Resign If You Cannot Follow The Constitution

The PAP government has introduced a bill to amend Singapore's Constitution that will allow the President to accept and hold an office in a foreign or international organisation in his/her private capacity if the Cabinet considers it to be in the national interest. [1]

The bill is intended to allow President Tharman Shanmugaratnam to continue with his roles as chairman of the board of trustees of the Group of Thirty, a member of the World Economic Forum’s board of trustees, co-chair of the Global Commission on the Economics of Water, and co-chair of the Advisory Board for the UN Human Development Report [2] inasmuch as, when the bill is passed by Parliament, it will be deemed to have come into operation retroactively on 14 September 2023, the day on which Tharman was sworn into office as President.

Someone apparently had forgotten that Tharman would contravene the Constitution when he did not relinquish his roles in the international organisations when he was sworn in as President and would continue to contravene the Constitution barring changes (which the Bill intends to make).

Tharman should decide which is more important to him: President of the Republic of Singapore or his role in the international organisations.

If Tharman cannot operate within the Constitution, he should not have offered himself as a candidate for the Presidential Election and, having been elected and sworn in, should resign as President.

The PAP government will claim that Tharman's continued roles in the international organisations are in the national interest but they can only be in the national interest if Tharman is representing Singapore in an official capacity, not as a private individual. 

Also, other members of the international organisations will view Tharman as President of Singapore, rather than a private individual.

Everything, good or bad, that Tharman does in the international organisations will reflect on Singapore.

The Constitution should not be amended to accommodate one individual.

Notes

1. Constitution of the Republic of Singapore (Amendment No. 3) Bill 35/2023.

2. Bill proposes to allow president, ministers to take on international roles in private capacities (The Straits Times, 8 Nov 2023 8:38 pm)

Order of Temasek for former President Halimah

Halimah Yacob will be awarded the Order of Temasek (With High Distinction), previously known as the Order of Temasek (First Class).

Three former presidents of Singapore ― Tony Tan Keng Yam, Sellapan Ramanathan (who chose to be known as S R Nathan) and Wee Kim Wee –― also received the award.

What did Mdm Halimah do that was exceptionally over and above what is expected of a president?

The statement from the Prime Minister's Office does not state why Mdm Halimah was conferred the award[1].

The Straits Times adds[2]:

"Madam Halimah was vocal about gender equality and spoke her mind on various social issues, such as the need to protect older workers. 

She has also long been a strong proponent of building interfaith relationships and encouraging multicultural dialogue.

…  the President’s Challenge had focused on empowering people with disabilities, building a digitally inclusive society and supporting caregivers, among other causes."

CNA adds[3]:

As President, Madam Halimah approved the government's draws on past reserves during the COVID-19 pandemic, and was known for championing women's issues among other social causes.

The Order of Temasek was instituted in 1962.

None of Singapore's earlier presidents ― Yusof bin Ishak, C V Devan Nair, Benjamin Henry Sheares ― were conferred the award. All of them served, and stepped down, during the tenure of prime minister Lee Kuan Yew.

The practice of conferring the Order of Temasek to presidents after they stepped down started with prime minister Goh Chok Tong and continued with prime minister Lee Hsien Loong.

Other than former president Ong Teng Cheong.

Furthermore, as the president ranks above the prime minister in the order of precedence[4], it is nonsensical for a lower ranking person to confer an award to a person who is higher.

Perhaps this was the reason Lee Kuan Yew did not confer the Order of Temasek to any of the three presidents who served and stepped down during his term as prime minister.

Or he thought that they were just doing their job as president.

Updated 25 Oct 2023 11:40pm

Notes

1. Madam Halimah Yacob, the eighth President of the Republic of Singapore, has been conferred the Order of Temasek (With High Distinction) (Prime MInister's Office, 25 Oct 2023).

2. Former president Halimah Yacob awarded Singapore’s highest civilian honour (The Straits Times, updated 25 Oct 2023 4:28pm).

