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September / October 2011www.pap.org.sg行动报

• Stronger social safety nets

• Cool ways for hot home prices

• How Singaporeans come fi rst

S i l f

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Contents

04 Editorial

Too hot is not cool In the last two years, prices of resale HDB fl ats shot up 30 per cent, while that of private apartments soared 50 per cent. Minister Khaw Boon Wan discusses how this came about and the ways the government is working to cool the housing market.

* Also in Chinese, Malay and Tamil

09 Quick NewsA round-up of new policies.

10 Face to Face

‘The best heart is to have a clear head’One of the main tasks of the Ministry for Community Development, Youth and Sports is, as much as possible, to prevent people needing its services. Acting Minister Chan Chun Sing explains why and reveals how he hopes to achieve this by strengthening the social safety net, as well as the factors that will shape Singapore’s social policies.

14 Hot Topic

Of policies and politicsSingapore will have a twin focus in the coming years: Keep its long-term strategies on the right course and address the stresses and strains that people feel, PM Lee Hsien Loong said in his annual National Day Rally speech. He also announced changes in two main areas – the issue of foreign workers and the country’s welfare strategy. Plus reactions by activists.

Publicity and Publications Committee

Chairman • Lawrence Wong Vice-Chairman • Seah Kian Peng Secretary • Lim Wee Kiak

Members • Alvin Yeo, Arther Fong, Devi Vasantha Haridas, Kalyani Ramasamy, Chiang Heng Liang, Abdul Jafar Darwis

District representative • Diana Pang Young PAP • Hamidah Aidillah PAP Policy Forum • Malminderjit Singh PAP WW • Teo Lin Lee

Editor • Lim Huan Chiang Deputy Editor • Judith Holmberg Editorial and Design • Focus Publishing Limited (Tel: 6319 2392)

Printer • timesprinters, Singapore. Photos courtesy of Singapore Press Holdings.

18 Behind the Scenes

WW to pursue policy advocacy In an exclusive interview with Petir, the new chair of the Women’s Wing, Ms Grace Fu, lays out her plans to give women a stronger voice in developing Singapore’s policies and the reasons for the new direction.

SEPTEMBER / OCTOBER 2011

MICA (P) 188/08/2011

Petir is published by the People’s Action Party Central Executive Committee. Material in this publication may not be reproduced in whole or in part without

the prior consent of the publisher. Views expressed in this magazine are not necessarily those of the PAP or the government. All rights reserved.

PAP Headquarters

Block 57B, New Upper Changi Road, #01-1402, PCF Building, Singapore 463057 • Telephone: 6244 4600 • Telefax: 6243 0114 • Internet: www.pap.org.sg

20 Behind the Scenes

Mountbatten activists fi nd new fervourTheir fi rst battle at the polls in 20 years proved to be such an eye-opener to Mountbatten’s activists that they have changed the way they work to serve residents.

23 Tribute A stalwart to the endUlu Pandan MP Christopher De Souza pays tribute to late activist Choo Siu Heng BBM(L), who served the Party in his ward for more than 50 years.

24 View from the Front

What women wantThere are fewer things that women here are doing “for the fi rst time”, notes Minister of State Josephine Teo. But one major factor that holds them back at work and in starting a family is the battleground at home.

26 My Say

Look where hard work has taken usThe Singapore story has been described as a miracle, but there is no mystery to it, writes former Minister of State Yu-Foo Yee Shoon. It is all about Singaporeans working hard to achieve a niche for themselves in the world economy and community.

28 Forum

Want to get netizens talking?Malminderjit Singh discusses how social media has changed communication today and the ways in which the Party can use it to put across its views.

30 PCF Day 2011

47 PCF awards given outThe PAP Community Foundation’s annual Family Day was held at the Science Centre this year. Besides the handing out of study awards, one highlight of the event for the 5,000 who attended was a machine that generates lightning, complete with thunderclaps.

32 Happenings

• A cup of rice • Balloon tribute• Guzheng fundraiser• Unforgettable!• Reading fi nale

35 Backbencher’s Bite

It’s all perspectiveThe PAP has been described as a juggernaut, where group-think is the norm, but her experience with the Party has been quite different, writes new MP Foo Mee Har.

36 Overheard

Best of the sound bites by Parliamentarians.

EDITORIAL

Too hot is not coolHousing was a red hot issue dur-

ing the May General Election. That got me into the Ministry

of National Development and my new job there is to cool it down

Ninety-two per cent of Singaporeans own their homes. This is the highest home ownership rate in the world. In other developed countries, the rates are below 70 per cent.

Why then was housing such a red hot issue?

In the last two years, home prices here have shot up by 30 per cent in the HDB resale market and 50 per cent in the pri-vate housing market. Naturally this has alarmed many Singaporeans.

Parents are concerned about their chil-dren’s situation in the future. Newlyweds worry that they will never be able to afford their own home. HDB upgraders fret that they will never be able to upgrade to a private property.

Their Singapore Dream seems to be slip sliding away…

There are many factors causing the rapid rise in home prices. Globally, the capital market is fl ush with cash, resulting in very low interest rates for mortgages.

In their efforts to fi x the 2008 banking crisis, many central banks loosened their monetary policy, resulting in global li-quidity. Much of this excess liquidity went into properties and other capital assets.

Domestically, a sharp increase in the residential population has pushed de-mand up faster than the supply of hous-ing units. Dealing with the uncertainties post SARS, the government opened up the labour market to seize opportunities that came along.

No straighforward solutionIt was on the back of this growth that

Singapore was able to come out of the 2008 fi nancial crisis very quickly. But the resultant imbalance in housing supply and demand drove home prices up.

The solution seems straightforward: Reduce or increase supply until the de-sired balance is struck. However, there are practical diffi culties as not all factors are within the government’s control.

For example, with the on-going euro crisis and the risk of another US recession looming, global interest rates are likely to stay very low for quite some time.

But the government does have con-

siderable infl uence, especially over the HDB market. It is proactively tackling the problem, but time is needed to allow the measures to work.. New homes cannot be created overnight.

We are working on both fronts – sup-ply and demand.

First, we need to cut out unnecessary, speculative demand. Second, we need to increase supply, both in public housing and in the private market, through HDB’s building programme and the URA’s land sales.

We are building 25,000 HDB units this year and doing the same next year. That is 50,000 units – the equivalent of a new Ang Mo Kio Town!

Since May, we have stabilised the prices of HDB’s Build-to-Order (BTO) fl ats. We have moderated price changes such that after adjusting for differences in location and other physical character-istics, the May, July and September BTO prices were roughly comparable to the prices of similar units in the April BTO launches.

I have focused my attention on the HDB BTO programme as my top priority is to help the newlyweds who earn below

4 PETIR SEPT / OCT 11

By Khaw Boon WanMinister for National Development

$10,000 a month to buy their fi rst HDB home as soon as possible. We estimate that there are about 16,000 such families already in the housing queue, and each year sees 15,000 new applicants.

If our estimates are correct, then, at some time next year, the intensifi ed BTO programme should clear the fi rst-timer queue. This will allow us to move on to the next stage of addressing the needs of the HDB second-timers – the ones who fi nd resale prices too high.

More rental fl atsBy reducing the demand on the HDB

resale market, resale prices should begin to moderate, benefi ting other home buyers, like the singles.

Meanwhile, I am also attending to the housing needs of families with a house-hold income of below $1,500. Many such households are made up of divorcees or single parents with young children. They have to rely on subsidised rental fl ats.

We are building more rental units,

but these will be available only in three years’ time.

Acting on the suggestion of several MPs, we are delaying the demolition of the blocks placed under the Selective En-bloc Redevelopment Scheme (Sers) and using these as interim rental facilities, while we await the completion of new blocks of rental fl ats.

Two blocks of about 300 old fl ats at

Spooner Road in Tanjong Pagar, used to house the Malayan Railway workers, are now available, following the implementa-tion of the Points of Agreement between Malaysia and Singapore. The HDB is taking them over, and retrofi tting them for use as temporary rental units.

Three hundred units are not many, but every available one is a blessing for a family in need.


Soal perumahan merupakan satu isu yang hangat semasa Pilihan Raya Umum pada Mei lalu. Pemerintah

sedang berusaha meredakannya. Sebanyak 92 peratus warga Singapura

kini memiliki rumah sendiri – ini adalah kadar pemilikan rumah yang tertinggi di dunia.

Jadi mengapakah soal perumahan menjadi isu yang hangat ?

Sejak dua tahun lalu, harga rumah telah meningkat sebanyak 30 peratus bagi pasaran jualan semula dan 50 peratus bagi pasaran perumahan swasta. Sudah tentu, ini menimbulkan kebimbangan di kalan-gan ramai warga Singapura. Ibu bapa pri-hatin tentang keadaan anak-anak mereka. Pasangan yang baru berumahtangga bim-bang akan kemampuan mereka memiliki

rumah sendiri. Pemilik fl at HDB pula risau rancangan mereka untuk membuat peningkatan dengan membeli hartanah privet tidak kesampaian.

