ND Rally speech: James Bond is in town

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Monday, 30 August 2010

Singapore Democrats

Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong has mastered the art of talking a lot but not saying much. He did this when he spoke on the hot-button issue of foreigners flooding Singapore, a topic that dominated his National Day (ND) Rally speech on Sunday night.

His first statement already is dubious. Mr Lee says that the GDP for the first half of the year was 18% year-on-year and that this growth created "lots of jobs" and as a result "unemployment has gone down". Not true.

The Ministry of Manpower (MOM) reported that the the actual numbers of the jobless increased by nearly 25,000 between March and June this year. Seasonally adjusted figures show that around 68,100 Singapore residents were out of work in June 2010.

The number of unemployed did decrease towards the latter half of 2009. But what good is a ND Rally speech when we cannot depend on the prime minister to use up-to-date information rather than spin us using data that's more than half-a-year old?

Worse, the MOM report shows that those who remained unemployed after six months is on the rise. This means that not only are more people losing their jobs, those who lost their jobs are finding it more difficult to find a new one.

Mr Lee completely ignored this point and nonsensically concluded that the "economy has shaken off the recession" and happy days are here again.

The last time another Mr Lee said this, telling Singaporeans that we were entering into a "golden period", our economy fell off the cliff triggering the worst economic crisis in our history.

More foreigners, please

The Prime Minister used this spin to justify the PAP's policy of bringing in yet more foreign workers. We already have 2 million people in Singapore (out of 5 million) who are not Singaporeans.

He tells us that he wants to bring in more foreigners "so that in the long term we can rely less on foreign workers". Did the PM think that he was talking to kindergarteners?

The Government is still intent on increasing our population to 6.5 million which will mean that foreigners will eventually outnumber Singaporeans in this country. It is this kind of rubbish that makes Mr Lee's ND Rally speech so insulting and infuriating.

Then as if to make his point that we are relying less on foreigners, he assures us that instead of allowing 100,000 foreigners into Singapore this year, the Government will bring in only 80,000.

Already everywhere we turn see foreigners doing everything. From hotels to hospitals, kopitiams to counters at shopping centres foreigners fill every niche in Singapore. Foreigners have even moved in on the prostitution and gangland scenes.

And the PM thinks that taking in 80,000 instead of 100,000 is going to make a difference? It is like choosing between tweedle-dum or tweedle-dee. The PM must get serious.

See that white elephant?

Mr Lee diligently ignores the white elephant sitting in his Istana living room. He refuses to acknowledge the root cause of the problem which is that Singaporeans - skilled Singaporeans - are leaving Singapore. This country is hemorhagging talent and a major reason is the stifling PAP system here.

If he is serious about increasing productivity and making Singapore a base for talent and innovation, he should ensure that we institute reforms to our tired and archaic political system.

Mr Lee will also not admit that Singapore is using foreigners to suppress workers' wages in Singapore in order that profit-margins can be maintained. Businesses may be registering greater profits but this is because our workers are getting paid less, not because they are getting more productive.

He exhorts that "Productivity must be the responsibility of all of us" and that in order that we improve our productivity, we must "keep learning and upgrading" and "increase our value and contribution".

He completely omits the fact that, according to the International Labor Organization's Global Wages Report 2009, Singaporeans are already working the longest number of hours but seeing their real incomes getting smaller.

Bear with it, it's for my good

The final straw is Mr Lee telling the people, "So please bear with the larger numbers for the time being."

For the time being? You mean that foreign workers are only here temporarily and after some time, we are going to send them home and everything will be back to normal? Mr Lee must stop talking to us like we are little kids.

Why must we bear with a policy that is crushing us - both figuratively and literally (in the MRT trains), one that we don't agree with, one that is rammed down our throats, and one that will ultimately ruin Singapore? Why must Singaporeans bear with a policy that is only for the PAP's good?

And while the Prime Minister tells us to bear with the burden, what is he and his ministers sacrificing? By increasing their already bloated salaries?

Mr Lee is putting a chimp in a tuxedo and telling us that James Bond is in town.

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Comments (4)

Mon 30 Aug 2010 10:20 PM | April Fool - SDP NDP Rally Speech too !

It's about time SDP had its own NDP Rally Speech, perhaps on every National Day, each time a week after PAP's NDP Speech ?

Mon 30 Aug 2010 10:35 PM | Ted

I remember a friend of mine once told me how smart LHL is after he met him in the army. I told he yeah he is really smart because of the hole that he has chosen to be born. Any of my ah beng or ah seng friend would be pm instead if any of them were born from that hole instead.

Mon 30 Aug 2010 10:50 PM | claude - ND Rally speech: James Bond is in townND Rally spe

Was there someone prompting PM Lee in the background or below the platform? Each time he forgets something and say it aloud – bingo answers!

The opposition better get their act together, many foolish Singaporeans are somewhat convinced by the PM Lee’s ND speech, he is a good speaker and managed to spin some issues eg foreigners, transportation and housing.

Yes, the concern about people losing their jobs and finding it not only more difficult to find a new one is an real issue he dared not explore. For a person to get another job to equal the last drawn salary is almost impossible no matter the high qualifications and experiences. There is no way locals can complete with foreign talents, the govt made a terrible mistake of letting open the flood gates and some employers had exploited these situations to the maximum.

The govt may try and control foreign talents for the next few months, till election perhaps, but its action too late.

I think most of the present crop of ministers have lost the “connections” with the ground reality. Most Singaporeans are loosing out on Jobs, Transport is stretched beyond its normal capability and public housing is no more subsidized, just to name a few.

Dr Chee, why not have a SDP ND speech and you can counter PM's point by point?

Tue 31 Aug 2010 7:42 PM | xaveric1 - Immigration

And with the PM stressing out on our nation is formed by immigrants, thus it is okay to allow immigrants to come in freely, this nation would remain a nation of immigrants. But the difference is, immigrants who stayed or choose to stay in Singapore then, had gone through thick and thin (WWII, Independence), however the immigrants now migrate to Singapore only for our safe habours, our "peace" and "harmony", as well as our economical wealth, this isn't nation building, you're essentially destroying what seems to be the main point of why people are citizens in a country in the first place, to have a REAL sense of belonging, a genuine care and loyalty to the country and its people, and to care for one another.