3. Singapore's former President Halimah Yacob awarded nation's highest civilian honour (CNA, updated 25 Oct 2023 1:25pm).

4. Singapore order of precedence (The Straits Times 17 Aug 1967)

Leave Amos Yee Alone

Why is The Straits Times so fascinated about Amos Yee? [1] [2] [3] [4] [5]

ST's Aqil Hamzah wrote [1]:

At his sentencing in December 2021, he had been advised by Judge Carol Howard that pleading guilty to the charges meant he could be deported, denied admission to the US, or denied naturalisation as a US citizen in the future. The convictions could also affect his ability to obtain housing, employment and other licences, including a driving licence.

The Straits Times has contacted the US Department of Justice to find out the conditions of Yee’s parole, as well as US Immigration and Customs Enforcement to learn if he will be deported.

Yee had fled Singapore for the US in December 2016, a day before he was supposed to report for a medical examination ahead of his enlistment into national service.

He was granted political asylum in the US in 2017 after citing persecution for his political opinions, following two separate incidents that saw him jailed twice in Singapore.

…

ST has contacted the Ministry of Home Affairs to find out if Yee will be detained if he were to be deported back here. 

Aqil Hamzah seems strangely dissatisfied with Yee's being paroled "barely halfway" into his six-year jail term in the US for grooming a teenage girl and possessing child pornography.

Aqil Hamzah even saw the need to repeat the details of Yee's offence [1]:

In February 2019, he repeatedly requested that the victim – a 14-year-old girl who lived in Texas – provide photos of herself in the nude, with him returning in kind.

He also engaged in role play and sexual fantasies with her, and exchanged thousands of messages.

The Chicago Sun-Times daily newspaper reported then that the girl had repeatedly brought up her age in messages with Yee on WhatsApp, the messaging platform on which they communicated.

Yee then instructed her to remove her age from her WhatsApp profile.

During his sentencing, he had an additional 16 other child pornography-related charges dismissed as part of a plea deal he accepted,

It's time to move on and leave Yee alone.

There are more newsworthy Singaporeans and more important matters that ST, which is now funded by Singapore taxes, could or should devote its resources to reporting on.

Notes

1. S'porean Amos Yee released from US prison after serving half of 6-year term for sex-related offences (The Straits Times, updated 8 Oct 2023, 10:23pm).

2. S'porean blogger Amos Yee sentenced to 6 years' jail in US for child pornography, grooming (The Straits Times, updated 3 Dec 2021, 9:15pm).

3. S'porean blogger Amos Yee facing porn-related charges in US, considering plea deal (The Straits Times, updated 13 Nov 2021, 8:36pm).

4. Amos Yee says he looks forward to making new videos after being granted asylum in US (The Straits Times, 27 Sep 2017, 11:46am).

5. Amos Yee: Prerogative of the US to take in people who engage in hate speech, says Singapore (The Straits Times, 25 Mar 2017, 7:46pm).

Raising Retirement Age

The majority of Singaporeans and permanent residents aged 50 and above support raising the re-employment and retirement ages, according to a survey by the PAP Seniors Group and National Trades Union Congress U Women and Family.[1]

Why would anyone be surprised?

Before an eligible employee of an employer attains the specified age, the employer must offer re‑employment to that employee. The employer’s obligation to re‑employ that employee begins from the time that employee attains the specified age, until that employee attains the employee’s prescribed re-employment age.[2][3][4][5]

An eligible employee may retire or be retired, if he or she does not wish to be employed by his or her employer on or after the date the employee attains the specified age.

In other words, an eligible employee has the right but not the obligation to be re-employed on or after the date the employee attains the specified age.

Why wouldn't an employee want the prescribed retirement age to be extended?

In some other countries, people start receiving their pensions on reaching their retirement age. That's why raising the retirement age is met with protests.