Impian Singapura mereka seakan tidak kesampaian ...

Mengapa harga meringkatPelbagai sebab telah menyebabkan

harga rumah kini meningkat. Secara global, pasaran modal kini dipe-

nuhi dengan wang tunai, menyebabkan kadar faedah yang rendah bagi cagaran.

Bagi menangani krisis kewangan 2008, bank-bank pusat melonggarkan dasar kewangan, menyebabkan pencairan secara global.

Diperingkat domestik pula, mening-katnya jumlah penduduk telah membuat permintaan bagi unit-unit perumahan melonjak lebih cepat berbanding dengan bekalan yang ada. Dalam menangani keti-

daktentuan selepas krisis SARS, pemerin-tah telah membuka pasaran buruh bagi merebut peluang-peluang yang wujud selepas itu.

Meskipun Singapura telah dapat pulih dalam masa yang singkat daripada krisis kewangan 2008, namun ketidakseim-bangan diantara bekalan dan permintaan perumahan, telah menyebabkan harga rumah terus melonjak.

Huraiannya tampak mudah: Men-gurangkan atau meningkatkan bekalan sehingga keseimbangan dapat dicapai. Tetapi, tidak semua faktor berada dalam kawalan pemerintah.

Namun, kita punyai pengaruh yang agak besar ke atas pasaran HDB dan secara pro-aktif kita cuba menangani masalah yang dihadapi, tetapi kita perlu-kan masa sebelum langkah-langkah yang diperkenalkan dapat memberikan kesan.

Kami sedang berusaha dalam kedua-

Meredakan kehangatan

92

30

50

2008

2008

2 5000

1

1 6000

1 5000

太热不“酷”


Oleh Khaw Boon WanMenteri Pembangunan Negara

dua aspek – bekalan dan permintaan. Pertama, kami akan mengenepikan

permintaan spekulatif kerana ia adalah sesuatu yang tidak perlu. Kedua, kami akan meningkatkan bekalan, bagi kedua-dua pasaran awam mahupun swasta, menerusi program pembinaan HDB dan penjualan tanah URA. Kami akan membina 25,000 unit HDB pada tahun ini dan tahun depan.

Sejak Mei, harga jualan bagi fl at-fl at HDB di bawah skim Bina-Ikut-Tem-pahan (BTO) telah dapat dimantapkan dan penyesuaian harga dibuat bagi mem-bolehkan harga jualan bagi fl at-fl at BTO untuk Mei, Julai dan September lebih kurang setanding dengan harga jualan bagi fl at-fl at BTO yang telah dilancarkan pada April lalu.

Program BTO HDB adalah keu-tamaan kami; demi membantu pasangan yang baru berumahtangga yang bergaji kurang dari $10,000 sebulan membeli fl at pertama mereka. Dianggarkan terdapat kira-kira 16,000 keluarga yang sedemi-kian yang kini sedang beratur bagi men-

dapatkan rumah dan 15,000 permohonan baru pada setiap tahun.

Jika taksiran kami tepat, program BTO yang dipercepatkan sekarang harus berhasil bagi memenuhi keperluan go-longan pembeli untuk kali pertama bagi tahun depan.

Selepas itu, kami akan menangani pula keperluan pembeli bagi yang kedua kali, yang mendapati bahawa harga fl at jualan semula kini terlalu tinggi.

Meredakan pasaranjualan semulaDengan mengurangkan permintaan

ke atas pasaran jualan semula fl at-fl at HDB, harga bagi jualan fl at semula akan mencapai paras sederhana, dengan itu memanfaatkan kumpulan pembeli yang lain, seperti golongan bujang.

Pada masa yang sama, pemerintah juga sedang menangani keperluan pe-rumahan bagi golongan keluarga yang menikmati pendapatan keluarga kurang dari $1,500 sebulan. Kebanyakan mereka adalah individu yang bercerai atau ibu atau bapa tunggal dengan anak-anak

kecil yang bergantung kepada fl at sewa bersubsidi.

Kami sedang membina lebih banyak lagi fl at-fl at untuk disewa tetapi ia hanya boleh disiap dalam masa tiga tahun.

Pemerintah juga kini menangguhkan rancangan untuk merobohkan blok-blok di bawah Skim Pembangunan Semula Terpilih Bersama (Sers) bagi membole-hkan ia digunakan sebagai flat untuk disewa buat sementara.

Terdapat kira-kira 300 fl at-fl at lama yang dahulunya digunakan oleh pekerja-pekerja Malayan Railway kini boleh dimanfaatkan, menyusuli pelaksanaan Butir-Butir Perjanjian (POA) antara Malaysia dan Singapura. HDB telah mengambil-alih flat-flat tersebut dan sedang membuat penyesuaian untuk ia digunakan sebagai fl at-fl at untuk disewa buat sementara.

Flat-fl at sewa sebanyak 300 ini tidak-lah begitu banyak tetapi yang pasti setiap satu yang dapat dimanfaatkan amatlah disyukuri oleh sesebuah keluarga yang memerlukan.

1500

300

300





FACE TO FACE

In an exclusive interview with Petir, Acting Minister Chan Chun Sing reveals his strategies for a strong social safety net and the main factors shaping his policies

‘The best heart is to One of the main tasks ahead

for the Ministry for Commu-nity Development, Youth and

Sports is the formulation of future-ready policies and programmes. The ministry, explained its new chief, is only one part of Singapore’s social safety net, and it will adopt a people-public-private approach to leverage on the strengths of different stakeholders.

“When people talk about social safety nets, they tend to talk about the last recourse, the MCYS layer, rather than the whole system. Education, training, housing, and medical, these form part of the social safety net,”said Mr Chan Chun Sing.

He added: “Actually it is better to have a bigger net on top with which to catch than a small one below.”

To make his point, he cites the ex-ample of a boy who, if he stays in sec-ondary school, would possibly cost the government about $5,000 a year. “But if he drops out of school and gets into trouble, and ends up at a boys’ home run by MCYS, then it could cost 10 times more to take care of him, not counting the other problems he may cause.

“Our main challenge now is to con-duct conversations with people in the social service chain, to explain ‘Hey, some of these things can be done upstream’ to minimise possible ‘fi refi ghting’ down-stream.

“Sometimes it’s a bit more challenging to tell people ‘I’m trying to solve this po-tential problem’ then to say ‘The problem is here, give me some money to solve it’.

But if we can solve a problem before it happens, chances are we have more con-trol. For one, our services will be more


have a clear head’cost effective,” said the former Chief of Army, who was the fi rst foreign student to be conferred the Distinguished Master Strategist Award at the US Army’s intel-lectual centre, its Command and Staff College.

His plan requires strengthening col-laboration with other ministries, such as Education, on ways to keep the non-academically inclined in the system; Health, to have a continuum of care encompassing hospital, community and family; and National Development, when it comes to determining the kind of space in public housing estates for the needs of an ageing population.

“We need spaces that in the short-term will be used as childcare, but maybe in the long term will be used for elder-care. But you can’t just switch 20 years later; we need to plan for it now.”

Things are also getting more com-plicated in the social services sector, he observed. For instance, people who come for fi nancial assistance often have a variety of other problems too, and these require a holistic approach.

“You want to make sure people have access to a one-stop service centre, where we can help to hand-hold them through all their challenges, either as an individual or a family.

It’s not a situation where you, say, have a cough and cold, we give you Panadol, and the problem will go away. That kind of help is not comprehensive enough,” explained Mr Chan, who at 42 is the youngest Cabinet member.

And more often than not, the solu-tions have to be customised.

To provide all this, another item on Mr Chan’s “To do” list, is having a greater variety of operational models.

Currently, there are different players, ranging from those offering niche serv-ices to big operators with mass-market solutions.

Likening them to a provision shop and a FairPrice outlet respectively, Mr Chan noted: “People go to a provision shop because you know the owner, the service is very personalised. But you only have so much ability to progress your workers.

“At a FairPrice outlet, the pricing is very competitive, as it benefi ts from economies of scale, but it is a supermar-ket, so it is less personal.”

However, there is an in-between, the Econ Minimart of the social service sector, where small players pool their resources, which can be seen in the social service hub at Tiong Bahru.

Here, eight providers share resources, like a receptionist and therapists, who are in short supply globally, and thus save on expenses. At the same time, their clients have access to various related services.

Whatever the case, each service model would have different proportions of part-nerships involving the public, private and people sectors, with their different skills, strengths and limitations.

The government can help develop the

On social divisions“People like to divide society

into the rich and the poor, the haves and the have-nots… What’s more important is not how you divide the people in this spectrum but social mobility.

If you are in a certain group, are you able to move across, through your own efforts or with the help of the system. If you have this ability to move, it gives you hope for a better life for yourself and your children. And if you have hope, it encourages you to continue to strive.

