Sitoh Yih Pin was voted into parliament after his third try (2001, 2006, 2011), winning Potong Pasir with a slim margin of 50.36 percent. He must be feeling tired when he expressed his deepest thoughts that the Budget debates are merely efforts to manage and calibrate expectations. Instead, the Government should just come clean and tell people the bad news.
1. Under this Government, some graduates will never stay in private housing or own a car because 85% of housing are HDB flats and only one third of families have a car presently and these numbers will not change drastically;
2. Under this Government, the harsh reality of meritocracy as it stands, is a "take and take" by the best and the ablest without any obligation to serve and contribute;
3. Under this Government, even if the total fertility rate is increased to 2.1 in 2013, import labour will continue;
4. Under this Government, the "accessible and affordable" public hospitals will continue to have long waiting times and the latest high-tech expensive care options will not be available to all;
5. Under this Government, COEs may never go back to the days of old again as there are limits to our car population just as there are limits to our human population;
6. Under this Government, the influx of foreign labour to Singapore may be limited, but our workers will still be competing day and night, 24/7, with workers from China, India or Indonesia.
According to him, there are more examples of things going bad, but Sitoh stops and can only hope against hope, "I urge our Government to listen to the people, to labour for the people and to lead the people".
Aung San Suu Kyi was unable to receive her Noble Peace Prize for Freedom of Thought in person as she was under house arrest in 1991. Her son Alexander, 18, spoke in his mother's place: "To live the full life," he quoted her, "one must have the courage to bear the responsibility of the needs of others... one must want to bear this responsibility..." ("The Lady And The Peacock, The Life of Aung San Suu Kyi", Peter Popham, Rider Books, 2011)
1. Under this Government, some graduates will never stay in private housing or own a car because 85% of housing are HDB flats and only one third of families have a car presently and these numbers will not change drastically;
2. Under this Government, the harsh reality of meritocracy as it stands, is a "take and take" by the best and the ablest without any obligation to serve and contribute;
3. Under this Government, even if the total fertility rate is increased to 2.1 in 2013, import labour will continue;
4. Under this Government, the "accessible and affordable" public hospitals will continue to have long waiting times and the latest high-tech expensive care options will not be available to all;
5. Under this Government, COEs may never go back to the days of old again as there are limits to our car population just as there are limits to our human population;
6. Under this Government, the influx of foreign labour to Singapore may be limited, but our workers will still be competing day and night, 24/7, with workers from China, India or Indonesia.
According to him, there are more examples of things going bad, but Sitoh stops and can only hope against hope, "I urge our Government to listen to the people, to labour for the people and to lead the people".
Aung San Suu Kyi was unable to receive her Noble Peace Prize for Freedom of Thought in person as she was under house arrest in 1991. Her son Alexander, 18, spoke in his mother's place: "To live the full life," he quoted her, "one must have the courage to bear the responsibility of the needs of others... one must want to bear this responsibility..." ("The Lady And The Peacock, The Life of Aung San Suu Kyi", Peter Popham, Rider Books, 2011)