THE TEMASEK REVIEW

EDITORS’ NOTE:

The below article by “citizen voice” was sent to us for publication by the author who described himself as a former PAP supporter. Of pertinent note is that he is not a “true-bred” Singaporean citizen, but a first-generation PR who had served national service and taken up Singapore citizenship. It was also posted on the P65 blog (comment 75)

Dear Fedric,

You have a gift of writing. You should spend time understanding the reasons and bases behind the “irrational rhetoric” as one commentator has put it.

Only the biggest FOOL will think such rhetoric is rubbish

You have not been brainwashed by the media in your lifetime, nor voices and lives controlled in every manner by the PAP to understand the citizen behavior. You are not in the continuum of true-bred citizen lives as you are dealing with the hearts and souls of the Nation. You will never understand the underhanded politics, the money politics and many polices the PAP use to control and stay in power.

For many citizens the release of pent-up frustration and anger, irrational as it may seem in the rhetoric of expression, which can only be released through cyberspace, is not something to be disregarded.

Your support of PAP, officiously and beguilingly, using your superb intellectual rationality of argument could be perhaps perceived as treason to the hearts of many true-bred citizens in this forum who value dearly the sacrosanct meaning of citizenship and nationhood.

Rationality of argument is one thing, the reality is another. If you are a lawyer, you will understand. Rational reasoning with misguide agenda or concealing hidden agenda is as deadly and dangerous in hand of people with immense power.

With your gift of writing you can help many true-bred citizens who are helpless against the powerful intellect of the PAP who, unfortunately, use guise of rational reason to justify their actions.

I hope one day you will be like a new true-bred citizen, perhaps a party leader for the citizens, bringing glory to the citizen once more as the great PAP did once upon a time.

Perhaps, one day you may and I hope you will use your gift properly.

I hope you are not one of those dogs in YPAP who serve as grass-root leader for self-interest (free HDB parking, priority of HDB selection, etc) as I know of many in my life-time.

I was a true PAP supporter for many years but now my loyalty is gone. I am not a true-bred citizen but I had served the army and can empathize with the feelings of many true-bred citizens. I am also thankful to the past Gov for giving my family a life which we may not have gotten in our native country. You may say I am the second generation voice.

This is my first time I wrote in the forum. Why did I write?

So please read on what I have written if you want to know. I may not have the polish of your writing, the prose and style, the rationality of your thoughts as it was written with my heart, feelings and empathy with the citizens.

 

Dear Citizens,

CHORUS OF CHANGE: VOTE FOR MORE AFFORDABLE HOME, BETTER LIVELIHOOD, BETTER GOVERNANCE, MODERATE IMMIGRATION POLICY:

We are thankful for the prosperity that our Gov has brought to us in the past.

However, in the last few years or decade, in particular the last three years, our Gov has morphed-they seem less compassionate, seem to lose tune with the chords of the citizens.

We need to send a message, however rhetorical the tunes of the message, to resonate the spirit of the citizens, the lesser privileged. We OWE it all to ourselves to make a better NATION, a better country.

The beautiful vase of the Nation, exuding the prosperity of the Nation, built through the blood and sweet of citizens, extolled by many outsiders, belongs to the credit of many citizens who struggled and sacrificed, who died for the Nation, NOT just the Gov and self-acclaimed achievement of PAP.

The vase, appealing from the outside, admired and enjoyed by the rich, elite, and regaled by our leaders in their Ivory Tower; an Ivory Tower capping the neck of the vase, entrapping the voices inside. The inner side walls of the vase are marked by cracks of fragility, of suppressed voices of the present and lost generation reverberating with disillusionment, discord, frustrations, dashed hopes and miseries of many heart Landers, echoing to be heard.

Our Gov seems to have lost focus in the mad pursuit of GDP growth and money politics and is disconnected with reality at the ground and with the citizens.

Their policies are heavily biased towards in elitism/pro-business politics, foreigners and pro-business and to support their continuous staying of power.

They have lived in their supreme Ivory Tower for far too long to be able to empathize with the citizen hard-ship and anxieties. They see through their own prism of self-deception, obsessive self-righteousness.

They proclaim that they are the ONLY one and OLNLY one deserved to govern and rule, no one is better than them-without them the Nation will collapse.

They speak virtues on a podium of high self-enrichment of wealth and power with absence of nobility of leadership: Is it real that only with super-high pay that good governance can be sustained? ; Is it true that there is no one without their kind of intellect who is capable to govern? ; Is it true there is NO NOBLE citizen that will govern with much lesser pay and their kind is the only kind that can govern the NATION.