If a signifi cant proportion has no hope, they would rather overturn the system than live within it. Singapore is no different. We must continue to provide hope, to meet people’s aspirations to move forward.”

On harmony“Racial and religious harmony is

not a state but a work in progress. Many people don’t know why you want to talk about it, as to them this problem doesn’t exist. This is a problem of absence of evidence, and they take it as evidence of absence.

Differences in racial and religious practices, cultural misunderstandings, are all things that can fl are up if not properly managed. It is good though that more and more people increasingly react to these as Singaporeans fi rst.”

“If we can solve a problem before it happens, chances are we have more control. For one, our services will be more cost effective.”

FACE TO FACE

mass market services, the VWOs provide customised services, while the private sector is best placed for situations with a very obvious market demand.

His third priority is the training and opportunities for caregivers and social workers.

“We need to ensure caregivers can re-charge themselves and go for training. We need to make sure social service workers have enough challenges to sustain their interest, and redeploy them at different stages so they don’t get burnt out. At the same time, we need to allow them to spe-

cialise in their own areas at some point.”However, he stressed, situations are

not static. Needs are constantly chang-ing. “We have to make sure, we don’t just provide for today’s needs, but those of the future too.”

He sees three main factors that will shape Singapore’s social policies. One is its demographics. People are getting older and living longer; families are shrinking in size, with the “extended family not as extended as in the past; and more people

are single”. So, different forms of quantitative and

qualitative social services will be required. Another is that economic cycles are

shorter. This makes the ability of a person to hold down a job with the same skill sets diffi cult, noted Mr Chan, who has fi rst class honours in economics from Cambridge. “Some may fi nd it diffi cult to jump to the next job and the one after…”

A third factor is the higher expecta-tions people have of the social service sector. “People are more discerning. They no longer look at you like a group of volunteers. Instead, they expect a very professional level of service.”

They also expect more from the gov-ernment, especially with regard to the needy and the disabled.

“Of course, we must do more, but within the means we have. It’s not how much you spend, but how you spend. One must be targeted in one’s approach”, for when one group is given more, others receive less.

“My philosophy is to spend on those who need it most, because if you subsidise everybody, you don’t subsidise anybody.

“Sometimes, the best heart is to have a clear head, to know what you need to do. At the end, the test is how well our people are cared for, rather than just how much we put in per se.”

“We have to make sure, we don’t just provide for today’s needs, but those of the future too. Situations are not static”

Minister Chan envisages a one-stop service centre, where people can have their hand held through all their challenges.

On his style“What we can do much better

is to help Singaporeans understand the basics. Once you do, you can think through the problems yourself, and think of alternatives. Then we’ll have more critical thinking on some of the hard choices that we face and more ownership of the issues.

That’s why I share how we think through things. Should we spend more on this area? The answer is of course ‘Yes’. But between spending more on this group and that group, which one do you choose? I want people to understand every choice is a diffi cult choice.

I always conduct my sharing sessions this way – to fi nd answers. I never go in to provide the answers.

I start by writing on a white board; it’s the way I think through issues. We think through them together. At the end, I come out wiser and I hope the participants too come out more knowledgeable about the topic.

Now I’m trying to allocate more for the elderly as the population is ageing, but I need to fi nd the resources from somewhere. I have to fi nd the heart and the head to reallocate these resources.

These are the hard choices of governance and policies that must be shared. We can’t just say the answer is this and this. It’s more important to know how the answer is derived than the answer itself, because circumstances change. An answer is only correct at one point – now.

At the end, I’m not interested if you agree or disagree with me, but whether can you carry your position forward and fi nd better solutions for the challenges the country is facing.”

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HOT TOPICHOT

TOPIC

If Singapore wants to continue to be exceptional in the years ahead, the government and Singaporeans will

have to look beyond immediate concerns and work together on creating the future they want to see, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said in his fi rst National Day Rally speech after the General Elec-tion, which saw six seats won by the opposition.

The country did well in the last fi ve years, despite encountering its worst economic storm in 46 years, as a result of bold and decisive measures, like the Re-silience Package and Jobs Credit scheme, he noted. “Incomes have gone up some, people have jobs and homes, our city has been upgraded and Singapore is better.”

However, success brought its own

Of policies and politics

problems, especially with infrastructure, leading some to ask if they still have a part to play.

Now, as dark clouds loom again, “we have to keep a twin focus – address the stresses and strains that people feel, but also track and respond to our external challenges and keep our long-term strat-egies right. Otherwise, there will be no Singapore success story for citizens to be part of.”

This means “we have to get our poli-tics as well as our policies right”.

This will require harnessing the energy and concern poured into the vigorous discussions of issues during the May polls, rather than letting the diverse views expressed divide the country, said Mr Lee in a speech designed to mend breaches

caused by the bruising election, reassure investors that the government will stick to its course, and make clear to citizens their concerns have been heard.

“My government will reach out to all segments of Singapore society to under-stand your perspectives, to share ideas and concerns with you, to work with you to come up with plans and programmes which will benefi t all of us,” he promised.

One point he stressed repeatedly, was that Singaporeans could play a larger and

Activists found lots to cheer about in this year’s speech, with Singaporeans First drawing the most responses

Special education:

“Glad there’ll be some expansion of capacity for special education. There are students put in the demanding mainstream education system, when they actually require more assistance. But we don’t have enough people to help them. One solution is to tap mid-life professionals, retirees, retired teachers and housewives, and provide training and incentives to attract them into the teaching profession.”

– Mr Louis Lim, assistant branch secretary, Siglap

Paya Lebar hub:

“The Paya Lebar cultural hub will help preserve our Malay heritage and allow our youth to know our history.”

– Mr David Seow, assistant branch secretary, Kembangan-Chai Chee

Housing policy:

“The rise in salary ceiling to qualify for an HDB fl at solves the problem only temporarily. There are many other issues of the ‘sandwich-class’ which are not resolved.”

– Ms Diana Pang, YP member, Tampines-Changkat

In his speech, the Prime Minister assures that Singaporeans do come fi rst and how long-term policies are being adjusted to refl ect this.


positive role; sort out issues and com-promises together, and take the initiative themselves to make things happen, like the Tampines photographer who snapped family portraits of his neighbours at their doorstep to help them get to know one another.

If the basic relationship between government and citizens is right, then the country’s policies will also be right, he concluded.

By and large, he said, major policies

“are headed in the right direction”. He also acknowledged they may need fi ne-tuning to deal with specifi c problems before explaining how the government will keep its current approach as well as make adjustments.

One example is the import of foreign workers and immigrants, which will continue because of the “considerable benefi ts” they offer. “At the same time, it’s important that Singaporeans remain the core of our workforce,” said Mr Lee.

Singaporeans First:

“The policy is PM’s response to the unhappiness over the foreign infl ux. Levies on foreign workers have been increased. However, this might affect SMEs and the construction industry, which depend heavily on these workers.”

– Ms Dashanyani, activist, Radin Mas

“The Singaporeans First policy is a very important message. On employment, PM made good points when he said Singaporeans will still form the core of the workforce and that we compete against the world. But he could have emphasised too that Singapore is totally dependent on external trade, and if that closes up, we can’t even feed ourselves, as we import everything.

– Mr Jonathan Shek, deputy branch secretary, Kg Chai Chee

“We must understand that it’s Singaporeans fi rst, not Singaporeans always fi rst.” – Dr Patrick Loh, branch vice-chairman, Mountbatten

What makes Singapore exceptional?‘If we want to continue to be exceptional, then you must make a special effort to look ahead, anticipate problems and opportunities to build for the long term, patiently, resolutely, year by year. We have shown that we can do it, otherwise we would not be here today. Now we have the opportunity to build something which is truly outstanding in Singapore. These pictures give you a sense of the things we are doing and why they are worth doing.’

But three areas will be moderated, to relieve the impact of the infl ux and “to make clear that we are putting Singapo-reans fi rst”.

Housing: There will be more HDB fl ats to meet demand. In 2012, 25,000 BTO fl ats will be put up, the same as this year’; 7,000 rental fl ats will be added to the supply. The HDB ceiling for income will be raised to $10,000 and that for executive condos to $12,000.

University places: There will be 2,000


Singapore specials (clockwise from left): Greenery, Gardens by the Bay; infrastructure such as Jurong Rock Cavern; Punggol Waterway Terraces; facilities such as Khoo Teck Puat Hospital; people; among them Haridharan Jaganathan.

HOT TOPICHOT

TOPIC

more a year. At the same time, foreign enrolment will be capped at the present level. There will also be more scholarships and bursaries for locals. “No Singa porean will be unable to attend university due to fi nancial diffi culties.”

Jobs: The government is looking at changes in the salary requirements and educational qualifi cations of the middle level of foreign workers coming here. It will work with unions and employers to develop guidelines for fair employment practices.

