Singapore Angle: Comments

Comment on "Much Ado about Everything Prejudicial"

Sat, 07 Nov 2009 16:10:28 +0800

I know it's been almost three years since this article was written, but I just have to say that it was very well thought out. You make good points and express them so clearly. Please keep writing about race!

- chompingcomp

Comment on "Back to the Future Enhancements"

Tue, 27 Oct 2009 17:42:11 +0800

Based on FY 2008 budget, MINDEF contributes only $39 mil to government revenue but defence spending is $10.8 bil. In fact, MOE contributes more than MINDEF, with $42.8 mil. This is surprising since MINDEF also owns the defence industries and should thus, contribute more to government revenue. GST contributed $6.2 bil and personal income tax contributed $5.9 bil. Hence, the government revenue from our GST and income tax has all gone towards defence spending.

I'm not sure how much of our GST and personal income tax has really gone into improving the military capability for the defence of Singapore, or has they gone into the pockets of the SAF regulars? When MINDEF propose the SAVER scheme to the SAF regulars in 1998, it promised the SAF regulars a huge sum for their retirement upon their retirement at age of 42. However, a few mths ago it raised the retirement age of SAF regulars to 50 years old. This means that more of our GST and personal income tax will go into the pockets of the SAF regulars.

- Ex-Soldier

Comment on "Clarifying the Liberal Arts Education in Singapore"

Fri, 23 Oct 2009 16:07:30 +0800

Furthermore, there are various technology tools available to ease person-to-person communications or to recreate a networking environment. ,

- BadGirl89

Comment on "Clarifying the Liberal Arts Education in Singapore"

Thu, 22 Oct 2009 16:28:31 +0800

For those of us who study television and thus watch a good bit of it, pilots seem to be almost self-explanatory in their function and structure. ,

- Faggot84

Comment on "Clarifying the Liberal Arts Education in Singapore"

Tue, 13 Oct 2009 16:16:30 +0800

This is the value to me of Badiou s position that when contemporary philosophic thinking does encounter a term, women, for instance, it is not in the sense of a naming whose referent would need to be represented, but rather in the sense of being laid out in a series wherein the term subsists only through the ordered play of its founding connections. ,

- Crazy53

Comment on "Clarifying the Liberal Arts Education in Singapore"

Sun, 11 Oct 2009 04:37:50 +0800

Anything I choose to do instead of hanging out with my husband and four children better be waaay worth it. ,

- Miss95

Comment on "National Pledge, the Super Sign and the other Crutches of Humanity"

Mon, 31 Aug 2009 10:01:15 +0800

Thanks Wayne for clarifying how LL set up and used the super sign.

Given what you've said I suppose it would be difficult since (1) the Constitution is a rather weighty document and there's no pithy equivalent of the Bill of Rights and (2) the PAP's dominance means that the Constitution can be (and has been) amended in a way that the US Constitution cannot be.

- ringisei

Comment on "National Pledge, the Super Sign and the other Crutches of Humanity"

Sat, 29 Aug 2009 07:16:46 +0800

Ringsei,

If I understand what Lydia Liu means, she is trying to say that the super-sign works by its ability to hide the traces of its excesses through its processes of manipulation, and the way it crosses boundaries of languages. In the case of her work, she cites the term (among others) yi/barbarian and how that became such a significant signifier for the British that somehow eluded some Chinese. It was a representation of sovereignty for the British empire in their wanting to evaluate/re-evaluate/destroy this translated term which bothered them relatively to their Chinese counterpart.

For me, the term "national pledge" works in a similar way, although between the government and its people rather than between two empires. As a signifier, it is perhaps too overtly instrumentalized. But what is interesting is that different agents of the state now (the government, the military, the NDP committee, the collaborators) have vested interests in manipulating the super-sign, as I hopefully have shown to a certain extent. Although I have to say the translingual aspects (English to Chinese to Malay to Tamil and vice-versa) seems to be absent (or silenced) in this debate, that one wonders if the concept can be pushed even further if we consider how the term is understood by different linguistic groups in Singapore. For instance, a new immigrant from China or India will likely interpret "democracy, justice and equality" in a different way from a Chinese or Indian Singaporean? Or not?

I have yet to answer the question, and I am racking my brains to see if the constitution can function in a way such that we don't deviate too much from the term that LL has set up. Somehow the Singapore constitution to be is less visual, unlike the bill of rights paraded in Washington D.C's glass holdings where millions of Americans pay their homage to. Unless you know of a constitutional expert that has managed to create a eye-grabbing, a "super sign" that is vulnerable to multiple imaginings?

- Wayne

Comment on "National Pledge, the Super Sign and the other Crutches of Humanity"

Sat, 29 Aug 2009 07:15:08 +0800

Mr. Goh, Thanks for your comments. Glad you liked it.

- Wayne

Comment on "National Pledge, the Super Sign and the other Crutches of Humanity"

Wed, 26 Aug 2009 17:11:33 +0800

Why bother with nonsense from an old man gone senile?

- Rd

Comment on "National Pledge, the Super Sign and the other Crutches of Humanity"

Tue, 25 Aug 2009 15:07:26 +0800

Hi Wayne,

When MM Lee moved to shut down the debate started by NMP Sadasiva, he also made reference to the Constitution. Could that be an alternate super sign?

- ringisei

Comment on "National Pledge, the Super Sign and the other Crutches of Humanity"

Mon, 24 Aug 2009 15:29:54 +0800

A really good dissection of the debate here.

