People's Association Showcases Achievements Ahead of General Election

Shortly before Nomination Day for General Election 2025, residents in Bukit Gombak SMC said they found a glossy 112-page document entitled Bukit Gombak A Home We Love in their letter boxes.

The document traces the developments in Bukit Gombak over the preceding five years under PAP MP for Bukit Gombak ward and Adviser to Bukit Gombak GROs, Ms Low Yen Ling.

Photographs of Ms Low appear throughout the document.

While the document does not say anything about voting for Ms Low or PAP, its timing is note worthy, serving to showcase just ahead of General Election 2025 what Ms Low has done for Bukit Gombak in the preceding five years (the last General Election was held five years ago). Ms Low is PAP's candidate for Bukit Gombak SMC in General Election 2025.

The document is produced by People's Association, an organisation funded by taxpayers.

Losing Gan Kim Yong

Deputy prime minister Gan Kim Yong was moved from Chua Chu Kang GRC to Punggol GRC, presumably to fortify People's Action Party team in Punggol GRC against a strong The Workers' Party team led by Senior Counsel Harpreet Singh Nehal.

What if Punggol GRC voters voted out PAP and with it, Mr Gan?

1. PAP parachuted Mr Gan from a relatively safe Chua Chu Kang GRC to Punggol GRC. Should Punggol GRC voters feel compelled to vote for PAP just to keep Mr Gan in the Cabinet? Why should this responsibility fall on them?

2. Mr Gan would stand a higher chance of being re-elected if he stayed in Chua Chu Kang GRC although even there, there are uncertainties resulting from parts of Tengah being added to it and Bukit Gombak ward being removed from it and made into an SMC.

3. Mr Gan would stand a good chance of being re-elected if he were parachuted to an SMC. PAP used to think, and probably still thinks, that GRCs makes the party impregnable against the opposition. Until Aljunied GRC fell to WP in 2011 and Sengkang GRC fell, also to WP, in 2020. As more GRCs fall to the opposition, PAP may just abolish GRCs, which are absurd?

4. How important or indispensable is Mr Gan? He was not elected to PAP's Central Executive Committee late last year nor even co-opted, even though he was DPM then. So strange.

5. PAP should learn to govern with half the seats plus one in Parliament. Any more is a bonus.

6. The number of political office holders is mind boggling. There are ministers, senior ministers of state, ministers of state, senior parliamentary secretaries and parliamentary secretaries.

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).