Here, raising the prescribed retirement age does not affect the age at which a Central Provident Fund member can withdraw his excess CPF moneys.[6]

Neither does it affect the age at which an automatically-included CPF Lifelong Income Scheme member can start receiving payouts.[7]

Raising the retirement age may affect younger members of Supplementary Retirement Scheme: half the withdrawals from their SRS accounts are deemed to be income chargeable to tax only after they have attained the prescribed minimum retirement age prevailing at the time when they made their first contribution to their SRS accounts. Most people 50 years of age and older would already have locked in the minimum retirement age.[8]

The survey seems to be a waste of resources.

Notes

1. Most Singaporeans aged 50 and above support raising re-employment and retirement age: Survey (The Straits Times, 24 Sep 2023).

2. Retirement and Re-employment Act 1993 (2020 Revised Edition).

3. An eligible employee means an employee born on or after 1 July 1952 and the employer assesses the employee as having at least satisfactory work performance and being medically fit to continue working.

4. An employee's specified age means the higher of his prescribed minimum retirement age (63 years of age with effect from 1 July 2022) and the retirement age stated in the employee's contract of service.

5. The prescribed re-employment age for employees is currently 68 years of age.

6. 55 years of age (section 15(2)(a) of the Central Provident Fund Act 1953 (2020 Revised Edition)).

7. An automatically-included CPF Life member can start receiving payouts any time from 65 years of age to 70 years of age and choose his or her CPF LIFE plan then. Otherwise, he or she will be placed on CPF LIFE Standard Plan and payouts will start at 70 years of age (When do I have to Choose My CPF LIFE Plan? CPF FAQs).

8. Clause 10G(3)(b) of the Income Tax Act 1947 (2020 Revised Edition).

Political Ambush

A surreptitiously recorded video of Mr Leon Perera stroking the hand of Ms Nicole Seah in a seemingly intimate manner came into the public realm in the morning of 17 July 2023.

To recap.

Mr Perera was one of The Workers' Party Members of Parliament for Aljunied GRC and a member of WP's Central Executive Committee.

Ms Seah was also a member of WP's Central Executive Committee and in WP's team that narrowly lost in the East Coast GRC in the 2020 General Elections. She was considered by many to be a rising star in not just WP but also national politics.

Both Mr Perera and Ms Seah are married to other people.

According to WP's Secretary-General Pritam Singh, both Mr Perera and Ms Seah admitted their affair, which started after the 2020 GE. but said that it had stopped some time ago. They had previously denied any affair after Mr Perera's driver alleged that they were meeting very often at restaurants and hotels and had been seen hugging each other and holding hands.[1]

By 19 July 2023, Mr Perera and Ms Seah had resigned from WP. Mr Singh said, “The Constitution of WP requires candidates to be honest and frank in their dealings with the party and the people of Singapore. Leon’s conduct and not being truthful when asked by the party leadership about the allegations fell short of the standards expected of WP MPs. This is unacceptable. Had he not offered his resignation, I would have recommended to the CEC that he be expelled from the party.”[2]

Nothing in Singapore law requires any MP to resign because of an extramarital affair.

Why is the video significant?

Recorded more than a year ago, it was not made public until mere hours before Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong's press conference announcing the resignations from the People's Action Party and Parliament of Speaker of Parliament Tan Chuan-jin and PAP Member of Parliament Cheng Li Hui. Mr Tan (who is married) and Ms Cheng (who is single) had continued their affair despite their being counselled by PM Lee earlier in 2023.

Was the timing of the release of the video a coincidence?

Or was it timed to soften the impact of Mr Tan's extramarital affair on the ruling People's Action Party?

When did the person(s) who had, or had access to, the video originally intend to make it public? A damaging moment might be at the next general election just after nominations had closed. As WP would be unable to change its slate of candidates, it could spell electoral doom for WP in one or more GRCs.

Are there matters that certain person(s) are holding in abeyance, waiting to politically ambush WP's (or any other opposition party's) candidates at the next general election?

Notes

1. WP’s Leon Perera, Nicole Seah resign over extramarital affair which started after GE2020 (The Straits Times, 19 July 2023).

2. Ibid.