However, he cautioned: “Just because we are tightening on foreign workers does not automatically mean Singaporeans will get better jobs or higher pay, because the competition is not just the foreign worker here. You are competing with workers all over the world.”

Mr Lee’s second example was on “how we need to care for one another”. Here, the government will progressively strengthen its social safety net, while it continues with targeted assistance through many helping hands and encour-ages self-reliance.

For a start, the cost of out-patient treatment for the low-income elderly with

chronic illnesses and the disabled will be reduced: More types of drugs will be subsidised. The government will also pick up a larger part of the bill for pricier medi-cation, such as that for cancer patients.

Such help will be available from the age of 40, instead of 65. On top of that, the income criteria to qualify will be raised, so more are covered.

Thinking long-term:

“Many who complain about foreigners working here don’t realise it’s critical these people remain. PM rightfully pointed out that the benefi ts are long-term, though the pain is immediate. Singapore must continue to allow its government to develop long-term policies rather than cater for the next election. “

-Mr Edward Tay, activist, Geylang Serai

University places:

“The planned increase in university places is insuffi cient. No one can understand the frustration of being rejected by our universities despite having reasonable entry results. I urge the government to further reduce the cap on places for foreign students, and to allow parents to use their CPF to help pay for local private university studies and even studying overseas. It’s no big deal now to have a degree, but the reverse is not true.”

- Mr Wong Mun Chiang, branch secretary, Hong Kah North

Active citizenry:

“I hope more people will speak up. Offi cials should take a back seat. We should be open to differing opinions as it means multi-perspective discussions.”

-Mr Abner Koh Ming Feng, YP deputy organising secretary, YP Sembawang Region Chairman

Treatment will also be convenient, as the Primary Care Partnership Scheme will be extended. This allows patients to see their GPs at polyclinic rates.

In his speech in Chinese, the Prime Minister announced that more Medifund support will be provided to lower-income households for elderly care services, such as rehabilitation.

At the same time, the government intends to expand the capacity of special education schools and offer more places in mainstream ones to children with special needs. The quality of education for these

“It’s important that Singaporeans remain the core of our workforce...”

youngsters will be improved, and more fi nancial help will be available to these households.

“While we do all these things, we have to be very careful that we don’t become a welfare state,” said Mr Lee, pointing to how Greece has gone broke as a result of its welfare system.

In his speech in Malay, the Prime Minister praised the community for contributing to solutions that helped in Singapore’s progress. “All levels have seen improvement, year by year. At the top, small but growing numbers of Malays are reaching new heights of excellence in the professions and other fi elds.”

He also announced that the income criteria for the Tertiary Tuition Fee Sub-sidy scheme will be revised to cover more Malay families, and that the government will develop a new civic centre and plaza for the community on the site of the Ma-lay Village in Geylang. The plans include a heritage gallery.

“We face more complex challenges,” warned Mr Lee, “but we can create an outstanding future together. What we have today is special, don’t take it for granted.”


BEHIND THE SCENES

The topic of the day was “Your children and their education”. The 50 women present broke up

into three groups and got to grips with the topic. At the end of the two-hour meet-ing, notes on the views expressed were collected for a policy paper for Parliament.

The Aug 7 session was the seventh and fi nal one in a series the Women’s Wing held in as many weeks. Each focused on a different area. These were family, work, society, and politics and education.

The discussions were the group’s fi rst foray into policy advocacy, an area that the Young PAP is also exploring. It is a fresh direction for the 23-year-old WW, which launched its new vision, mission statement and logo on April 23.

The initiative is part of its intention to empower women to contribute to the country’s development and play a key role in nation building.

“We want to provide a stronger and more distinctive voice for our women,” explained Ms Grace Fu, who took over the WW chair from Mrs Lim Hwee Hua in May. This will allow the Party to engage women voters more directly, she added.

“Women’s issues tend to be multi-factoral, more complicated and cut across various ministries, hence it is crucial to have someone bring up these matters in the House.”

The problems faced by single mothers and divorcees, she pointed out, are an ex-ample of the kind of matters that cannot be neatly encapsulated within just one

WW to pursue policy advocacy New chair Grace Fu aims to encourage women to take a bigger role in Singapore’s development

ministry, as these cover housing, social se-curity and education, among other areas.

Through dealing with such issues on a larger scale, she also hopes to offer her members fresh impetus. In an exclusive interview with Petir, she observed that some women party activists were demor-alised after the May General Election.

“Although the PAP won 60 per cent of the votes, the WW suffered a setback – we lost a woman minister. This is a way to galvanise the Party, by encouraging the

activists to provide input to the policy-making process, so they can actively infl u-ence the direction of future policies and push for changes.”

Hence, instead of conducting dia-logues where the main speaker, usually a minister, explains policies and answers questions, participants will be divided into small groups, to allow for more can-did and direct discussion of issues.

“I believe this is a more effective way to elicit ideas and engage the people,” said the Senior Minister of State at the Ministry of Information and the Arts and Ministry of Environment and Water Resources.

“Through this, we’ll be able to get

women’s perspectives on issues. They’re more passionate about matters relating to the family and education, and have a bet-ter sense of what is needed. For example, they take care of the elderly and children at home, and so are in a better position to be the voice for policies related to these two groups.”.

WW Southwest District chair Pauline Sim said that the activists liked the new- style sessions, while Ms Eileen Goh, deputy chair of the Southeast District, noted that having small groups had “led to more fruitful sessions”.

While the format also means that the same concerns can and were raised by dif-ferent groups, Ms Sim pointed out that this indicated that a topic needed atten-tion. Added Ms Goh: “It makes sense that we’re collecting feedback from the people who are directly affected.”

At the last dialogue, several mums spoke about the importance of valuing every child and called for an education system that is fl exible enough to accom-modate youngsters with different needs. Some also said that schools should focus more on teaching values, to develop re-sponsible adults.

One participant pointed out: “The problems of a 20-year-old single mother today is a result of what happened 20 years ago.”

Hence, she hoped more can be done in schools to instill good values in children, to avoid social problems later.

Ms Fu added: “We want to start by

“We can’t solve all the problems at the same time, but we can bring attention to some.”


By Chong Koh Ping

Vision Women fully empowered to contribute to the development of Singapore, playing a key role in nation building, economically, socially and politically

Mission To establish the necessary support systems and maximise opportunities for women to realise their fullest potential

To ensure women’s needs, voices and perspectives are heard and refl ected

To leverage on women’s unique talents for more inclusive and superior outcomes for the community

To realise its vision and mission, the group will focus on:

• Work-life balance practices, and family-friendly support structures • Women’s contributions to policy formulation and refi nement • The promotion of marriage and parenthood • Uplifting underprivileged women • Active ageing • Raising the representation of women in the workforce, top positions and politics

engaging our own activists. We want them to tell us what they want to talk about, what they feel strongly about, what resonates with them and what they are unhappy about.”

The process of gathering feedback has so far provided an opportunity for the new women MPs to understand and meet the activists. Several, among them Com-rades Foo Mee Har, Low Yen Ling and Sim Ann, attended some of the dialogues.

“At this early stage, we’re looking to collect the big branches on which to hang the leaves, that is, determining the issues the activists feel strongly about,” explained Ms Fu. The WW will then focus on diffi cult-to-solve ones.

“We can’t solve all the problems at the same time, but we can bring attention

to some. We intend to pick one specifi c area and spend 12 to 18 months work-ing on it.”

Besides policy advocacy, Ms Fu also intends to focus on expanding the net-work of activists, as well as strengthen-ing communication within and outside the WW.

She has engaged all women MPs to be part of this exercise, and has set up an advisory council comprising ex-women MPs. Efforts will also be made to engage with other groups within the Party at all levels, and to connect with women’s groups outside the PAP.

“We need to move from the pyramidal structure of HQ exco, then district and branch levels, to one that is more circular or networked,” she observed.


The WW will pick one specifi c issue and spend 12 to 18 months working on it, said Ms Fu.

BEHIND THE SCENES

As recently as April this year, the activists of Mountbatten offered their services to simply contribute

to the community, to help others. Then, politics did not really come into the pic-ture for them.

All that changed with the May 7 Gen-eral Election, when the constituency went into the battle on its own, after 14 years in the protective embrace of a GRC. Worse, the last time it had even contested an election was even further back, in 1991.

The branch’s assistant secretary, Ms Sim Bee Hia, 45, summed up the new outlook: “You can no longer say, ‘I’m a community leader; I don’t want to be involved in politics; I don’t take sides.’ That doesn’t work anymore.

“There’s now a greater sense of politi-cal awareness; that what we do is driven by our belief this is the right platform for us to serve the people,” added the secretary-general of the Hokkien Huay Kuan, a clan association. She became an activist in 2004.

It was a wake-up call too for veterans like Mr Saram Jerome Joseph, a retired principal who has helped out in nine GEs in the area, starting with the one in 1976, when Mountbatten was part of the Katong constituency.