In their name of Current and Future Growth they have opened the gate widely, too abruptly, for many foreigners/PRs to come in without sufficient consideration of the impact such relentless influx will have on commoner lives, housing and infrastructural constraints.

The current immigration influx policy will soon displace the citizens in no time, take away citizen jobs, relegating citizens to minority second-class status, depressing salary with higher living costs. The policy itself is not flawed; the desperation of implementing as seen recently is.

In the name of “wealth creation”, more so to support the developers, the rich and powerful, and their cash needs, they have manipulated the land prices, pegging HDB to resale prices, resulting in huge price increase in times of the worst recession in the century.

The PAP shield was once for the people, citizens. Now the shield, gilded in gold and power, is wielded to shield the Rich, the Powerful and the Elite. The increasingly huge divide between depressed salaries of lesser mortals and the ever-increasing costs of living which only the elite and rich can enjoy cannot be allowed to continue.

This in sum is the dichotomy of the Nation: the money politics that drives huge and widening divide between the super-rich, super-paid ruling elite and highly costly, top-heavy governmental and institutional machineries which continuously milk the livelihood of, and marginalizing the lesser privileged true-bred citizens or lesser mortals as branded by the leaders.

Lately, the PAP, the Gov, are using the FT/PR policy and propaganda, welcoming them openly, using indiscriminately 10 Million public funds, apparently with hidden agenda or misguided agenda, to garner their support in the guise of social integration. In times to come we true-bred citizens will be marginalized.

The increasing number of new citizens, many sycophants, new citizens and PRs lately, eager to join PAP grass-root organization, some spoke so officiously and beguilingly for PAP to counter the voices of the true-bred citizens, not knowing the truth beneath the dissonant voices of the citizens, is very disconcerting; a making of divide amongst the new and true-bred citizens that may lead to social disharmony.

The huge influx of FT/PRs and the desperation of getting PRs to convert to new citizens belie the intention of immigration policy. It seems there is political agenda to recruit new citizens as grass-root leaders to SUSTAIN THEIR OWN KIND.

PAP will pamper to populist appeal but once in power they espouse and practice unpopular polices, even to extent of using “ policies of eugenics” to eliminate lesser mortals, the true-bred citizens, through importing of “new citizens”, a hidden agenda, in the guise of population replacement.

We NEED to send an overwhelming strong message to PAP that we need a people’s Government that listen to the citizens. We need the PAP shield, and the wealth of the nation, to uplift the citizens more, NOT mainly for itself, the Elite, the Rich and Powerful. We need PAP to not forget the spirit of the words “People Action Party”; that PAP should act FIRST for the PEOPLE, the true-bred citizens.

It is now time for all Citizens to band together urgently, to stand-up as ONE to vote for our FUTURE, NOT to fear for CHANGE under the THREAT of PAP that the NATION will not survive without them.

We must STAND-UP NOW for ourselves, our NATION-HOOD, our COUNTRY.

It is time for all Citizens to come together to build a BETTER future based on our CONVICTION:

• that there is a cause for all genuine Singaporeans who believe that Singapore is the place for our next generation where civil liberties, justice, equality and all quintessential privileges of citizens are preserved as every right of individual, not provided according to the calibration of the elite.

• that we need to let our Gov sees that the voice of people must count much more in their equation of progress, not just the progress tilted towards largely for benefit of few elitism, the rich, the business, the powerful, the fortunate and according to their self-proclaimed “THE ONLY “ right way.

• that growth has to be balanced, moderated; not in the present form, in name of rigorous and obsessive pursuit of economic numbers, the foreigner flood-gates are fully opened indiscriminately resulting in steep competition, lost of jobs and depressed salary; whilst the inflationary cost as result of the same action causes cost of living to escalate, creating untenable juggling of costs and debts for many, more in the future, if the current situation goes unchecked..

• that there is need to have adequate adjustments, provisions and allowances in life and works in policies of Manpower, Health and etc, in the manner and way such that people themselves do not becomes own LIABILITY in themselves in the future due to artificial asset inflation, as a result of necessity to eke a living in this intensely competitive environment.

• that our esteemed Ministers has to be cautioned, rebuked, restrained as they have lost touch with the ground, the people, and the reality of cost of living for many.

• that as a Minister in a vantage position of powerful influence to say Resale value will go “UP, UP and UP”, forgetting that such remark (perhaps, irresponsible), pandering to the greed of citizens, has an insidious impact on inflating asset.

