Diary of an Island

Friday night (10 Mar) saw the three main opposition groups meeting at PKMS to discuss electoral strategy and agree on who will contest which ward in order to avoid three way fights that will split the opposition vote. I would ordinarily dismiss mention of SDP infighting in today's Sunday Times report of the meeting by Peh Shing Huei. However, given Chee Soon Juan's past record (in staging a coup d'etat to take over the SDP) and the recent defection of three SDP members (Cheo Chai Chen, Dr Vincent Yeo and Lim Tung Hee as mentioned by Peh Shing Huei & Ken Kwek in their 5 Mar article 'Opposition parties jostle to contest hot seats') to the NSP (one of the founding parties of the SDA), it sounds like the SDP are undergoing a problematic period. Today's Sunday Times has the full report of the meeting: 'The night of the opposition huddle' (p8).

The big opposition news was carried on Sat 11th by The New Paper ('JBJ: Spoiler or saviour?' by Clarence Chang on p10) and Weekend Today (last paragraph of Loh Chee Kong's article 'Opposition could field up to 52 candidates' on p4): that J B Jeyaratnam might be able to clear his defamation lawsuit debt, assemble a team, and run one last time! Possible wards include Tg Pagar (Lee Kuan Yew), Marine Parade (Goh Chok Tong) or Ang Mo Kio (Lee Hsien Loong). See the Map of Electoral Divisions for details about these constituencies and List of Constituency for who the current MPs are.

Today's Today cover story reports the results of a government survey on S'porean political involvement... or lack thereof. While 43.2% of the 500 people surveyed have "discussed politics in an informal settion", it seems like only around 6% have done other things like write a letter to the newspaper, joined a civil society organisation or spoken to an MP about government policy. I suppose I'm one of the 5% by being involved in several civil society groups and participating in the Feedback Unit's Government Consultation Portal.

I did try to find the original survey done by the MCYS' Political Development Feedback Group, but no luck on either of the above websites.

Today in Today, Neil Humphreys ('A sad tale, maid in Singapore') was aghast at the rejection by Parliament of legislating mandatory rest days for maids (see Straits Times report of 9 March by Leslie Koh & Tania Tan). The rationale for rejecting the legislation was given by Senior Parliamentary Secretary for Manpower, Hawazi Daipi who

"said legislating employment terms and conditions would lead to 'rigidities and inconvenience' for many households. 'For example, some households have elderly or infirm members with special needs who require constant attention and may find it difficult to release the domestic worker for a prescribed period every week,'..."

However, the industry itself is not going to sit with government inaction. The Association of Employment Agencies Singapore (AEAS) and CaseTrust are working out a standard employment contract which requires a minimum of one day off per month or $20 more in salary. This will be made an industry standard. The details are in yesterday's Today ('Finally, a day of rest for foreign domestic workers ...' by Teo Xuanwei). I know it isn't much (even security guards get 2 days off a month) but it's a start.

Humphreys mentioned in his article a 9 March Straits Times report ('Foreign workers a 'high-risk' group') that Singapore maids are a high risk suicide group (12 suicides per 100,000). The Straits Times figures were obtained from Dr Chia Boon Hock who will be presenting his work on Singapore Suicides at the 2nd Asia Pacific Suicide Prevention Conference (10-12 March @ Furama RiverFront).

There was also mention of a Dec 2005 Ministry of Manpower (MOM) reply to a Human Rights Watch report. Well, MOM issued three replies from the 6th to the 8th of Dec. The one Neil Humphreys was probably referring to is the one on 7th Dec titled 'Fact Sheet in Response to Human Rights Watch Report' which states that

"The Ministry of Manpower (MOM) imposes work permit (WP) conditions which bind all employers to look after the well being of their FDWs. These conditions include provisions on personal safety, proper housing, prompt salary payment and adequate food and rest."

The initial response from MOM on 6 Dec is also quite substantial: 'MOM's reponse to Human Rights Watch Report'. For the Human Rights Watch report that started it, read Maid to Order: Ending Abuses Against Migrant Domestic Workers in Singapore. Or if you want the quick version, read their press release: 'Singapore: Domestic Workers Suffer Grave Abuse'.

A final note: Lin Yanqin reported in yesterday's Today that the Feedback Unit has commissioned a study on the views of foreign domestic workers. Wonder what that will reveal...

Teng Qian Xi surprised me by commenting on the Detention-Writing-Healing forum in the Thu 9 Mar issue of Today. 'More room under the banyan tree?' pointed out as evidence of an opening climate of discussion about the past, biographies being published by major opposition figures including avowed Communist leaders like Chin Peng. Seminars critically examining the past now occur on a regular basis and I was surprised to see the former political commissionar of a Communist Regiment speaking at one of them! Teng pointed out that the official letter from the Ministry of Home Affairs was to be expected.

Her second last paragraph probably sums up her point: "But the fact remains that Tan and Fernandez were allowed to speak and were rebutted publicly. This is a first step that deserves no small credit, especially since it has been 15 years since Mr George Yeo, then the Minister for Information and the Arts, first proposed "pruning the banyan tree judiciously" to allow civil society to thrive."

However, it seems that little discussion has arisen online about this whole affair. Are people afraid or do they even care?

It seems like articles in the papers about Rajaratnam and Singapore's historical amnesia has died down. Not much has appeared since Wed 8 March. However, articles are still coming into the Straits Times online Forum. Today, Sam King, a former newspaper colleague of Rajaratnam, wrote a piece titled 'Remembering Raja in his swimming trunks'.

A tomato letter war has been raging in Today. It was started by Neo Chew Peng on 24 Feb complaining about a sign in Ang Mo Kio that put a tomato next to the town's name. Ang Mo Kio Town Council replied on 4 March that what Neo saw was an isolated incident but on 9 Mar Rick Lim Say Kiong sent in photos with his letter, saying that "I have been living in Ang Mo Kio town for more than 20 years and it seems that this fruit has been gradually used to characterise this matured housing estate."