“I was taken aback at the outcome,” said the 76-year-old, who watched the live announcement of the results on TV, as he had been too tired to go to the Toa Payoh Stadium rallying point.

“I thought we’d get 80 per cent of the vote,” he said, basing it on the sincerity in residents’ smiles during house-to-house visits and their warm reception. “When

Mountbatten activists fiThe General Election has changed the way the activists at the single-member constituency go about their work

I saw that we’d only managed 58 per cent, it was a big surprise. The shock made this last election probably my most memorable.”

The constituency, which covers the Tanjong Rhu and Old Airport areas, and the HDB estates in Dakota and parts of Marine Parade, was a single ward from 1959 to 1991, before it became part of Marine Parade GRC.

At its last experience in the fray, its then-MP, Mr Eugene Yap, who was up

against independent candidate Yen Kim Khooi, scored 78 per cent.

No energy to chiongMr Frederick Ho, 40, the branch’s

secretary who is a deputy director at NTUC, said of this year’s battle: “It was a very steep learning curve.

“As we hadn’t fought for 20 years, we didn’t know what the voter sentiment was. It was like going to war without knowing where your support base is,”

By Wong Sher Maine


Ms Sim is one of the many new activists serving at Mountbatten, who played leading roles in the GE.

fi nd new fervour

explained Mr Ho, who became an activ-ist in 1994. “Yes, we worked the ground, but while everyone might say hello and interact, how they vote at the ballot box is another thing.”

Branch treasurer Ang Bee Hock, an accountant, who was one of a handful of veterans around in 1991, noted: “We had also lost the energy to chiong (Hokkien for rushing forward).”

To him, the election in 1991 was the most memorable in the seven he has ex-

perienced since he became an activist in 1986, as he had been the most involved in the planning and execution work.

This year, many of the old hands who might have been familiar with the GE machinery were either retired or had passed away.

“It’s no longer the same cohesive group of people working together to fi ght an election,” said the 55-year-old. “Yes, we work together for MPS and other events, but the bonding which takes place at MPS and at an election is very different.”

Social media, he added, was a new unknown in the equation. “Young people were easily infl uenced by what they saw on Facebook and didn’t care whether it was true or not.”

The composition of the estate had also changed. While 90 per cent of the ward used to be three-and four-room HDB fl ats 20 years ago, there are now more fi ve-room homes. About 50 per cent of the residents live in condominiums, many of which they were not allowed to enter to make their pitch, and private property.

Said Mr Ho: “It’s challenging to gauge the level of support in private estates be-cause even if we manage to interact with residents, we’re not sure if they’re owners or tenants.”

Mid-way during the nine-day cam-paign, the team realised, from feedback and press articles, that national issues like the cost of living mattered more than local ones. Ms Sim recalled a resident coming up to Mr Lim Biow Chuan to tell him that while he was a good MP, the resident’s vote would go to the opposition. “How do you fi ght a battle like that?” she asked.

Coupled with opposition sentiment in the nearby Aljunied GRC, it struck the team that it had a real battle on its hands.

The group decided to change its strat-egy and focus on what Mr Lim was doing on the ground to address those matters.

On the day Singaporeans voted, Mountbatten’s results were the fi rst an-nounced. Said Mr Ho: “We were quite relieved we’d won, but we also knew we had to look at how we can increase our vote share.”

Rethink, Refocus, Redefi neSo, when 70 of the branch’s activists

and helpers got together for the fi rst time after the GE, the meeting was charged. Top of the agenda: To take a hard look at why their MP and the years of work they had put in had been brushed aside.

Political correctness was thrown out of the door. Frank views and hard criti-cism was the order of the evening. The purpose of every event the ward organises was examined. Ways to deal with ground issues, such as how to reduce residents’ waiting time at meet-the-people sessions and for MPS letter writers to show more empathy, were discussed.

Even how residents left an MPS came under scrutiny, said branch vice-chair Patrick Loh, a lecturer at SIM university.

Plans were made to publish a news-letter and start a website specifi cally for people in the constituency.

At the end of the three-hour meeting, called “Rethink, Refocus, Redefi ne”, ideas on how the activists would continue their work had been hammered out.

On the ground, four months after the


election, life goes on for residents who stream in for MPS every Tuesday night at the PCF kindergarten above Old Airport Road’s famous hawker centre. About three in 10 are private estate dwellers.

They generally bring up disputes over property tax and with neighbours, defer-ring National Service for their children, and traffi c disruptions caused by MRT construction work.

HDB residents usually need help with paying their rent and other fi nancial as-sistance. There are about a dozen rental HDB blocks in the constituency.

The greater sense of political purpose now has translated into better service for residents. Said Ms Sim: “Knowing that the future of Singapore is at stake, I’d say this makes it more urgent for us to con-vince residents of our sincerity in wanting to serve them better.”

The sense of purposefulness has gone beyond the MPS. For instance, celebrat-ing the Mooncake or Lantern Festivals is not done because it’s an annual affair, it is now an opportunity to ensure their MP, whom the activists describe as a “ground man”, gets to talk to his constituents.

“We ask, what is the purpose of the event? It must be tweaked so he can talk to more residents and connect better with them. Everything must be looked at with fresh eyes,” said Ms Sim.

House-to-house visits cannot be a routine exchanging of pleasantries. If a resident raises a concern, the activists ensure he gets an answer. “We have to close the communication loop and not leave it hanging there,” she added.

Now, too, the veterans are working more closely with the branch’s younger helpers, many of whom are in their early and mid-30s and new to the work. They played leading roles in the GE, taking charge of social media and mobilising manpower.

Compared to the old hands, many more of them are professionals. Noted Dr Loh: “They are a lot more willing to stand up and make their opinions known if they don’t agree with you.”

He added: “Hopefully, the next four to fi ve years is enough time for them to ‘graduate’, understand their roles, the role of the Party and its philosophy. We can’t teach an old dog new tricks, but we can bend the bamboo when it’s young.”

Mr Saram Jerome Joseph, 76, father of two sons in their 30s

In the late 1970s, he drafted a letter of appeal for his Ma-laysian wife to be given PR status, to then-MP Joe Conceicao. The MP was so impressed he asked Mr Joseph to join the team as a letter-writer. He did after his wife got her PR.

“Someone tried to get me to learn to write on the computer, but I still write letters by hand,” he said.

A particularly fond memory was when the driver of a taxi he was sitting in turned around and thanked him for helping him to write his petition. “He didn’t want to accept the taxi fare, but I insisted. He’s making a living after all.”

Dr Patrick Loh, 60, father of a son, 23

The son of immi-grants, a watchman and a washerwom-an, counts getting an overseas training

award from the PSA to study in Brit-ain as a turning point in his life. He worked his way up to a PhD majoring in plant virology and tissue culture technology, and the boy who grew up in a one-room Redhill fl at now stays in landed property.

He joined the Party when he was

Old hands21, before he got the award. “I was grateful, for the opportunities I had been given to shine with some hard work,” he said.

“Activists like us do quiet work behind the scenes, but on the occasion when I meet with people like Mr Goh Chok Tong, I feel satisfi ed that small fry like me can hold a conversation with someone of his stature.”

Mr Frederick Ho, 40

A n e w s p a p e r headline, trumpeting a call from then-Prime Minister Goh for more student lead-ers to step forward, led him to his fi rst meet-the-people session in 1994. At the time, he was a member of the National University of Singapore’s Democratic Socialist Club.

He has stayed on for nearly 20 years because he gets a buzz from help-ing out. “There’s a family we’ve been helping for years, from getting them a rental fl at in the area to providing fi nancial assistance. We can see how their lives have slowly improved over time, and the hope is that the children will be able to take care of their parents when they grow up.”

He added: “We can do a lot for the residents, but if what we’re doing is not meeting their needs, then it’s no use. We need to hear from them more.”


The activists are trying to reduce resident’s waiting time at MPS.


TRIBUTE

Three words sum up the character of PAP stalwart Choo Siu

Heng BBM (L) – selfless, consistent, unassuming.

Drawing from a vast res-ervoir of political experiences spanning over 50 years, he imparted advice and counsel in a disarming and effective manner, and left many who listened to him with a deep conviction that the Party continues to have the soul, drive and determination to better the lives of fellow countrymen.

Young activists were cap-tivated by his story of joining the PAP in the mid-1950s – to him it was a natural extension of his belief that residents here should become a self-governing people then being mis-labelled by the British colonialists as pro-communist, and banished to China for four years where he worked as a gardener.

He returned in 1959, when Mr Lee Kuan Yew and a core team of ministers from this island’s newly-formed govern-ment persuaded Kuala Lumpur to support his coming home.

Through our relationship with Mr Choo, the activists at Ulu Pandan Branch learnt that the PAP’s path has always been one of struggle, and that in these present times, we must go through that struggle again.

