lot lesser than you do. I also disagree that high pay is needed to attract talent. As mentioned, politics is about having a heart to serve the people, it should never be about money because that would just result in legalized corruption.
Such a high pay sir, would only result in excessive pressure on you and your ministers. To command such a high pay would mean lesser tolerance of failure and even lesser tolerance of apparent snobbishness. I'm sure you would agree with me sir, that the success of a politician does not just lie in his ability to push forward necessary but unpopular policies, it lies in his ability to convince the people why it must be so while showing his ability to empathize with their concerns and amend policies accordingly without waiting till the pre-election period. This is because, whenthat happens, the public perception would be "too little too late".
7. Singapore Identity
With the huge influx of Foreigners in Singapore, many feel that our identity as Singaporeans has been severely corrupted. In all due honesty, I think our nation-building process was too artificial and it went against all the laws of normal social-identity development. We are a young nation where everything is artificially imposed on us. NDP has lost its appeal to me as well as many others from my generation, so much so that I don't even watch it anymore! How could I? Singapore is a home to me only as long as my family is here. I feel alienated in my own country. Foreigners laugh at me for having such an "open" government. The landscape is changing so rapidly and radically that I have no emotional triggers to special memories that once meant so much to me. Dialects are rapidly dying out and those from mixed communities like Perankans/Eurasians are just forced into being Chinese. Why can't we celebrate diverity as it is? Why forcefully categorize everything?
8. The Gay Agenda.
I'm not gay but I would wish to represent the gay community on this issue. I understand that the government's stand on 377a is to leave the law there but not actively pursue it. Sir, the world has moved on and if we don't lose our conservative nature, we will be left behind. Please abolish 377a, it is within your capacity to do so I believe. Religious groups might be against this but we are secular state and we should cherish this. We might be conservative but there is little need to make homosexuality criminal. I would like to add on that you're eitehr gay or you're not. Endorsing homosexuality would not result result in an increase of homosexuality per se because increasing numbers would mean more people are coming out in the open.
I would also like to request for the approval of gay marriages and allowing gay couples to adopt. This is because I believe that it is infinitely better for children from orphanages or other institutions to be cared for by a couple (regardless of sexual orientation). It is always better to grow up in an environment of nurturance where there are role models to guide you in your developmental process. Love, loyalty (to family), flexibility and tolerance are four important life lessons that are generally not imparted in institutions. In fact, some studies have shown that homosexual couples are very much capable in raising children to be competent individuals in society. I hope you will give this issue some thought.
9. Upgrading our voting methods.
I have realised that over the years, there are a large number of rejected votes. Yesterday was my first time voting and I was honestly suprised about how inefficient the system was. Manual tabulation and counting is a highly tedious process and time consuming process with a large room for error. I have heard some people complain that they accidentally put a tick instead of a cross. I would like to propose that we upgrade our voting system to use the OAS sheet. Given the fact that almost everyone in Singapore has bought 4D/Toto at least once in their lifetime, it could possible reduce the number of rejected votes. And to ensure that the circle is correctly shaded, I would suggest that thick felt markers would be provided. One dot on the paper is all that is needed and counting would be so much faster with less room for error.
I sincerely hope that you will get to read my letter.
Yours Sincerely,
Samantha Lee
by Samantha Lee on Sunday, May 8, 2011 at 1:01pm
Dear Mr Lee Hsien Long,
Congratulations on winning the majority of the seats in Parliament. You promised to listen to us and I sincerely hope you would. In all due honesty sir, I think a great deal of reflection is needed on the PAP's part. You should have seen the power of social media by now. Whilst I do not condone the endless stream of hateful messages liberally discharged onto Miss Tin Pei Ling and Mr Vivian Balakrishnan's Facebook pages, I think more attention should be paid to what is being said on Singapore politics by Singaporeans. Given the general atmosphere of dislike by the younger tech-savvy generation and the PAP's declining popularity figures, it could be inferred that the PAP would not be here today if not for the loyalty of the older generation.
