Rachel's posts with tag: wong kan seng
Last year's May Day was spent in celebration of my hard labour and contribution towards the early childhood industry. I slept the whole day, nursing my fatigue both mental and physical. My mum sighed and called me lazy but to me, I deserved it and it was MY DAY to rest as part of the (underpaid, overworked) labour force. It was great, and I felt great. However this year's May Day was spent in a more meaningful manner and I am glad that it wasn't spent in bed indeed. I went down to hang out at Toa Payoh for the sole reason of signing two petitions. One was the Tak Boleh Tahan petition, showing my displeasure at the raising cost of living and the disgusting increment in the salaries of our ministers and the other, a petition to call for the resignation of Wong Kan Seng. The whole campaign was organised by the Singapore Democractic Party and the party leaders and activists were there to hand out flyers, man the campaign tables and talking to passer-bys.
Although many people might think that they were wasting their time and effort and that the people who went to sign for the petition were whiners and SDP supporters but on a personal note, I thank the SDP for organising this campaign as well as trying to raise awareness among the citizens by going onto the level of civil society. Majority of us as a society have been asleep under the spell of blind patriotism for way too long to realise that things are going in a ridiculous direction. At this point of time whereby citizens from the lower income level have to count every penny, toil long hours to make ends meet (with some taking up two or more jobs), ensuring that there is enough food on the table for all to eat, the ministers have increased their salaries with the excuse of attracting talents to the public sector. Now one might say that the increase in prices of basic foodstuff and essential daily products have been due to the increasing cost of petrol (blah blah blah), and there is nothing much the government can do to control it. However my opinion is that they can actually decrease the percentage of GST that we have to pay. We do not need a one off or three time installment of monetary assistance (re: GST offset package rubbish) but we need something to ease us of our daily expenses on basic necessities such as food, water, electricity and transport (*correct me if I am wrong but SMRT has been profiting, not making any losses by the way). Increase in prices plus the percentage of GST that we are paying right now just kills some of us from the lower income group.
Another issue is the hiring of foreign "lower paid" talents. According to THE SON,
"... foreign workers are hardworking and willing to work long hours. By hiring them, coffeeshops can open late or even round the clock... with the help of foreign workers, the airport, seaport, factories, offices, hotels, restaurants and retail outlets here can offer better service and business hours..."
What makes him think that our locals are not willing to work as hard as the foreign workers? There are people around who get retrenched or who have been asked to retire for some reasons and they are willing to go for any jobs as long as they get to earn a little to help them survive. Many of our locals, especially the senior citizens, have been reduced to become illegal hawkers and can collectors just to earn a few extra dollars a day because they have not been able to get any jobs that will allow them to work legally and in comfort (well, sort of...). Do not get me wrong however, I am not xenophobic but I feel that hiring foreign workers when there are suitable and willing workers available locally is seriously not necessary. Shouldn't the thought be on the locals first before outsourcing?
The last issue is about the accountability of government officials and ministers when it comes to "honest mistakes". The COI report on Mas Selamat's escape made me laugh so much that it hurts. Yes, I have tried to move on and yes the whole thing is getting so old but I am appalled that the government has been so arrogant about it when it comes to accountability. Sure, Wong Kan Seng wasn't the one who was present at the scene of escape BUT there are a few things that just do not seem very right and one of it was his very attitude about it. From his half hearted apology to his presentation of the COI, it seemed as if he was just trying to contribute to a scripted wayang show in his uniquely bland style. I mean... why was he presenting the COI in the first place when it was termed as an INDEPENDENT inquiry? In the end he got off the issue of responsibility so easily! It is bloody ridiculous. Anyway he should seriously step down not only for the MSK issue but for many other issues one of them namely, the foreign talent issue.
By the way please take note: Mas Selamat was detained and labelled as a terrorist without any trial so we cannot call him a terrorist but an alledged terrorist. Any detention without a trial in my books, is illegal detention but of course, what do I know? (Think for yourself.)
*I am not great at reading statistics so if I perceive the annual report wrongly or have linked it to the wrong report please do enlighten me*
Ohh and one more thing before I go to bed! Something extra. My advise of the day (actually week) is: NEVER go to Tan Tock Seng Hospital if you are in pain or dying because if you are in pain, they will only prescribe you with Panadol and if you are dying, you might just die in the observation ward because it will take 23 hours or so to get a bed. However take my mum's example. She scolded the nurses at the observation ward after about 12 hours of extreme pain in the back and boredom and suddenly got a bed! Brilliant wasn't it?