His commitment to Singapore through the PAP saw him hold key positions at the branch, where he served as secretary (1966-1968), chairman (1969-1990) and vice-chairman (1993- 2005). For his

A stalwart to the endUlu Pandan activist Choo Siu Heng knew he was dying but still helped in the May GE

invaluable contributions to the nation through the PAP, he was awarded the Party’s Commendation Medal in 2005.

Separately, and with equal vigour, Mr Choo served as a vice-chairman (1983-1989) and was patron (1989-2011) of the Citizens’ Consultative Committee. He also served as a chairman (1977-1981) and was patron (1981-2005) of the Ulu Pandan Community Club management committee.

For his contributions to the commu-nity, he was fi rst conferred the Bintang Bakti Masyarakat (BBM) in 1974, fol-lowed by the Bintang Bakti Masyarakat (Bar) – BBM (L) – in 1985.

However, it was not all the many things he did for the nation and commu-

nity that impressed residents. Rather, it was the way he helped – humbly, sacrifi-cially and quietly – that was exemplary.

Mr Choo’s passing is a loss, personally, for me. When I was assigned the responsibility of being the MP for Ulu Pandan, I im-mediately looked for elders from whom I could learn and in whom I could place my trust.

Speaking in Malay, Mr Choo offered me his wealth of experience and taught me how to serve residents effectively and win over nay-sayers.

Despite knowing the end was near, Mr Choo, who had cancer, came to the branch on all the nine campaign days of the May General Election. He encouraged us by repeat-ing the mantra, “rajin-rajin

kerja, mesti menang“(hard work will result in a win).Ulu Pandan mourns the loss of a trusted comrade and stalwart.

In honour of his selfl ess service and to entrench his work ethic in the fabric of the ward’s history, we will be funding annual Choo Siu Heng scholarships under the auspices of the CCC and, separately, the PAP Community Foundation Ulu Pandan, for needy students to further their education.

Heroes are measured in the hearts of men. Mr Choo will be measured as a hero by many hearts. He personifi ed the meaning of politics – selfl ess service.

The writer is an MP for Holland-Bukit Timah GRC (Ulu Pandan)

Mr Choo (in tie) campaigning at the 1991 General Election.

At the Party Awards in 2005 where he was presentedthe Commendation medal. Mr Choo is fi rst from the left.

By Christopher De Souza


VIEW FROM THE FRONT

Nur Khairah, Theodora Lai, Shraddha Bhushan Patil and Hooi Ren Yi are well-educated,

hold good jobs and are very likely to ad-vance quickly in their careers. They are part of the Young Women’s Leadership Connection started by Comrade Lim Hwee Hua in 2009 to mentor aspiring young women.

In 20 years, when these four women are in their early 40s, at least one would still be single. The three who married are likely to have done so in their 30s, about 10 years later than their mothers, and have no more than three children, about half the number their mothers did.

Why is this happening?One important reason is that in the

Asian context, better-educated women have fewer potential partners to choose from. Another is that women have gained fi nancial independence from being able to work. More of them fi nd fulfi lment through job functions or active involve-ment in the community. Marriage is not essential.

In cases where they are the only un-married child left in the family, single women carry a disproportionate share of the burden of caring for elderly parents. This makes it hard for them to seek out a partner.

I’ve met such women at meet-the-people sessions. It breaks my heart to see them financially and emotionally drained, yet stoically hiding their pain to prevent their parents from feeling bad. The care-giving can last for years. By the time their parents pass on, so too have their prospects for marriage.

At the same time, marriage and espe-cially parenthood are not always attrac-

tive. Women are more likely than men to be the primary caregivers, even when they work full time.

In a 2009 report published by the US-based Pew Research Centre, a large majority of Americans believe that the ideal situation is that a mother with young children does not hold a full-time job. Only 12 per cent say what’s best for a young child is that their mother works full time. Forty per cent believe the ideal situation is a mother who works

part time; 42 per cent say it’s best if the mother doesn’t work at all.

I’m not aware of such a study here but, anecdotally, attitudes are similar. Those with retired parents or domestic helpers get some support, but there’s nothing quite like mum when it comes to caring for children.

Such beliefs, while not wrong, heap guilt on many working mums. They need to work to supplement the family income. They want to work for self-

What women want

In 20 years. one in every four women will still be single. One way to change this could be through negotiating a new normal between sexes.


actualisation and to accumulate more resources to educate their children. But society thinks what they should really do is give more time to family. It gets worse when they see stay-home mums having the time to ferry children from one en-richment class to another.

As a result, many working women compensate by spending far more time than their husbands on household chores, child-minding, the coaching of school work… In terms of job assignments,

By Josephine Teo

women consciously or unconsciously choose those they think will demand less time and attention.

Employers are not always helpful either. When asked about hiring work-ing mums, billionaire Donald Trump reportedly said, “She’s not giving me 100 per cent. She’s giving me 84 per cent and 16 per cent is going towards taking care of children”.

He is wrong. Working mums are often the best multi-taskers in the workplace. In Singapore, as in the US, the greater sense of need to care for the family re-sults in choices that explain why fewer women progress to senior positions com-pared to their male peers with similar education and ability.

When the strain becomes untenable, some women quit to stay home full-time, only to fi nd themselves unable to return to the careers they once enjoyed. The high opportunity cost of parent-hood makes women think twice about having more children or having any at all. It costs society too, both in terms of lowered fertility rates and the loss of valuable human capital.

Not all women want to have a career and family, but many do, and ways should be found to make it easier for them.

For the fi rst time this year, the Na-tional Day Parade regimental sergeant major was a woman. So too was the show segment’s creative director. Women no longer struggle to be recognised. Thanks to equal access to education and the

absence of glass ceilings, there are fewer things that women here are doing “for the fi rst time”.

What holds many of our women back is, strangely, the battleground at home.

It’s time to change. Childcare re-sponsibilities need to be shared more evenly between mums and dads. Care of elderly parents should be split more equitably between sisters and brothers. More employers should see the advantage of offering women employees the chance to achieve work-life harmony.

We women have to learn to rope in the men in our lives to get things done – shopping for grocer-ies, doing the laun-dry, taking the old folks to hospital… If my experience is any-thing to go by, most men just need to be

asked. Many grow to enjoy the depth of involvement.

As colleagues, we should remind one another that excellence need not be achieved at the expense of family.

The government could also encourage men and women to share family roles more equally. It may well be the next frontier for fruitful intervention.

In partnership with men, we could achieve a new breakthrough in gender equality, one where young women like Khairah, Theodora, Shraddha and Ren Yi can go as far as their dreams will take them and achieve fulfi lment at home.

The writer is a minister of state at the Ministry of Finance and

Ministry of Transport.

Not all women want to have a career and family, but many do, and ways should be found to make it easier for them.


MY SAY

Singapore has just celebrated its independence and 46 years of suc-cess. Despite being a small city-state

with 3.2 million citizens and no natural resources, it has grown steadily from a developing country to one which has a standard of living comparable to First World nations.

Its story has been described as a Singa-pore miracle, but there is no mystery to it. It is all about Singaporeans working hard to achieve a niche for themselves in the world economy and community.

Bedrock of successThe country has a social structure that

is the bedrock of its success. From the start, this nation got its priorities right. The early settlers who came here worked hard to support their families. They had a strong work ethic and were self-reliant. These attributes remain to this day.

They built a self-sustaining network of support, for instance the clan associations, and grew a community where people were bonded by the same dream of building a future for themselves and their families.

This nation’s political leaders were bold in their vision and adopted strategies that took it to where it is now. Today, citi-zens have access to good public housing, quality education and healthcare, and a clean, green and safe environment.

Singaporeans have the important tasks today of sustaining self-reliance and ensuring that the family remains the building block of society, of working with the government to continue to build and harness social capital for community development.

The country’s social safety net relies very much on individuals taking respon-sibility, the family being the fi rst line of support and the active involvement of the community. This is what we call the many helping hands approach and stresses partnership among the people, the public

Look where hard work

and the private sectors.Singapore is ranked among the top

in the world when it comes to per capita income, but there are concerns. The gov-ernment is mindful that there is an in-creasing income gap between the rich and the poor, resulting in a Gini co-effi cient of 0.45. There are 400,000 individuals earning less than $1,700 per month

In his National Day Rally speech, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong re-minded Singaporeans of the experience of Greece, now bankrupt because of unsus-tainable welfare expenses. “If Singapore

ever ran into trouble, who would bail us out?” he asked. Thus, the nation must continue to be resilient and self-reliant.

The government is always mindful about not becoming a welfare state and creating a crutch mentality, which in the long run goes against the tenet of self-reliance.

The country’s economic growth has been phenomenal. Some economists have questioned the need to pursue such high growth, because there are trade-offs. But I believe that the nation must continue to pursue economic growth whenever

The Singapore River then and now.