My intention here is not to be accusatory nor malicious. On the contrary, I only wish to say my part on Singapore's behalf by highlighting key issues that I feel concerned about and my suggestions for dealing with them. Unfortunately, I'm not great stateswoman, so my suggestions are very much surfacial and crude. I would humbly request for your patience as you read through them. As such, on the behalf of Singaporeans, I would like to request the following:
1. Public referendum to establish if Singaporeans would like GRC system to be abolished in favor of and return to single seat wards, and should any MP resign or is deemed unfit to remain, we can then have proper by-elections.
Previously my first point was towards the creation of a "public referendum to establish if Singaporeans would prefer Mr George Yeo in Parliament over Miss Tin Pei Ling." My argument was that "As you said many times before, Singapore needs an A-team of officials and I feel that we should deem their qualities across the board (i.e. a good worker is good to both his/her boss, colleagues and subordinates). I'm sure many other Singaporeans would agree with me that despite her qualifications, Miss Tin is still not yet capable of being an competent MP. Her lack of experience could mean that her contributions could probably never match up the Mr Yeo's decades of experience." I stand corrected on this issue. A friend has pointed out to me that this move would completely unconstitutional and dangerous towards our political stability and our focus should be on eliminating the GRC system.
"While I dislike the GRC system, it is what we voted under. If it were so simple a matter as to replace an MP, then the whole elections would be invalidated. Both Aljunied and Marine Parade voted for a team, and what happened is that a good Minister was left out and a potentially mediocre MP got in, but that is how it works currently. "
2. Public accountability.
For us to trust the government, I feel that there is a need to establish accountability. For example, Mr Balakrishnan spent over $387 million for the YOG and no one really knows how the money was spent. On an entirely depressing note, we won't even know if he or his team pocketed the money. In fact, we wouldn't even know if he or his team took the bulk of the money and shared it with all the ministers in Parliament. Please don't misunderstand me. I'm not accusing the government of being corrupt or doubting Mr VB's integrity. My main point is, we don't know what's going on- we never did. I would even blame the SLA corruption scandal on insufficient checks of government expenditure. Till date, the PAP has never failed to react harshly towards corrupt members. But what if these culture fails? As such, I would propose setting up a team of public auditors randomly drawn from the public (the same way the USA forms its jury).
3. Public Housing.
As a young 23 year old Singaporean, I find it entirely depressing that I would have to live with my parents till the day I hit 35. There's is nothing outstanding about me enough to feel assured that I can afford a private home before 35 either. I also feel that it is entirely unfair to give priority to married couples. Marriage is something that doesn't happen overnight and it is always better to do it well once with great conviction rather than through a series of failed "experiments". Given Mr Mah's general crassness and obtuse nature, I actually expect a rejoinder that I can perfectly well move out and rent a place on my own. But think about it this way, if I rent a place, that place is still not mine. And given the obscenely high cost of HDB here, I should be saving up for my own home instead of "giving" money to a landlord. I hope you will lover the age bar for owning private homes as well as make small units available to single Singaporeans.
4. Birth rate.
I honestly think the Baby Bonus scheme would work if a HEAVILY subsidized 4 room flat comes with the package for each couple's first child. I'm sure many young Singaporeans would agree with me- by the time they can afford a flat and their flats are built, they're too tired and broke to have children. And once they recover from this financial burden, their factories have ceased production.
5. Foreign Talent.
I would like to urge the government to re-look at their policies of the wholesale importing of foreigners to increase our GDP. For one, our infrastructure cannot cope with such a huge influx of people. Attempts to suddenly "upgrade" the infrastructure so rapidly might be dangerous, especially if quality is being compromised for the sake of quantity. Another issue with FT is a neo-racism where it is no longer the artificial Chinese, Malay or Indian divides but rather the Singaporean vs PRC divide. It might not be clear to you but in our daily lives, we encounter PRCs bragging about how stupid we are to invite them so openly into our country with little concern about their loyalty or personalities.
