Thursday, July 9, 2009

Nominees for NMP positions

Siew Kum Hong Disappointed not on list

July 7, 2009
Disappointed not on list
He declines to speculate on why he did not get picked for a second term
By Goh Chin Lian
Mr Siew declined to speculate on why he was passed over, when contacted on Monday night. -- TNP FILE PHOTO

NOMINATED MP Siew Kum Hong is disappointed he has not been selected for a second term.

He declined to speculate on why he was passed over, when contacted on Monday night. But he told The Straits Times that he stood by his involvement in matters such as the leadership tussle at the Association of Women for Action and Research (Aware) and causes important to civil society groups.

Mr Siew, 34, an in-house counsel, had been criticised online most recently for offering legal advice to the so-called 'Old Guard' group in Aware which regained control of the organisation five weeks after they were ousted.

Saying that he had been involved in his personal capacity and not as an NMP, he added: 'I would like to think that if I was not reappointed because of the Aware incident, and I had known that things would turn out this way, I would still not have done anything differently.' Political observers who shared his disappointment applauded him for speaking up and sticking to his guns during his term.

Singapore Management University law lecturer Eugene Tan said: 'He represents someone who was prepared to speak his mind, and fight and defend the causes that he believes in. It was a fairly rare demonstration of commitment.

Former NMP Zulkifli Baharuddin, who similarly praised Mr Siew for making his views heard effectively, felt however that one term was enough so as to give others a chance. A total of 46 people vied for nine NMP positions this time round. Having new blood also allows for diversity and possibly 'another Siew Kum Hong', he added.

Apart from Mr Siew, Mr Gautam Banerjee, 54, executive chairman of PricewaterhouseCoopers, was the only other person in the current batch of NMPs known to have applied for a second term.

Mr Banerjee, who was also not nominated, said he understood why a fresh set of NMPs was selected: 'After all, the NMP scheme seeks to provide diversity and different perspectives in Parliament.'

This is not the first time that incumbent NMPs seeking re-appointment have not been successful. Political observers said former NMPs can exploit their higher profiles and use other platforms to put forward their views, such as running for election.

Mr Siew said last night he had no intention to run in the general election: 'I intend to continue to be active in civil society, but haven't really thought about how.'

Please read the full story in Tuesday's edition of The Straits Times

chinlian@sph.com.sg


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Singapore to have one of the highest defence budget in the world in 2009

Singapore to have one of the highest defence budget in the world in 2009

Tuesday, 7 July 2009,


Defence spending around the world (click to enlarge)

From Official Wire:

Singapore’s defence spending will amount to US$11.4bn or 6% of GDP in 2009. As a percentage of GDP, this amounts to one of the biggest defence budgets in recent history.

Singapore has consistently had one of the largest defence budgets in the Asia Pacific region. Given its small population base, Singapore has focused on maintaining its expenditure on sophisticated and superior weaponry. Singapore has consistently spent over 4% of GDP on its defence budget. However, the principal recent development affecting the future of Singapore’s defence spending is the recent rapid deterioration in economic conditions.

Singapore was the first Asian economy to slip into recession in the current global downturn, and will move deeper into recession in 2009.

According to advance estimates by the Ministry of Trade and Industry (MTI), Singapore’s GDP registered a dismal seasonally-adjusted annualised contraction of 12.5% quarter-on-quarter (q-o-q) in Q408 (its worst performance since at least 1980), due to a sharp fall in the services sector. On a year-on-year (y-o-y) basis, GDP contracted by 2.6%, implying that full-year growth for 2008 slowed to just 1.4% from 7.7% in 2007. The manufacturing sector contracted by 9.0% y-o-y in Q408, due largely to falling demand for electronic products in developed markets and a plunge in output for precision engineering.

Defence Minister Teo Chee Hean has announced that defence spending will amount to US$11.4bn or 6% of GDP in 2009. As a percentage of GDP, this amounts to one of the biggest defence budgets in recent history. The Defence Minister stressed the importance of maintaining military spending, noting that threats do not diminish but, rather, often emerge during testing economic times, owing to increased social and political frictions. He noted several factors that had enabled Singapore to build up its defence capability over time: careful spending, sourcing and upgrading second-hand equipment, an ongoing maintenance regime, and investment into research and development.

In February 2009, the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) announced that they will participate in a US-led task force in the Gulf of Aden designed to target pirates operating in the Gulf and adjacent waterways.

Singapore will supply a landing ship tank, two helicopters and two-hundred personnel. Joining an international flotilla comprising some forty-five warships from Europe, China and Malaysia, the SAF deployment will help to escort vessels traversing the Arabian Sea, Indian Ocean, Red Sea and the Gulf.

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More hidden sides of Singapore

More hidden sides of Singapore

I refer to Vijay Kumar’s letter ‘The hidden side of Singapore‘ and wish to add my own experiences of the so called beautiful Garden City.

For several years I did a part-time course at the Singapore Bible College, commuting to and fro between Johor Bahu and Singapore via the Woodlands Causeway. Had it not been because of God’s calling, I would have never stepped into Singapore despite living and working in Johor Baru for more than a decade.