• that Singapore in a longer horizon, the “stark reality” in 20 years times, we will NOT become the Swiss of Asia BUT a Monte Carlo of Asia for the elites, rich and powerful if we allow the present polices to continue unchecked.

• that the nation’s lost SOUL needs to be re-discovered, identity lost to be re-instituted.

• that progress based only on relentless soulless pursuit of GPP dictated by policies and rules of elite intelligentsia with little regards for citizens and impact affecting mass lives cannot continue without moderation,

• that Singapore shall survive without PAP and that we shall not allow the sole existence of elite to rule and implement policies that Singapore will vanquish without them; that we want a hand in dictating the course of the Nation to ensure that NO PARTY can destroy or degrade the Nation in its absence.

• that we need a Nation with dignity of free speech and assembly without fear and censorship, to express views, even political dissents, for general betterment of governance and its policies.

• that we want a Government that works towards the interest of citizens with duty and accountability.

• that we want a government that is caring for the interest of citizens, providing much greater discrimination between citizens and foreigners/PRs; not with the present policies giving too much welfare and advantages to huge number PRs as if PRs are more exclusive than the citizens at expense of many citizens in terms of competition for housings, jobs and etc.

• that we want a forthright governance that is apologetic for its mistake; not a government that is arrogant and speaks to the citizens in condescending manner; a government that upholds humility and respect for citizens, NOT pride and arrogance.

• that we want to have back our a Nation which has been “Misplaced”, a COUNTRY which has been disregarded, Nation Pledge which is “Lost”, Voice which has been “suppressed”, Citizens interests which have “subordinated” to foreigners/PRs interest.

• that we want passionate leaders, with hearts, to serve the citizens first with equitable policies, not with desire to govern dependent on the salary scale.

• that we want a revamp of policies fairer to the citizens, lesser taxation of reserves due to having to dispense hugely on sustaining wasteful governmental machineries, like excessive use of fund for Army, and huge pay package of incumbent and cronyists.

• that we want to have cheap land that is rightfully belongs to all citizens to build affordable homes payable over shorter loan period and yet have reasonable decent disposable income to live decent life for family commensurate with the higher living standard, yet save enough for retirement and contingencies.

• that we have only OUR last chance to stand together for the betterment of ALL and future generation to cast our votes before we are overwhelmed by NEW CITIZENS beholden to the incumbent, else we will be forever be subjugated by the PAP dictate and policy.

• that fifty years of authoritarian rule is Enough, fifty years of political suppression, fifty years of super-rich pay leaders who earned enough for their own generations for many years to come regardless of Nation survival; fifty years of media censorship and brain-washing is Enough; fifty years of voice suppressed, living in fear of ISD is Enough.

• that Singapore needs a refreshing political facelift of leaders that inspires, that shares the wishes, hopes , woes and aspirations of the citizens, that unite citizens NOT divide by envy of huge and growing wealth creation biased for the Rick, Powerful and ruling Elite.

• that this Nation will NOT fall without PAP as there are many good gentlemen and women, more capable that the Incumbent, who can serve for much less, who are ready to serve the Nation for the Citizens.

• that we want to build a sustainable nationhood that can survive through many generations to come regardless of any political party in power; not espousing the inevitability of rich-poor divide BUT espousing the inevitability of better standard and living costs for middle and lower income groups at the expense of the Elite, Rich and Super-Rich who can afford such expense if they desire to stay in this pearl of Asia..

• that we need now citizen-pro policies that benefit more “lesser mortals”; we need commensurate growth, commensurate policies that help lower living costs, not at expense of the citizens; a more moderate immigration policy, not the relentless, thoughtless and unplanned FT/PR influx policies to satisfy growth numbers which ultimately benefit the super-scale masters.

• that we can come together as ONE, to have more opposition to represent the electorate to challenge the incumbent to listen to the wish of the people, to get rid of callous leaders within PAP-a PAP facelift or be voted out eventually.

LET US ALL SEND A CLEAR MESSAGE to PAP that policies have to be more citizen-friendly.

LET US ALL STAND-UP TOGETHER to make sure we are not STRANGERS IN OUR OWN HOME.

LET EACH OF US SPREAD THE CHORUS OF CHANGE VEHEMENTLY, to reach every heart, mind and soul of true-bred citizen.

21 Responses to “A rebuttal to YPAP Fredric Fanthome by a new citizen and former PAP supporter: A Chorus of change for Singaporeans”