We need to scrutinize such individuals more before granting them PR status- where is home? Is it still in mainland China or is it Singapore? Besides, I find it in exceedingly bad taste that so many PRCs are being brought in till the point that our multicultural diversity is being bred out. It has a reached the point that wherever I go in Singapore, all I have to do is throw a rock randomly and chances are, I'll hit a PRC instead of a Singaporean. We once used the slogan "Malaysian Malaysia" for our neighbours and yet we can't even achieve a "Singaporean Singapore". Very depressing.
6. Pegging Ministerial pay to GDP.
Unfortunately many Singaporeans would agree with me that whilst your team deserves a high pay, what you earn now is nothing short of ridiculous. What makes a good politician goes beyond his ability to spin money for his country, it is his heart- to improve the lives of those under his charge (from their perspective, not his; bottom-up approach). I disagree that high ministerial pay deters corruption because New Zealand, Sweden and Denmark did so much better than us and their ministers earn a lot lesser than you do. I also disagree that high pay is needed to attract talent. As mentioned, politics is about having a heart to serve the people, it should never be about money because that would just result in legalized corruption.
Such a high pay sir, would only result in excessive pressure on you and your ministers. To command such a high pay would mean lesser tolerance of failure and even lesser tolerance of apparent snobbishness. I'm sure you would agree with me sir, that the success of a politician does not just lie in his ability to push forward necessary but unpopular policies, it lies in his ability to convince the people why it must be so while showing his ability to empathize with their concerns and amend policies accordingly without waiting till the pre-election period. This is because, whenthat happens, the public perception would be "too little too late".
7. Singapore Identity
With the huge influx of Foreigners in Singapore, many feel that our identity as Singaporeans has been severely corrupted. In all due honesty, I think our nation-building process was too artificial and it went against all the laws of normal social-identity development. We are a young nation where everything is artificially imposed on us. NDP has lost its appeal to me as well as many others from my generation, so much so that I don't even watch it anymore! How could I? Singapore is a home to me only as long as my family is here. I feel alienated in my own country. Foreigners laugh at me for having such an "open" government. The landscape is changing so rapidly and radically that I have no emotional triggers to special memories that once meant so much to me. Dialects are rapidly dying out and those from mixed communities like Perankans/Eurasians are just forced into being Chinese. Why can't we celebrate diverity as it is? Why forcefully categorize everything?
8. The Gay Agenda.
I'm not gay but I would wish to represent the gay community on this issue. I understand that the government's stand on 377a is to leave the law there but not actively pursue it. Sir, the world has moved on and if we don't lose our conservative nature, we will be left behind. Please abolish 377a, it is within your capacity to do so I believe. Religious groups might be against this but we are secular state and we should cherish this. We might be conservative but there is little need to make homosexuality criminal. I would like to add on that you're eitehr gay or you're not. Endorsing homosexuality would not result result in an increase of homosexuality per se because increasing numbers would mean more people are coming out in the open.
I would also like to request for the approval of gay marriages and allowing gay couples to adopt. This is because I believe that it is infinitely better for children from orphanages or other institutions to be cared for by a couple (regardless of sexual orientation). It is always better to grow up in an environment of nurturance where there are role models to guide you in your developmental process. Love, loyalty (to family), flexibility and tolerance are four important life lessons that are generally not imparted in institutions. In fact, some studies have shown that homosexual couples are very much capable in raising children to be competent individuals in society. I hope you will give this issue some thought.
9. Upgrading our voting methods.
I have realised that over the years, there are a large number of rejected votes. Yesterday was my first time voting and I was honestly suprised about how inefficient the system was. Manual tabulation and counting is a highly tedious process and time consuming process with a large room for error. I have heard some people complain that they accidentally put a tick instead of a cross. I would like to propose that we upgrade our voting system to use the OAS sheet. Given the fact that almost everyone in Singapore has bought 4D/Toto at least once in their lifetime, it could possible reduce the number of rejected votes. And to ensure that the circle is correctly shaded, I would suggest that thick felt markers would be provided. One dot on the paper is all that is needed and counting would be so much faster with less room for error.
I sincerely hope that you will get to read my letter.
Yours Sincerely,
Samantha Lee
No comments:
Post a Comment