By Yu-Foo Yee Shoonk has taken us

the opportunity arises, because there is no certainty as to when the next cycle of growth will present itself. However, there is a need to look after those who have been slower in keeping up with the pace of economic growth.

Help at the doorstep The Ministry of Manpower rolled

out Workfare in 2007 to assist low-wage workers to improve their employability. The Ministry of Community, Youth and Sports set up the ComCare Endowment Fund in 2005 to provide targeted assist-

ance to low-income families in need. The fund currently stands at $1.3 billion.

ComCare, probably the only one of its kind in the world, has transformed social assistance here. It has four key features –decentralised nodes of help, fl exibility in assistance, empowered ComCare partners and community involvement.

Various national and local assistance schemes are delivered through the fi ve Community Development Councils (CDCs), which are further supported by community organisations such as ethnic-based self-help groups, religious organisa-

tions and charities, Family Service Centres (FSCs) and the Citizens’ Consultative Committees (CCCs).

There are more than 1,000 agencies connected through the ComCare Local Networks to help the needy in the com-munity. Any person or family in need just has to approach the CCC, or nearest CDC or FSC for help. This is what I call “help at the doorstep”.

The government already spends a large amount on lower-income Singaporeans, for example, a lower-income family can expect to receive about $490,000 from the state over their lifetime (or about 60 per cent of what the family members will earn over their lives), through Workfare, ComCare, HDB housing subsidies, childcare, bursaries, medical and other subsidies. Notwithstanding this, there are always quarters who want more to be done to help the needy.

There are many challenges ahead to contend with – the widening income gap, social cohesiveness, an ageing popu-lation, a rise in the number of singles, a fertility rate below replacement level, and very competitive global and regional economies.

In his National Day Rally speech, the Prime Minister reminded that the Singa-pore success story, which is the envy of many countries, will continue to be told only if everyone has a job and works hard.

The priority should be to spare no ef-fort to ensure that there are good jobs for them, and grow their incomes by upgrad-ing Singaporeans and raising productivity. This is the sustainable solution.

We must not rest on our laurels, and must continue to work hard. Only then will we be able to realise the vision that no one will be left behind.

*The writer was minister of state for the Ministry of Community

Development, Youth and Sports

28 PETIR SEPT / OCT 11282888822 PEPEEEPEPPP TTIITTTIIRR SEESEPTPTPTPT // / OOO OCCTCTCCT 1 11111

FORUM

Want to get netizens talking?One way is to engage prominent bloggers and operators of independent news sites

Be it the Arab Spring earlier this year or the London riots in Au-gust, 2011 has served up suffi cient

examples which demonstrate the power and ability of social media to shape global events through the extent and speed of its reach.

Indeed, distinguished American schol-ars Robert Keohane and Joseph Nye Jr have pointed out that the existence of the Internet has increased the volume of com-munication due to its affordability, thus intensifying communication networks manifold.

This has allowed social media to in-fl uence, rally and organise a large body of people for a common cause, the case with the events in the Middle East and England, and with unprecedented speed.

Many observers believe that the PAP has not been as effective and successful in online engagement as it has been in face-to-face engagement, and that that was a large reason for its relatively lower vote share at the recent General Election.

While the extent of the impact of social media on the election results may be debatable, one thing is certain – social media is growing in importance and is likely to play an even greater role in the political landscape here.

Moreover, it provides as valuable a platform for direct communication with constituents as meet-the-people sessions, house visits and block parties. Indeed, the

social media space may allow netizens to be the new grassroots.

Hence, substantial thought and re-sources should be accorded to it as part of the PAP’s overall communication strategy, more so than is being done now.

But before developing appropriate strategies for social media, it is important

to identify its make-up. The platform of communica-

tion has three basic segments. The first comprises news sites. Articles here could be from the print media, generated by those running the site or readers’ contributions. Through their comments on these, netizens can

The Net’s ability to rally people was demonstrated by an online campaign to cook and share a pot of curry, in protest of a decision by a mediation centre.


The old: Holistic advice needed

That there will be more resources to improve social safety nets and sup-port structures for the low-income elderly is welcome, considering Sin-gapore’s rapidly ageing population. However, the measures announced at the National Day Rally address mostly medical needs.

Supporting an aged parent or relative at home also involves dealing with their social and physical needs. In many cases, these go beyond fi nancial assistance, and require such advice as the appropriate modifi cations to a toilet.

Hence, a multi-agency, multi-ministry effort to deal with the situ-ation holistically, would be more appropriate.

S. Shaikh IsmailPasir Ris East Branch

Value of pollsAs part of the effort towards trans-

parency and winning the hearts and minds of people, more polls could be conducted to measure public opinion and MPs’ performance. Through these polls, the Party can compare its think-ing to that of the ground’s, to make better assessments of situations and, hopefully, better policies.

Conducting quarterly polls on MPs’ performance would offer instant feedback to MPs, besides providing them with a gauge on how they are perceived. A good rating would en-courage and motivate them in their efforts in caring and connecting with people, and dealing with issues. Al-ternatively, they would fi nd out how they could fi ne-tune their approach.

Chiang Heng LiangKolam Ayer Division

Briefl y

By Malminderjit Singh

shape and infl uence opinions. The second segment covers network-

ing sites, such as Facebook. The intensity of the networks built here is arguably the strongest among all social media platforms as the sites are specifi cally for linking people and building communities based on common interests and habits.

Finally, there are the content sites; basically blogs, microblogs such as Twit-ter and content-sharing sites such as YouTube. These allow contributors to engage in informal lobbying.

Through these avenues, issues are kept alive for much longer than in the traditional media of radio, TV and newspapers; indeed, for as long as even one netizen feels the need to comment on these topics.

However, because the commenters are anonymous, there is no obligation for them to be logical, truthful or accurate, or to behave responsibly..

Due to this, public fi gures should be ready for greater scrutiny and maintain an active presence online, so they have the necessary bandwidth to counter inac-curate and negative reports.

As a result, getting read and “heard” requires going beyond, say, posting pho-tographs of block visits on Facebook.

As the volume of information dissemi-nated and the persuasiveness of arguments online can help expand one’s sphere of infl uence, one route for an activist to take

in cyberspace could be to develop an individual identity through the ideas and opinions he posts.

For instance, an activist who is in-terested in sports, could offer insights on this, besides engaging with netizens on political and grassroots issues. In the process, he could position himself as a thought leader in his fi eld and expand his sphere of infl uence.

This would lend weight as well to data and arguments he offers when correcting misinformation on both personal and national policies and initiatives.

He could also leverage on the longer duration of public attention and viral effect of social media to help create a positive buzz about the government’s efforts.

Last, but not least, there is a need to engage prominent bloggers and operators of independent news sites, to cultivate a responsible online en-vironment. Many of these netizens, who already have a strong following, play the role of online “grassroots lead-ers”, so engaging them is an effective way of tapping into a wider sphere of infl uence.

The writer is the Assistant Secretary of the 4th PAP Policy

Forum Council and serves at the Kebun Baru Branch.


PCF DAY 2011

A fter three years of studying bank-ing and fi nancial services, Leon Lin Jing Jie knows all about

numbers and chance. And he knows that the odds against him receiving two study awards after applying for just one are high.

So the 19-year-old, who had original-ly applied for and received a bursary, was surprised to learn he had also been picked to receive a PAP Community Foundation

47 PCF awards given outBy Denis Jansen

(PCF) Study Award of $2,000. He was one of the 47 polytechnic

students who got the award, which was handed out by Party Secretary-General Lee Hsien Loong at the PCF’s annual Family Day. The event was held at the Singapore Science Centre on Aug 4.

Leon, who is studying at Ngee Ann Polytechnic, is the only child of Madam Goh Pei Lan, 44, a taxi driver who is separated from her husband.

He said: “When I applied for the bursa-ry I didn’t realise that I also met the criteria for the PCF award. The school submitted my name for it.”

He plans to invest the sum, and “grow it to cover my university tuition and expenses”.

The lightning eff ect came with deafening sounds of thunder in this science exhibit.


PM Lee with Comrade Halimah Yacob watches the sand patterns created by a signal generator.

Performances by children from PCF kindergartens were part of the entertainment.

PM Lee and Comrade Wong interacting with the poly award winners.

The teen, a member of his polytech-nic’s Investment Club and Business and Accountancy Society, is active in outreach programmes promoting fi nancial literacy in schools.

“Financial literacy is a life skill eve-ryone should have. By teaching it, I’m learning, as well,” he says. “I find it shocking how little the average person knows about fi nancial matters.”

He recently shaved his head to raise awareness of the Children’s Cancer Foun-dation’s “Have A Hope” programme and also helps charities sell fl ags to raise funds.

The PCF award is given to outstand-ing but underprivileged polytechnic students, with a history of good grades and a record of community service. Since 1999, $1,126,000 has been distributed.

