There had been countless attempts in recent years by the Main-Stream Medias (MSM) and several public figures of Singapore's ruling cabal attempting to cast anonymous views on the Internet as "not credible". I am sure we had all seen the endless responses and arguments to counter such unproductive viewpoint.
But hey, why even sweat it? The truth is in fact, PAP does think that anonymous bloggers are actually very credible. Let me explain.
Recently, there was this speech by the Community Development, Youth and Sports Minister Vivian Balakrishnan, and he said that "Anonymity in cyberspace is an illusion. You will remember in 2007, we prosecuted three persons under the Sedition Act because of the blogs they put up which denigrated the religion of one of our communities in Singapore." and also "The reason we did that was to send the message that your words have an impact; if need be, we can identify you, and if we have to, we will be prepared to prosecute you."
By making such statements, dear Vivian is actually telling us a few things:
1) You cannot be anonymous because we know who you are even if you don't put down your name.
2) Since you are not anonymous for we know who you are, then you must be credible.
3) If you are not being credible, we can and will identify you, and prosecute you since we know who you are.
4) So if we do not identify you or prosecute you, and since you are not anonymous because we know who you are, then you must be credible.
There we go, in not so many words from a PAP minister helping us debunk the myth of the MSM, anonymous bloggers had became credible.
Sunday, April 5, 2009
Friday, April 3, 2009
Made in Singapore
I was archiving some old files when I came across this photo that I modified using GIMP a couple of years ago. After more than 4 decades of PAP's rule, Singapore still appears to be more of the same shit, just different year.Will Singaporeans ever wake up and demand that Singapore be returned to them, instead of being the playground of those who deemed themselves to be "higher mortals"? Will Singaporeans ever get to the point of helping themselves and their neighbours get out of this enslavement of their rights and minds?
I don't know. Maybe they will eventually, and hopefully I can see that happening in what remain of my lifetime.
Thursday, March 12, 2009
Sad Life of Singaporeans
Once upon a time,
in nineteen sixty-nine.
HDB were not only subsidized,
but standard of living also very nice.
One spouse working, all can survive,
children are children all running around so nice.
Fast forward 40 years, it is the dreaded two thousand nine,
HDB flats had all became smaller in size.
Now termed "market subsidized,
their prices are not so kind.
Cost of living had grown so high,
now both spouses have to work nine to nine.
We all have to work like mice,
just so we can get some rice.
While ministers all sitting on cloud-nine,
busy scheming for our every dime.
PAP MPs, all pretending to sign,
but in reality, have no minds.
Terrorist escaped, no need to resign,
fixed the oppositions also never mind.
Children from two, are getting up-sized,
before they even recognize, whatever is life.
Their minds are filled, with all sort of lies,
that Lee Kuan Yew is the only one who ever sacrificed.
Golden age came and went, in a flash of an eye,
economy chewed to death, by rodents and mice.
The government is simply, not so nice,
hinting us to send our elderly, far off to die.
Asking to explain, they are not kind,
"Lesser mortals" we became, while they walk high.
Is this the end? We can't resign.
This sad story of Singaporeans is our life.
(I orginally posted a version of this at REACH forum and had made some minor modifications since. Inspired by Baby Boomer.)
in nineteen sixty-nine.
HDB were not only subsidized,
but standard of living also very nice.
One spouse working, all can survive,
children are children all running around so nice.
Fast forward 40 years, it is the dreaded two thousand nine,
HDB flats had all became smaller in size.
Now termed "market subsidized,
their prices are not so kind.
Cost of living had grown so high,
now both spouses have to work nine to nine.
We all have to work like mice,
just so we can get some rice.
While ministers all sitting on cloud-nine,
busy scheming for our every dime.
PAP MPs, all pretending to sign,
but in reality, have no minds.
Terrorist escaped, no need to resign,
fixed the oppositions also never mind.
Children from two, are getting up-sized,
before they even recognize, whatever is life.
Their minds are filled, with all sort of lies,
that Lee Kuan Yew is the only one who ever sacrificed.
Golden age came and went, in a flash of an eye,
economy chewed to death, by rodents and mice.
The government is simply, not so nice,
hinting us to send our elderly, far off to die.
Asking to explain, they are not kind,
"Lesser mortals" we became, while they walk high.
Is this the end? We can't resign.
This sad story of Singaporeans is our life.
(I orginally posted a version of this at REACH forum and had made some minor modifications since. Inspired by Baby Boomer.)
Thursday, December 11, 2008
The PAP's Election Game
There is a common misconception that if a few oppositions manage to win a few seats or a GRC or two in the next election, things will change.
Consider this:
1) Assume that the oppositions win a few more seats, say total of 25 seats belongs to the oppositions now. They now represent 29.76% of the parliament.
What will change? Nothing. Because PAP still holds more than 2/3 of the parliament seats and can just ignore all of their objections.
2) Assume that the oppositions win more seats than 25, say 40. They now represent 47.62% of the parliament.
What will change? Nothing. While they can block some bills since PAP now has less than 2/3 majority, it will not last long. PAP, as usual, will start the law suits, make the more vocal opposition MPs bankrupt, and before long, the oppositions will find themselves in the same position as Assumption 1, powerless to block anything.