Read also:
Tak Boleh Tahan @ Toa Payoh Central
More of Tak Boleh Tahan @ Toa Payoh Central
SDP marks May Day by distributing flyers in Toa Payoh
S'pore opposition politician stages May Day protest
Why so serious?
SDP's May Day message
Tak Boleh Tahan, SDP says it again
The people drive us on
News reports in Singapore can be so amusing... Or maybe it is just me. I was checking out The Straits Times Online, getting myself updated about the latest 'news' about the escape of Mas Selamat Kastari, the limping only when running terrorist, and I find myself being highly amused by what I was reading. Here are some excerpt from the article I just finished amusing myself with plus my opinions. All excerpts are from the article, Two Separate Probes into Terrorist's Escape and Police Believe: He Acted Alone; He is Still in Singapore, both dated 3rd of March.
"Mr Wong said security at Whitley Road Detention Centre, which is under the charge of the Internal Security Department, has been stepped up, and the 'physical breach' in the centre's compound plugged. He declined to give details, saying: 'You will know that later on.'"
Later on huh, Mr. Wong. The thing is, will we ever know? Sure it has been revealed that there was a 'physical breach', but what sort of an information could that be? Do you mean that the bricks moved by themselves or the window (which I doubt will be bigger than my 17 inch monitor) enlarged itself by Mas Selamat's commands? So we have no information because the Home Affairs department chose to keep things partially confidential. That is the problem you see Mr. Wong. When you choose to tease our minds like that and discourage us from speculating, you are actually tickling our creative juices and all the strangest and wildest speculations start coming out. My advise is that if there is nothing to tell, don't say anything at all but if there is really something to tell, tell all or at least most. My guess is there is nothing much to tell and the repetitive 'physical breach' was just something to occupy our curious and wondering minds with. Comeon, we are not fools. Your non-commital way of saying things do pisses some of us off, if not all.
"POLICE believe terrorist Mas Selamat Kastari acted alone when he escaped from the Whitley Road Detention Centre last Wednesday." Police. Now on what basis do they come to this belief? Or is this being repeated time and again in various reports to aid us sub consciously to believe that he acted alone and none of the members in our security forces rendered him assistance for probable self gain? Now check out the next sentence. "Without help, he would have found it hard to get out of Singapore, especially with the security dragnet in place since his breakout."
Now let us change this to "Without help, he would have found it hard to get out of a heavily guarded detention centre." Enough said?
"Police Assistant Commissioner Wong Hong Kuan said yesterday: 'We believe he was unaided, and therefore he does not have access to money, vehicles, or modes of transport."
Okay, they believe but how sure can they be? I mean, I am sure that he is not that daft to escape knowing that he has nothing or nobody at all to count on outside the toilet walls and fences of the detention centre. Right, so this is what they believe... quite typical really.
"As the search for Mas Selamat entered Day Five, the police gave more details to help the public identify him. AC Wong, the director of operations, clarified that the fugitive's limp in his left leg is evident only when he walks briskly or runs. Otherwise, he appears to have a normal gait." That is all. Do we deserve more information? We do. I wonder how much they observe him going about daily in the detention centre. If they had been more observant, they could have given us the information right from the very beginning instead of now, after reviewing the videos of him going about, walking normally around the place. Perhaps the lack of observation have partly aided in his escape. Who knows?  Actually if you really notice, he has a very common face. If we are to depend on the descriptions given to us by the police, then I guess that when we see someone who looks like the one in the picture(s) released, then maybe we should try to give the fella a chase to see if he limps when he runs. Idea? IDEA!
"'But I believe our reputation continues to remain high compared to many other countries and we will do everything possible to ensure that this does not happen again,' he added."
Very optimistic. I am sure some of our neighbours will forgive us if a limping terrorist who escaped from a heavily guarded detention centre via the toilet if he gave them a BOMBastic issue to think about. However I like the optimism really. Some of my foreign friends (here and abroad) have been asking if this could well be a joke. They still couldn't believe it. Actually neither can I. Somewhat too ridiculous maybe.