Goh Meng Seng

- Goh Meng Seng

Comment on "Temasek's Rebranding"

Sun, 02 Aug 2009 19:49:22 +0800

Investment with such a big funds is never easy. With transparency in place, there are advantages and disadvantages. There might be pressure for future investment to focus on shorter term like many listed companies are. However, it can instill confident that our money are managed properly.

- Thien Rong

Comment on "The Death Penalty : New evidence from the United States"

Wed, 29 Jul 2009 19:01:37 +0800

You say the death penalty, to be effective, must be often and relatively quick. Is this why Singapore takes a collectivist approach to drug trafficking offences, whereby a defendant has to prove their innocence rather than the court prove their guilt when found in possession of illegal substances? By which I mean, does Singapore choose to execute the innocent to prevent the guilty escaping punishment because overall society will be better off?

This is what anti-death penalty states and those who use the death penalty but have a slow process find offensive; the penalty may be more rapid, but it is likely inaccurate and cruel too. The utilitarian approach would see innocents killed; this is unacceptable to death penalty opponents and the majority of people find the idea of killing innocents for the greater good to be genocidal.

Singapore's bad record on capital punishment by Amnesty International and others is more motivated by the process than the result, though they would like this reversed too. A lot of people lack faith, especially in drug cases, that justice is the end result. Far less criticism would be drawn if the police and courts had to prove an intent to supply and prove the origin of drugs.

- Andrew

Comment on "Singapore General Election 2009 Likely?"

Sun, 19 Jul 2009 14:54:59 +0800

Is there a way for me to downgrade from Spore citizen to PR? I want to be Malaysian citizen and Spore PR too...Would I vote for PAP??!!!

I am an engineer. Over the past year, I have been squeezed out of my job by cheaper Chinese, Malaysian and Indian engineers. To them, $2000 is much when they remit back home. To me, I can't even afford a HDB, as frugal as I try to be, because the foreigners keeps driving home prices up on a daily basis. To add insult to injury, more of the foreign graduates replacing me had their university fees paid by our very own Ministry of Education. These graduates were not only given free college education, they were even given a month allowance of few hundred dollars each. While I had to work part time to support my education in NUS, and I still remain in debt to my student loan. (BITTER LAUGH!!!!).

I spent 2.5 years of my precious youth serving the SAF, during which I lost my first girlfriend during training. These foreigners were given PRs and citizenship in less than 2.5 years and they don't even need to serve. If war breaks out, I have to protect 1/3 of the population fuilled with these people?? (Assuming they dun run away at the 1st sign of trouble??!!) SAF even sent me a letter threatening to fine me for going overseas without telling them...to attend a funeral of my uncle...(BITTER LAUGH!!!!). Hey, here's an idea, why don't I migrate to another country before migrating back. That will save me more time!

I am working in odds jobs now 7 days a week. I am now almost 30 already. Inflation exceed my savings rate, and I find a home, marriage, kids and happy future beyond me. A simple illness or a year of unemployment could wipe me out. Yet the government is wondering why there are less marriages and births....(BITTER LAUGH!!!!)

I bear no love to my country now. My country does not need to be attacked, it has already be invaded and taken over. Thanks PAP!

- Bitter Singaporean

Comment on "Youth Activism in Singapore"

Wed, 08 Jul 2009 00:28:52 +0800

Hey Everyone

Great article! Thanks! Great reference and debate for my research topic on comparing Youth Activism in SG and US. And the comments are even richer in depth!

Thanks
the newbie.

- James Ho

Comment on "A By-Election in Jurong GRC?"

Sat, 04 Jul 2009 08:25:51 +0800

By winning one GRC, the opposition WILL not comes to power..... but will deter government from doing displeasure thing to the poor Singaporean...

- liubei

Comment on "Singapore General Election 2009 Likely?"

Sat, 04 Jul 2009 08:07:25 +0800

So election 2009 is a realistic ? so how long we have to wait after they have start to nominate officer for election?

- liubei

Comment on "Back to the Future Enhancements"

Thu, 25 Jun 2009 09:07:26 +0800

If you've thought about the answers to your own first two questions, you might have reasoned that:

1. Wah, 62 still can pass IPPT? Bash jungle? Heli-rappel?
(The job can be dangerous, the hours are not pretty and you can be sent anywhere anytime.)

2. Retire at 50, hard to find job after, how to survive?
(Even people who are passionate about defending the country need to think about providing for their families in the long term.)

3. Hypothetical opportunity cost of relatively early retirement: (62-50) x $5,000 x 12 = $700,000 which is roughly the amount of the Saver payout according to ST's 15 May 2009 article 'Officers fret about lump sum payment' for an LTC retiring at 45.

Let's link this last point to your last question (which I mentioned in my post already wrt public sector pensions) - how many years does a MAJ/LTC have to work to make one year of Minister's pay?

- ringisei

Comment on "Back to the Future Enhancements"

Wed, 24 Jun 2009 16:31:48 +0800

With the extension of the retirement age of regular army officers to 50, it means that SAF will have to pay more money to these people. Why should army regulars be given a hugh retirement fund? So what their retirement age is younger, 50 compared to 62 in the civilian sector? Which private or public organisation offer its people a retirement fund other than SAF? More wastage of taxpayers money. Later, who knows might lead to higher GST, etc. More tax burdens on Singaporeans again.

- Ex-Soldier