For one, Singapore may be a first world country but the mentality of its people is anything but first world. Many Singaporeans are still very much in the third world.

One does not have to go very far to find an example for this. The Singapore Bible College itself is run as if they are still in the 1940s. They are so old fashioned in so many ways. A Mat Salleh lecturer once made a joke in class: “the dress code for the students in this college is Victorian” and he broke out laughing.

Management of the college is very much influenced by the Lee Kuan Yew’s style authoritarian - I talk you listen.

There are no grievances procedures for the students. Thus students are expected not to dispute the decisions of the management and being a bible college, they of course do not think it is biblical to sue the college.

Out of college, younger generations of Singaporeans not only do not have a proper understanding of the history between Malaysia and Singapore, they also do not have any great interest in it. For those who can afford it, they are only interested in migrating overseas. What happens to those who cannot afford it?

Rev Dr Joseph Ogawa, a psychologist missionary from America, often shares his testimony of how when he was first called by God to move to Singapore from America. His first reaction upon reaching Singapore was “are you sure there are any poor people here?”

Yes, there are many poor Singaporeans. A classmate from Singapore Bible College said his family was so poor, they could not afford to send him to school and he had to work as a carpet boy when he was 13 to supplement his family’s income. Later when he had kidney failure, he couldn’t get aid from dialysis centre like NKF because in Singapore if you have more than one terminal illness (he had two), you will be classified as a “no hope” case. In other words, “wait to die”. As such, you will not get aid from government hospitals.

Like many people who visit Singapore, we only see the skyscrapers, the immaculately kept public places, efficiency of the public transport system, the cars, the condos and the affluence of the Singapore lifestyle. But have you seen a one room flat (not a one bedroom flat) with a whole family living in it?

Besides, the normal HDB flats, the poorest of all can be found in abundance around Redhill. As part of my course practicum, I was sent as a volunteer to counsel the students in one of the secondary schools in Redhill. It turned out to be a cultural shock for me.

Have you seen Singaporeans who are so poor, they have to steal their neighbour’s water? Collecting cardboard boxes for a living? Have you heard of Singaporeans who can’t pay their monthly bills? Have you heard of Henderson Secondary School or do we only know Raffles Junior College? Seen the juvenile delinquents? Do you know what is the “in” thing for school girls these days in Singapore? It’s self mutilation by using razors and committing suicide. If you have not done it, you are not considered normal.

The school counsellor admits, this is the other side of Singapore the government do not want to brag about, neither do they want to highlight it. Singapore being a Confucius-led society is very concerned about the “face” and will never let you see anything but only “success”. That is why Singapore cannot afford to fail.

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Singapore ranked most trade-friendly nation

S’pore ranked most trade-friendly nation

July 9, 2009
By Gabriel Chen from The Straits Times

SINGAPORE is the most trade-conducive economy in the world, according to an influential report which put great rival Hong Kong at second.

The World Economic Forum (WEF) pointed to Singapore’s many advantages, including policy approaches, that have made it No. 1.

Its Global Enabling Trade Report cited the open market, highly efficient and transparent border administration, well-developed transport and communications infrastructure, and an open business environment.

‘Customs procedures are assessed as the least burdensome in the world, and time and cost for both import and export are among the lowest for all countries covered,’ the report said.

The WEF highlighted that the Singapore Government is highly transparent and efficient, while exporters face relatively low tariffs in target markets.

But it suggested one area in which action is needed: traffic and communications. It said less congested roads and improvements to the information and communication technologies infrastructure could help exporters.

Mr Phillip Overmyer, chief executive of the Singapore International Chamber of Commerce, agrees with that assessment particularly in terms of getting goods across to Malaysia, Singapore’s largest trading partner. ‘We all know the Causeway traffic is a significant problem,’ he said.

The WEF said Hong Kong’s open domestic market mirrored Singapore’s high dependence on exports and imports, but also noted that Hong Kong’s exported products faced more barriers than Singapore’s, as reflected in the tariffs it faced.

Barclays Capital economist Leong Wai Ho believes the differentiating factor for Singapore’s success has been the numerous Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) it has signed.

‘We’re the most trade-dependent economy in the world,’ Mr Leong pointed out. ‘These FTAs have given us access to key trading partners and it’s already showing up in the rankings.’

Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew recently told Malaysian leaders that Singapore businessmen have thousands of projects in China, Vietnam, India and the Middle East, and that they are benefiting from the web of FTAs the country has signed.

Still, the reality for Singapore is that being very open to trade with precious little domestic demand to speak of also means it cannot escape the global business cycle.

‘Singapore is a very export dependent economy that feels the pain once global growth collapses,’ said Mr Thomas Kaegi, senior economist at UBS Wealth Management Research.

A Ministry of Trade and Industry spokesman said that it ‘constantly strives to improve our institutions, policies, and services to facilitate trade activities and reinforce our position as a global trading hub’.

The report, published for the second time and covering 121 economies, assesses institutions, policies and services that facilitate trade across national borders.

The other economies in the top 10 are Switzerland, Denmark, Sweden, Canada, Norway, Finland, Austria and the Netherlands.

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