"He felt that life should go on, and how Singaporeans respond now is a test of their resilience. 'Let us not be cowed by this,' he said."
Yes life goes on. Pay your taxes regularly but keep your eyes wide open for the man in the poster.
I do want to see him caught and I do want to be informed about what happened exactly. However I have a feeling that we may not know at all, even though he might eventually be 'caught'. This is probably all a wayang show for you and I. However that is merely speculation as my creative juices tend to go wild when teased as I have a (skeptical) brain that never stops thinking of possibilities.
The police and government are telling us nothing really even though they think they are by occupying us with interesting phrases, vague descriptions and non-commital statements and such.
On the 27th of February, at about 4.05pm, a lapse in security over at the Whitley Detention Centre caused the escape of the head of JI operations here in Singapore. Now I am trying so hard to picture his escape really. Mas Selamat Kastari walks with a limp managed to escape from the toilet of a detention centre that has the tightest security measures here.
How is this truly possible? Why wasn't he handcuffed and why weren't there enough security about the whole place to prevent such a fuck up? Why were the public being informed only four hours after his great escape and not immediately?
Our dear old Minister of Home Affairs Mr. Wong Kan Seng's statement(s) have rendered much confusion about the whole thing really. First he claimed that Mas Selamat Kastari was a security threat being the head of Jemaah Islamiyaa and then in the same statement he assured that he posed no imminent danger to the public. Sure I will nod at his statement had he said that immediately after the escape but he did so after four hours (or more, I can't remember). There were many things that could have happened within the four hours and now he is still at large. Indeed, a limping escapee from preventive detention could do us no harm so how is it possible enough that he could have gotten away from the detention centre in the very first place? If you tell me that the escapee is a fully abled fella I would have been more forgiving but I am terribly disappointed with the security forces here. Doesn't our government always boasts about our fantastic level of security here? Now they should really bow their heads in shame because this lapse is not a trivial matter.
On an alternative note here, could he been sent packing away to Guantanamo Bay for a not so fantastic vacation and that the public hoo haa about his great escape is just a smoke screen for the general public? Afterall a 'mistake' is always better than sending someone to one of the world's most cold blooded detention camp.
There are many possiblities for this really and he might already have left the island to seek refuge in the Indonesian islands.
Now we are no fools for WKS or the government's assuring words (or are we?). What matters most is that our Home Affairs Minister has too many explanations to do, with regards to this particular incident as well as many other issues beforehand. Should we, the taxpayers who contribute to his fat pay check, continue to sit back in our homes waiting for actions to be done or should we call for the minister to resign? All of us makes mistakes but mistakes do come with consequences. Or maybe it is such a case for all of us common folks, not the high and mighty elites in the government, i.e., the PAP.
Whatever it is, now we know that our home team is not that formidable and invincible afterall (yes, gukhas included).
And... wait wait! Shouldn't we actually be informed about what sort of "... independent investigation" that is going underway and who is/ are leading it? I mean... the brief and vague mention about the so called independent investigation just seems like... nothing! Who, what, where and how?! Ok so yes, because of the status of the escapee, some information should be kept secret but at least give us some information rather than say "An independent investigation is going underway and we should not speculate on what and how it happened." It is all too sketchy, sounds like WKS was trying to cover his old arse to make a Great Escape from public doubts and questions that have been ongoing anyway.
Urgh this really SHOULDN'T have happened in the first place! I mean... he has been placed under preventive detention as Singapore's number one security threat!
Resign, Mr. Wong. It is probably time to say goodbye to a fat pay check and start taking public transport like a good ol' commoner. I am sure your pension will be as fat as what you are getting now anyway.
Yes I do feel sorry for him being in this situation now but he has the whole country to answer to. I watched his statement in the video posted on Youtube and I feel sorry for him. However if he cannot do his job well then it is time for a change of leadership. Furthermore part of my very hard earned salary is contributing to his existence in the Office and his former policies and statements regarding other issues have caused me to wonder if he should step down and I am sure I am not the only one who really feels so.
Grr...
Update, 2nd March: Committee of Inquiry to find out how JI militant escaped
" Mr Wong also said that Mas Selamat will not be of immediate danger if he is on his own and is unable to access any materials that can cause any harm. However, he cautioned that this might not be the case in the long-term."
Let's hope that we get more information soon.
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