3) Assume that the oppositions win even more seats than 40, say 50. They now represent 59.52% of the parliament. They are now the majority. PAP had became the opposition. Time for congratulation? Singaporeans succeeded? Think again.
What will change? Nothing. Even though they are now the majority, the elected president planted by PAP can over-ride any and all their decisions and amendments to existing and/or new policies since they do not hold 2/3 of the parliament to veto the EP's veto. The EP will essentially render the newly formed government impotent, making them look useless and getting nothing done.
A few more lawsuits, and the new government will return to the opposition status even before the next election.
4) Assume that the oppositions win way even more seats than 50, say 60. They now represent 71.43% of the parliament. Good? Problem solved? Think again.
What will change? Nothing. Even though now they are not only the majority, but also controls more that 2/3 of the parliament, as well as safely ignore the PAP's Elected President, you must keep in mind who controls the whole of civil service, arm forces as well as the treasury among other things. Yeap, right. PAP. Things may go 2 routes from here.
i) There is a coup. In that case, game over, back to square one.
ii) There is no coup. Then they (the new government) may make some amendments, they may introduce some drastic changes to improve your lives, but the entire state machinery refuses to cooperate with them. Nothing gets done, making all the changes made by the new government seen as empty talks. Come next election, back to square one.
There is also a high possibility that PAP could still be the dominant party even if they have less than 50% vote. Afterall, what I had mentioned so far is lumping all the opposition parties as if they are a single entity. All PAP has to do at that time is to identify and target the weakest party, spread more propagandas, discredit them and disqualify them, call for by-elections, take over the seats, and keep repeating the process till they have their 2/3 majority again.
Do you see how the Singapore system had been manipulated to entrench the PAP forever? And I had yet even mentioned the possible use of ISA and the Gurkha which may take place any time PAP feels that their positions are threatened. Lee Kuan Yew is a very shrewd man, I'd give him that.
But all is not lost. The best chance for any changes to happen will still be to get to the position as mentioned in assumption 4. But how are Singaporeans ever going to get to that, given all the obstacles PAP had put in the way like GRC, control of the MSM, etc.? Well, there are always solutions to any problems, and those obstacles that PAP had put in place are actually not a big deal when you break them apart and handle each one individually. I will cover that in future topics.
Consider this:
1) Assume that the oppositions win a few more seats, say total of 25 seats belongs to the oppositions now. They now represent 29.76% of the parliament.
What will change? Nothing. Because PAP still holds more than 2/3 of the parliament seats and can just ignore all of their objections.
2) Assume that the oppositions win more seats than 25, say 40. They now represent 47.62% of the parliament.
What will change? Nothing. While they can block some bills since PAP now has less than 2/3 majority, it will not last long. PAP, as usual, will start the law suits, make the more vocal opposition MPs bankrupt, and before long, the oppositions will find themselves in the same position as Assumption 1, powerless to block anything.
3) Assume that the oppositions win even more seats than 40, say 50. They now represent 59.52% of the parliament. They are now the majority. PAP had became the opposition. Time for congratulation? Singaporeans succeeded? Think again.
What will change? Nothing. Even though they are now the majority, the elected president planted by PAP can over-ride any and all their decisions and amendments to existing and/or new policies since they do not hold 2/3 of the parliament to veto the EP's veto. The EP will essentially render the newly formed government impotent, making them look useless and getting nothing done.
A few more lawsuits, and the new government will return to the opposition status even before the next election.
4) Assume that the oppositions win way even more seats than 50, say 60. They now represent 71.43% of the parliament. Good? Problem solved? Think again.
What will change? Nothing. Even though now they are not only the majority, but also controls more that 2/3 of the parliament, as well as safely ignore the PAP's Elected President, you must keep in mind who controls the whole of civil service, arm forces as well as the treasury among other things. Yeap, right. PAP. Things may go 2 routes from here.
i) There is a coup. In that case, game over, back to square one.
ii) There is no coup. Then they (the new government) may make some amendments, they may introduce some drastic changes to improve your lives, but the entire state machinery refuses to cooperate with them. Nothing gets done, making all the changes made by the new government seen as empty talks. Come next election, back to square one.
There is also a high possibility that PAP could still be the dominant party even if they have less than 50% vote. Afterall, what I had mentioned so far is lumping all the opposition parties as if they are a single entity. All PAP has to do at that time is to identify and target the weakest party, spread more propagandas, discredit them and disqualify them, call for by-elections, take over the seats, and keep repeating the process till they have their 2/3 majority again.
Do you see how the Singapore system had been manipulated to entrench the PAP forever? And I had yet even mentioned the possible use of ISA and the Gurkha which may take place any time PAP feels that their positions are threatened. Lee Kuan Yew is a very shrewd man, I'd give him that.
But all is not lost. The best chance for any changes to happen will still be to get to the position as mentioned in assumption 4. But how are Singaporeans ever going to get to that, given all the obstacles PAP had put in the way like GRC, control of the MSM, etc.? Well, there are always solutions to any problems, and those obstacles that PAP had put in place are actually not a big deal when you break them apart and handle each one individually. I will cover that in future topics.
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