http://rot.blogsome.com All is not well beneath the shiny surface. Fri, 06 Apr 2012 23:26:45 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en An excerpt from an email recently sent out by the Overseas Singaporean Unit to those who had registered with them: I’m hoping it was an April Fool’s joke when a local newspaper columnist wrote that receiving monthly issues of this e-newsletter made her feel somewhat ‘guilty’. Don’t be. Don’t you believe ... http://rot.blogsome.com/2012/04/06/honourable-quitters/ From another leaked cable: Compounding the problem of low birth rate, a significant portion of Singapore citizens and Permanent Residents (PRs) move away from the country each year, Dr. Yap said. Each year over the past five years, between 5,000-8,000 Singapore citizens and PRs permanently left Singapore. This occurred ... http://rot.blogsome.com/2011/09/03/emigration-stats/ The decline in the quality of PAP MPs, much more evident in the 2011 elections, had already been noticed then: The new group of 24 PAP MP candidates has benefited from extensive and glowing media coverage starting well before the announcement of the election date, while opposition candidates have been given ... http://rot.blogsome.com/2011/09/03/us-embassy-cable-on-the-2006-general-election/ From a Wikileaks cable, a damning indictment: They are like children with guns. It’s all a big game to them, and they have only avoided any serious terrorist incidents occurring here through sheer luck. Why does this diplomat say this of the Singapore government? Firstly, The religious counselors are all ... http://rot.blogsome.com/2011/09/02/israeli-diplomat-slams-singapores-counter-terrorism-efforts/ There has been a furore over Chen Show Mao being ‘disinvited’ to a Seventh Month dinner because the Citizens’ Consultative Committee refused to let the organisers use the requested premises if they invited Chen. For background, read Chen’s two posts on Facebook: [1] [2]. Today, the ST has an article ... http://rot.blogsome.com/2011/08/21/st-misrepresents-chen-show-mao/ What being a small country has to do with avoiding gridlock? How are bigger countries less affected by gridlock? http://rot.blogsome.com/2011/08/21/can-someone-explain-to-me/ Not impressed by Chan Chun Sing so far. Was suspicious to begin with because he was parachuted in to be minister despite other MPs with much more experience in the civil service being available. But he showed some sign in his Facebook interactions of being open to feedback, so I ... http://rot.blogsome.com/2011/07/04/chan-chun-sing-so-far/ Accidentally left these out in the previous post on him. On ministers’ salaries: The Straits Times (Singapore) Modify method of pegging salaries, say some MPs November 4, 1994 Debate on White Paper Factor in perks and pensions in formula calculations THREE MPs yesterday suggested modifying the method of pegging ministers’ salaries to private sector pay to ... http://rot.blogsome.com/2011/07/02/more-from-tan-cheng-bocks-past-2/ A couple of years ago I was appalled to find out about JTC’s Scheme for Housing of Foreign Talent (SHiFT), where rental housing was offered to foreigners at rates significantly below market prices. Turns out that this originated a long time ago, in 1997, and locals were not happy about ... http://rot.blogsome.com/2011/06/30/when-shift-started/ I searched Lexis-Nexis for past news articles mentioning Tan Cheng Bock. Ideally, I would have searched the Hansard as well, but I have no access to it. While he was involved in a wide range of issues, I do not have the time to list all of them, so here ... http://rot.blogsome.com/2011/06/30/excerpts-from-tan-cheng-bocks-past/