Ok I gotcha. From your more detailed description it appears you do know the area. My apologies for jumping the gun.

I was staying at ABC, near the fire station in my younger days.. The area was named as such because there was a brewery called Anchor Brewery Company (adjacent to present Queensway shopping Centre). We later moved to Prince Charles Square, and then to our own HDB flat at Henderson Crescent. Yes your mention of Odin Square did bring back memories, especially in 1969 when there were troops patrolling the area (because of the May 13 racial riots on Malaysia).

Anyway, i don’t remember any pigs in that vicinity. There was a sawmill at the present Henderson Industrial Park though.

Once again, my humble apologies. Since you are the religious type, I shall sign off wishing you the same, that blessings be upon you.

…”If everyone voted only for their individual causes, then minority groups would lose out. Democracy is about voting for yourself AND for your country.The two are not necessarily mutually exclusive, since in the long run, what is good for your country is good for your children and descendants”

ABSOLUTELY!

You are a true patriot! Not a narrow-minded worm which will respond to carrots dangled before their greedy eyes and stupid mind.

You see that in Potong Pasir and Hougang residents in 2006. Dangled in front of them free abalone breakfastr porridge and $100 millions of upgrading, they give the DUDs two fingers “UP YOURS” and stayed with the Opposition MPs.

As I keep reminding all for weeks now, after APEC, the next inducement would be bonus payment to civil servants before calling the election. Well here it is,

http://news.asiaone.com/News/AsiaOne%2BNews/Singapore/Story/A1Story20091126-182516.html

1/4 months one-off bonus capped at $750 right on the back of talking up the economy of “recession officially over” crap which the stock market don’t buy any of this rubbish propaganda. Smart money in stock mrket knows this is ABSOLUTE RUBBISH – the stock market hard farted a small sound to clap this “great economic news”

Election will be very soon. SOME FOOLS WILL GET SUCKED IN by this poisonous chalice of monetary baits.

But the majority will see through the cynical hypocrisy just like voters of Hougang and Potong Pasir in 2006.

defining democracy requires a long debate; but, like u say, what’s good for country is eventually good for our children. similarly, what’s bad for the country ..will be bad for our children (correct?). i believe, nothing is perfect; if gahmen make such bad mistakes, they will be voted out eventually no matter what carrot they dangle.
so, again, i believe the question should be ..whether the carrot they dangle is worth your vote? be mindful that they’ll be there for 5-6 years, is it worth your vote?

my last paragraph is a continuation of the point that every politician (or political party) has the same goal: get the power necessary to implement own ideas! like what PAP’s MP has been accused of believing everything gahmen/MSM says, SDP supporter believes in whatever Chee says.
I feel their believe is so far that it looks like a “cult”. Look around, if u and AhBeng hv disagreement on political matters, then AhBeng insults u of being PAP’s dog, being stoopid, false opposition, LKY’s stooge, etc, etc ..i can almost guarantee u that AhBeng is an SDP’s supporter.
Doesnt matter whether u r indeed die-hard PAP supporter or member of WP, if AhBeng is indeed an SDP supporter and he disagree with u, he’ll insult u all the same.
(You may argue that other parties’ supporter sometimes do the same too, but for me, the level of insult is of different level, uncomparable intensity.)

Which part of Alexandra did you grow up in ? Funny I don’t remember any SIT in Alexandra area. I grew up in ABC do your know where’s that area and why it’s called ABC? (if you stayed in Alexandra you would know). Pigstyle near SIT flats in Alexandra ? That’s like Mars to me.

There were no SIT flats in Alexandra area. The only SIT flats were in Dawson Rd (blue glass), Forfar Square (14 storeys), and those along Prince Charles Sq, Prince Phillip Ave area. And there were certainly no pigstyles or farms there! So where exactly ? There were only 2 places with pig farms around the area. One was opposite the flats at Queen’s Crescent (but these were early HDB built flats and the village farms are quite a distance away). The other area with pig farms was at Bukit Merah, directly opposite the present Queensway Shopping Centre (we called that area Ban Chuan). But there were no SIT flats there, mainly kampong houses.

So what’s your point ? You didn’t do enough homework before you came up with that story. You can fool the others but not those who stayed in Alexandra area before.

Democracy is not about voting for your own cause, and only your own cause. That is simply majority wins, the system we see in “Survivor”. If everyone voted only for their individual causes, then minority groups would lose out. Democracy is about voting for yourself AND for your country. The two are not necessarily mutually exclusive, since in the long run, what is good for your country is good for your children and descendants.