Another recipient, Munirah Moha-mad Santosa, 19, also from Ngee Ann Polytechnic, said: “I’m grateful my efforts are appreciated.”

A buffet lunch and a dance perform-ance by children from two kindergartens was part of the programme lined up for the 5,000 or so parents and guests, who included Comrade Teo Chee Hean and PCF exco chairman Lawrence Wong.

There was also an exhibition of gadg-ets with practical uses, like energy-saving devices, as well as displays of entertain-ment value, such as the machine that simulated lightning and Tibetan singing bowls. These are brass bowls that produce a humming sound when their edges are rubbed.

A big hit was the parabolic dish that allows something said in a normal tone of voice to be clearly heard 50m away.


HAPPENINGS

At Bishan East, residents gathered for dinner on Aug 6, when Com-rade Wong Kan Seng urged them

to donate a cup of rice for the needy in his Bishan-Toa Payoh GRC. The collection was done on Aug 9 at the constituency’s National Day Observance Celebration.

There were celebrations across the island as activists marked Singapore’s 46th birthday.

A cup of rice

Siglap residents’ National Day din-ner at Bliss Garden Restaurant was spiced with performances by

belly dancers, local bands, a kompang group and acapella singers, all per-formed by residents. But the act which got the most attention that Aug 6 was by MP Mohd Maliki Osman.

He played two pieces, “The Moon Rep-resents my Heart” and “Singapura, Oh, Singapura”, on the

Guzheng fundraiser

guzheng, a traditional Chinese string instrument, to help his constituency raise funds for community projects. Siglap CCC chairman Vickneson Ulaganathan described it as “Siglap’s gotong royong spirit”.

More than 300kg were collected. Organising chairman Charles Yee said:

“Residents told us that they found it a very meaningful gesture.” So there was a second drive under the project, “A Cup from the Heart”, on Sept 3, in conjunc-tion with the mid-autumn celebrations.


Armed with props, 30 pre-school-ers faced the ultimate test of their story-telling skills – relate a tale

and accompany it with songs, dances and acting – at the National level “Discover the Joy of Reading” contest on Sept 18.

The winners were Mohamad Sulaim-an Ali in the K1 category and Shannon Wong Rui-Ann in the K2 group.

Their parents said multimedia tech-nology like the iPod Touch had helped their child.

The event at the National Library

Balloon tribute

Reading fi nale

Unforgettable!

About 200 women activists got together in July to raise a toast to four former MPs – ex-WW

chief Lim Hwee Hua, and Comrades Yu-Foo Yee Shoon, Ho Geok Choo and Cynthia Phua – in appreciation of their combined 63 years of service to the country.

The party, organised by the Wom-en’s Wing, was held at the Yunnan Garden Restaurant at one-north. The women turned up in ethnic dress as per the evening’s theme.

Former minister Lim was presented with a porcelain dinning set in red, her favourite colour; the others, crystal

More than 3,000 Taman Jurong residents turned up on Aug 13 for the ward’s carnival to mark

National Day. The event, held at Taman Jurong CC offered stage performances, game and food stalls, and lucky draws, as well as carnival rides and more.

A highlight was a group of volunteers’ presentation of the national fl ag made up of 400 balloons and LED lights. Many visitors had a photo taken in front of it. The guest of honour was Deputy Prime Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam, MP for Jurong, who handed out free tickets for the rides.

vases. Representatives from Mrs Lim’s

Serangoon Branch sang “Close to me”; Madam Ho joined her Boon Lay activists in the well-known “Tian Mi Mi” , while Paya Lebar Branch members dedicated “The Moon Represents my Heart”

to Ms Phua. The Bukit Timah Branch presented a video montage of photographs on Mrs Yu-Foo’s time in the Party and WW. To round off the evening, all joined in the song “Don’t Forget to Remember Me”, which brough tears to the eyes of many.

Plaza Foyer included skits and dances by the pre-schoolers, plus 12 father-child pairs reciting the story “We’re Going on a Bear Hunt”.

They were among 40 winners in the “Read a Story with My Dad” programme, which encourages fathers to read with their children.

It’s all perspective


BACKBENCHER’S BITE

Much has been said about how GE2011 marked an epochal change in politics here and

how “new normals” have been estab-lished. Singaporeans are now more en-gaged when it comes to national issues. This is an integral part of Singapore’s maturing democratic process.

My fi rst 100 days as an MP, with its dialogues with residents, festive cel-ebrations and meet-the-people sessions, allowed me to better understand my con-stituents’ changing needs and aspirations, as well as their expectations of what the government should be accountable for.

Prevalent issues mirror many of those discussed at national level, including the cost of living, jobs, foreign workers, as-sistance to the needy and transport.

While some of the cases refl ect gaps in national policies, I found many people are not aware of the programmes under which they can get help, such as assistance in medical expenses. The government can do better to make these schemes easily understood and accessible.

Singapore’s celebration in August of its 46th birthday was an oppor-tunity to refl ect on the country’s many achievements, who we are as a nation and the direction of our growth.

I was heartened by the Prime Minister’s announcements of initiatives in his rally speech, where he addressed putting Singaporeans fi rst in housing, jobs and education.

I was also struck by his urg-ing citizens to consider what they want in 20 years’ time, and to choose between having an “exceptional country” and an “ordinary country”.

As he pointed out, it is critical Singa-pore gets its politics right, because only then can it stay an exceptional nation.

The new normal in politics is about understanding this social evolution, rather than changing the core values of the PAP, such as its belief in honest leadership, work ethic, meritocracy and multiracialism.

It is about renewing the PAP’s rela-

Foo Mee HarMP for West Coast GRC

tionship with fellow Singaporeans, to forge a new social compact that considers shared values and Singaporeans’ aspira-tions. The Party needs to listen harder, take into account people’s unease over the pace of change, and review how it can help and partner Singaporeans better.

One point that stands out is how the public view the PAP. According to the most extreme description I’ve come across, the Party is “a monolithic jug-gernaut that brooks no dissent, where group-think is the norm, and all mem-bers’ opinions are expected to fall in line with some central dictate”.

My personal experiences with the Party have been quite different: I’ve been encouraged to speak my mind, challenge the status quo and champion my con-stituents’ issues.

At Party meetings, fellow members do not hold back from giving honest and sometimes scathing feedback. I’ve heard a diversity of views expressed by them, seen how they’ve stood up and spoken out on issues.

So how could the two perspectives be so different? Perhaps it is a question of visibility and awareness.

This year, a more politically-conscious audience is likely to scrutinise Parliamentary debates. Hopefully, they’ll come away with a different view of PAP MPs. They may observe us speaking out for them, detect the sincerity in our arguments, and understand our effectiveness in “working from within” the system.

The PM has been exhorting us to reach out to all, to be true

servant-leaders of the people and to engender change for the better. I

cannot think of a better time to serve.


OVERHEARD

The vision has to be your vision, not my vision. I’ve lived my life, I’m 88. I’m strolling into the sunset, maybe I’ll stumble towards the end. But you have to have a vision of the kind of Singapore you want and you’ve got to crystallize that and get your leaders to adopt your vision.

– These days, MP Lee Kuan Yew prefers answers rather than questions on the future of Singapore

“It’s a multi-year marathon, not a sprint”.

– Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam on the long journey ahead in pursuit of productivity

“Every day I go around with a P-plate hanging around my neck. I’ll probably take it out only when I retire.”

– It took mere months on the job for Minister Chan Chun Sing to suss out the pitfalls of being in the public eye

“When did I feel ready? I don’t even feel ready or adequate today. Nothing prepares you for the work and the job. And if I were to believe social media, nobody in government is adequate at all... we’re just all completely inadequate.”

– Minister Teo Chee Hean has no qualms about saying it like it is on being a politician

“I’ve knocked on some doors six times, seven times, and been turned away each time. But you have to keep trying.”

– MP Lily Neo on the bugs she encountered in her attempts to control bedbugs in her ward

“Throwing a stone and kicking some dust to get personal attention does not get a job done.”

– Minister Yaacob Ibrahim calls for concrete suggestions

“He’s a rugby player. Maybe that gives him a certain robust approach. But at the same time, he’s got the touch to get along with people and to make clear what is necessary without having to raise his voice”

– PM Lee Hsien Loong sees value in sports when it comes to choosing a Speaker

“Kumar’s real value is that he is an icon and a reminder that no matter how diffi cult it is, how unusual it is, you can make it.”

– To Minister Vivian Balakrishnan there are bright spots even in a tricky situation

“If we allow this to happen, this divided Singapore will just become another so-so country, with a so-so future, with nothing outstanding, nothing exceptional.”– Contemplating the new political mood, Minister Lim Swee

Say calls for unity in diversity and diversity in unity

“Wax on, wax off. Wax on, wax off. These days, even washing my car is a welcome exercise break!

– With less time now to relax with a run, MOS Tan Chuan-Jin fi nds some small

satisfaction in alternative exercise

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