In a direct reply to Chua Mui Hoong's article, the Ministry of Home Affairs has written a letter to the Forum. Published today, it restates the official position:

"Mr Tan and Mr Fernandez were not political dissidents or opposition members engaged in the democratic process. They belonged to the Communist United Front (CUF) which supported the Communist Party of Malaya (CPM). The CPM was an underground organisation which used terror and violence to subvert the democratic process and overthrow the elected governments of Singapore and Malaysia. Many innocent lives were lost, victims of the CPM's armed struggle."

"...they and other ex-communists and supporters cannot be allowed to re-write history by watering down communist atrocities, subversion and other unlawful activities and glossing over the harm they caused to so many victims and the threat they posed to our country. Had the CUF and CPM succeeded, Singapore would never have achieved what we have today - a peaceful, prosperous and multi-ethnic democratic society."

Now the question that remains is - will Fernandez and Tan be redetained for recanting on their confessions?

From what I've been able to gather online, Man San Fu Tat (万山福德祠) conducted a fire dragon ceremony after a hiatus of a decade. The performance was by 龙狮艺术原流传 (Sar Kong Mun San Fook Tuck Chee Lion Dance Troupe) on 二月初二 (second day of the second month or 1st March in the Western calendar), the day Singapore temples celebrate Tua Pek Kong's birthday. Victor posting on Yesterday.sg has a report: Dance of the Fire Dragon.

The fire dragon ceremony is Cantonese. The most famous one is held in Hongkong at Tai Hung during the Mid Autumn Festival.

Yesterday, the Map of Electoral Divisions for the next General Election was released. It's no surprise really. I've heard rumours as early as Dec last year that it would be around the March school holidays (11-19 March). Looks like it'll be after the March holidays though - it takes at least two weeks from announcement to elections proper. Nomination Day requires minimum four days notice and Polls have to be at minimum nine days after Nomination Day. Visit the Elections Department website for more details and to check whether your name is on the register.

Wed 15 Feb was quite the shock: an early morning gangland-style murder in Serangoon of Las Vegas Nightclub boss, Lim Hock Soon, 41. Mr Lim and his family were starting out the day when a man holds them up, ties up the family and shoots Mr Lim. Newspapers were using the words 'secret society' and 'triad' freely. Reporters Tanya Fong and Ben Nadarajan profiled the victim as the 'Big Shot With a Low Profile' in the 17 Feb Straits Times. Details of the shooting were also reported in the same Straits Times issue.

Mr Lim's funeral on the 21st was well covered in the press on the 22nd. The New Paper of course covered the funeral from a human interest angle with 'Huat Ah!' on the 22nd by Faith Teo and 'I came to see the xiao jie' on the 23rd by Low Ching Ling.

Judging by the execution-style operation, I suspected that the murderer was across the Causeway within an hour of the killing. That was proved right when news broke on the 26th that the suspected murderer had been caught in KL. What surprised me was the article in the 27 Feb Straits Times by K C Vijayan reporting that 'Gun murder suspect was tailed from JB'. Apparently, the Malaysian police had spotted him in JB four hours after the murder and had tailed him until the 26th (11 days!) to see who he met. All the earlier stories about a manhunt and a tipoff look like a smokescreen now.

Over the next few days after the arrest of Tan Chor Jin and five other 'associates', papers on both sides of the Causeway linked him to Singapore's 'Ang Soon Tong' or '21 Gang'. Tan, also known as 'One-Eyed Dragon', was described variously as an enforcer, the leader of the Ang Soon Tong, and a bookie. Mention of criminal activities ranging from gun-running, drugs, illegal money-lending, and illegal gambling. One of the others arrested, Ngoi Yew Fatt, is wanted for another murder that happened in Yishun on 2nd Feb 2005. The murder is now said to be an underworld dispute over gambling money.

Newspapers have been covering the story more or less constantly with dramatic rendition of details like Tan's return to Singapore on an SIA flight and his being brought back to the scene of the murder ("heart-rending screams pierced the air"? Ouch!).

I was surprised to see a further article about the Detention-Writing-Healing forum in the Straits Times. It even went on to associate Rajaratnam's funeral with the ex-detainees' public forum. Even more suurprising, it was written by the Deputy Political Editor, Chua Mui Hoong. To add weight, she is sister of Chua Lee Hoong, former intelligence analyst (see Straits Times 12 Oct 2002 article by Yeow Kai Chai 'Koh Beng Liang's Debut Poetry Collection...').

'Time to let Dissidents' Tales Out of the Closet' (Straits Times Insight page, 3 Mar) sounds like a serious 'all-clear' signal to start discussing seriously about the political turmoil of the 50s & 60s. Decisions were made then - some rather draconian. Faustian and Machiavellian deals were struck - some perhaps unwisely. Undoubtedly mistakes littered the road to independence and economic development. After over three decades, I suppose it is probably time to discuss and dissect the era in order to learn from the errors of that generation's victors and losers. It has to be done before the last of them leave the nation permanently. Once they cannot answer and defend themselves, it will be too late to make sense of the era. Discussion after their departure becomes a futile exercise that will be more about using history to justify competing political philosophies.

For those interested in the Chuas, here are two of the webpages I came across:
'ST columnist Chua Mui Hoong say freedom of press in Singapore should be improved!' from the Useless Rantings blog; and
'Climate control in the Singapore Press' by Eric Ellis which appeared in The Australian on 21 June 2001 and republished on the Singaporeans for Democracy website.
As is evident from the website addresses, they are definitely anti-government in tone - not something that can be considered unbiased sources.