Unfortunately, the PAP preys on Singaporeans’ lack of political knowledge. When facing an electorate with mindsets like yours, all they have to do is dangle upgrading carrots before elections and watch the votes roll in. They can make all kinds of disastrous errors in between elections, but the carrots ensure that they are voted in. That is why they try to keep the people tolerant of one another such that no conflicts break out on the street, but at the same time, not too close, lest the people unite against them.

Regarding Chiam’s supposed ousting from SDP, here’s your answer: http://yoursdp.org/index.php/truth-about/faqs

Your last paragraph is extremely ironic. You talk about a cult movement with followers who believe that their leader is the true opposition hero in Singapore. Do you need to be reminded about which political party recently released a book of their history that was even adapted into a comic strip? Do you need to be reminded of which political ringleader appears in the papers practically every week?

//PeterL

Cool story, bro!

Thank you for allowing us to hear the past, and perhaps it is a result of the gulf between our ages, but I have to disagree here. I am indeed thankful that I don’t have to live among pigs, chickens, and other kampung animals, and that the flat I live in is serviced by amenities conveniently placed nearby. I am not thankful however, for the hundreds of billions lost by TH and GIC during the financial crisis, nor do I enjoy the rising costs of living that have not been matched by rising wages.

While you have exited the labour force and are now enjoying the fruits of your labour, I am about to enter in a few years, in a time when the global economic climate has never been more uncertain. All that I see is a government that has failed to ensure that I will have a job that pays enough to support my family, nor affordable housing for us to live in. While you are satisfied with your past, I worry for my future. I only hope that I will still be able to view Singapore the way you do when I get to your age, no matter how unlikely it is.

In election people cast their vote. YOU cast YOUR VOTE. it’s YOUR VOICE. WTF about being selfish, ‘ego’, etc. BS!!! Election is the time for YOU to have YOUR SAY! it works like that here, it works like that everywhere. don’t be fooled to support someone else’s cause, YOU should support only YOUR OWN CAUSE; if you don’t, noone else will!! however/hence, if you believe Dr Chee’s VOICE is YOUR VOICE, then by all means VOTE for his party.

One should be mindful, in politic.. everyone fight for power. they need ‘the power’ to implement their ideas, to direct the country as how they think it should be directed. So, when Dr Chee talks about “DEMOCRACY” ..ask him, WAS HE ELECTED TO SDP’s CEC?? WAS THERE ELECTION IN SDP?? when he talked against LKY’s heavy-handed treatment of dissenting-voice, ..ask him HOW DID HE HANDLE DISSENTING VOICE IN CHIAM-SEE-TONG EPISODE?

I believe CSJ is attributable to why S’porean ’scared’ of politics. If u r one who ’scared’, ask urself why r u ’scared’? r u ’scared’ for badmouthing gahmen in kopitiam? r u ’scared’ for scolding Town Council or HDB officer? r u ’scared’ for scolding policeman? if u r honest, most of u will admit that u r not ’scared’ of critising gahmen’s policy, u r ’scared’ for what u see in people like Dr Chee!!

Neutral people can see clearly how Dr Chee has led SDP into a ‘cultish’ movement. They silent every dissenting voice, ridicule other opposition; the SDP followers hv all been brainwashed that their leader is only true democratic hero in singapore ..despite him doing anything n everything in the opposite of ‘democratic’.

Yes you said it all. The bottomline is Singaporeans wants a credible opposition in Parliament, not to destroy the incumbent’s majority so that anarchy rules in the house (like in Taipei) but more as a low ranking policeman, the very sight of him being enough to put maintain a minimum amount of decency in the decision making process.

As to your point on the opposition’s lack of party development initiatives, etc. let it also be known that the PAP is also devoid of this. All the new PAP candidates (and those who subsequently became minister after the elections) are co-opted into the PAP just before election time. These are people one day before that had no commitment nor alliance with the PAP. They were persuaded and robed in under a banner of carrots, some with big ministerial salaries hanging at their front door. By and large, the remaining hardcore PAP cadres who have been duly committed to its manifesto has been left in the cold, but could only give their 2 cents worth by pulling along the bullock cart.

If Chiam See Tong is a one man show for SDP and now what ? (can’t even remember what his new damn party is called) so is LKY, he is also a man PAP show (the rest are flag carriers).