June 2020

GE2020 Manifesto by Progress Singapore Party : For Country For People The manifesto is the culmination of months of research and consultations with the public on what are the main issues concerning Singaporeans. Singapore has become a very expensive city and often is in the top five most expensive city lists in the world in […]

Beyond a Party’s Brand by Yuen Kin Pheng, Francis. Many of us will remember brands like Motorola, Nokia and Sony-Erickson. These were the top mobile phone brands in the 80s and 90s. Apple was still making baby steps as a home computer company then. Today, these top brands have faded away. The new kids on

Stop trotting on the treadmill, get onto the road By Leong Mun Wai   After listening to SM Tharman’s speech last night, a picture of our government running on the treadmill with a screen showing the early achievements of our country in the 1960s to 1990s, slowly conjured up in my mind. I suspect he

Some concrete ideas finally but no coherent plan By Leong Mun Wai Some concrete ideas were alluded in Chan Chun Sing’s speech yesterday but they still lacked a coherent plan. Maybe the incumbent are keeping the best for Heng Swee Keat’s address in a few days’ time? So let’s be patient. Chan Chun Sing’s presentation

Response to the National Broadcast by Senior Minister Teo Chee Hean on 11 June 2020. By Dr Tan Meng Wah In his National Broadcast, Senior Minister Teo Chee Hean made a convincing case in outlining Singapore’s success in fortifying external relationships. I have no qualm with that part of his speech. Indeed, Singapore’s able and

Foreign Relations in a World of Tectonic Change By Leong Mun Wai After SM Teo’s speech, it is 0-3 for the speeches of the three cabinet members based on the substantiality criterion. We are also reminded that our foreign policies are also moving in the wrong direction besides our domestic policies. First and foremost, our

请提出更多具体想法！ 当全国人民正渴望听到一些具体的想法的时候，李总理于6月7日发表的讲话之后，黄循财在6月9日发表的讲话又是一个没有内容的演讲。 他再次提出了在生活或生计之间选择的困境。但是，迄今为止，政府所采取的措施既未充分考虑到生命，也未能阻止对我们生计的重大破坏。 到目前为止，我们知道当冠状疫情袭击我们时，我们缺少了口罩，食品供应源和测试能力。对国家安全如此重要的这些事情为什么没有应急计划？ 鉴于冠状疫情在一年之内抢走了我们很大一部分的国民所得和国家储备，我们必须大大加强对未来流行病的防御。 因此，关于我们将如何与冠状病毒一起生活的演讲应包含以下的内容才能令人更加放心： 1. 我们将在一定期限之前完成对所有外国工人的测试。阻挡措施的第二阶段舒缓将从该日期开始。 2. 我们将改善现有外劳的生活条件，并尽力以一个缓慢的进程完成已经启动的项目。但将来，我们将不得不适应比较缓慢的建筑活动，因为减少外劳的人数是必要的。 这将减慢经济发展速度，但对于我们来说这是不得已的选择。 3. 我们将建筑公司未来雇用外劳的资格与他们在自动化投资和生产力成绩挂钩 4. 我们将专注于帮助我们的公民应对生活中的混乱，并且直到我们在第二阶段连续一个月实现零社区感染之后，才考虑举行大选。 5. 我们敦促新加坡人继续实践在疫情期间习得的社交礼节和个人习惯。这也是充实自己的一种方式。比如在我们感觉不适时应该立即戴口罩。通过在公共场所，特别是小贩中心和购物中心等处排队有序地进行社会疏离。 学习要有耐心，给于他人时间和空间，这些都是同情和善良的成分。洗手，保持良好的个人卫生习惯，还通过在小贩中心交还托盘来帮助保持公共场所的清洁。 6. 我们将增加政府支出，通过将旧的组屋重新开发成新的社区生活绿洲，从而创造一个更清洁，更绿色的环境，使居民能够更好地相互支持。 7. 我们将改变为国民提供医疗的方式。新的重点将放在预防保健，社会医学和社区互助方面。 8. 我们将花更多的钱来加快数码化进程，并增加托儿中心的数量和质量，以使更多的新加坡人能够在家工作。我们希望对家庭友善的政策帮助实现良好的工作与生活平衡，这将对我们新的家庭形成和总生育率产生影响。 9. 我们将通过最好的老师在线提供最好的教学方法和材料来重组教育系统，使学生可以在自己的时间和地点学习。大多数老师将成为生活和品格导师，以确保学生受到适当的鼓励。 10. 最后但最重要的一点是，我们将建立抵抗未来战争和恐怖主义相同规模的全面防御体系，以应对未来的大流行。 我们觉得以上才是缓解同胞焦虑的一些具体想法。 More Concrete Ideas Please! By Leong Mun Wai Following PM Lee’s speech on 7 Jun, Lawrence Wong’s speech on the 9 Jun was another one that

Fear and the Status quo By Yuen Kin Peng, Francis Fear is a doubled-edged sword. It can demoralize and undermine confidence. But it can also spur us to take bold actions. The Covid crisis has created a whole atmosphere of uncertainty with prospects of gloom and doom for the future. This is a scary scenario

Stronger Citizens, Not Stronger Mandate By Leong Mun Wai The PM’s speech at 730pm today sounded like one that was asking for a stronger mandate. PSP is confident that Singapore will overcome the Covid crisis eventually given our strengths built up over the years since independence. The issue is how well the government can lead

Spotlight on our reserves By Yuen Kin Pheng, Francis. The Covid crisis has not only dealt a serious blow to our economy but also seriously affected the livelihood of our people. So far $52b his being drawn down from our reserves and this is unprecedented in the history of Singapore. As the end of this