Travelling to South Korea soon? You just might get to have a glimpse of their recent labour strikes…and probably even experience what its like to have your life disrupted by militant unions and their industrial action. According to trade union groups, more than 200,000 union workers have rallied in central Seoul in response to a […]
News is probably trending about two rallies: The size of the WP crowds at WP rallies. Chee Soon Juan’s return after 15 years of not being able to contest in elections. The crowds are huge and much has been said about them. Do the crowds translate to votes? Why are people so attracted to such […]
If you were part of the huge crowd attending the Workers’ Party Rally, you should have heard two arguments that would scare any rational voter: 1. Minimum wage to activate untapped labour force. 2. Benefits for those who are laid off. First, who is usually the “untapped” labour force? A few categories should sum them […]
General Elections 2015 Singapore Do we vote based on people or party? Actually, both. Since we have covered what makes a good MP, we should, too, think about what makes a party worth voting for! Political parties have certain fundamentals that attract different groups of people, in theory. Some parties such as the SDP are […]
Speak of “political detainees” and one might think of political fixing by the PAP. Yet, sons of political dissidents have come forth to fight for the PAP banner. Strange, right? Meet Mr. K. Muralidharan Pillai and Ong Ye Kung. Both their fathers were Barisan Socialis members, the opposition party to the PAP back in the […]
Voting season has arrived! It is time to choose the leaders who will govern for the next four to five years. However, what do MPs really do? Do they simply attend ceremonies, conduct weekly Meet the People’s Session, attend Parliament and National Day Parade (and rally)? MPs have two jobs: a mayoral and governmental one. […]
Four years have gone by since the last “watershed” elections of 2011. It is time for the report card on how the Workers’ Party ran a GRC for the first time. Another report card should also be due for the first time there were more than five members of the non-establishment in Parliament. Report cards […]
Among the usual topics on affordability of flats, education, national development plans and population, two topics stood out this year: our standing in the world and leadership. In fact, one could even claim that Singapore’s success was due to three factors: exceptional leadership, concentrated talent and sheer determination. Singapore has an interesting relationship with its […]
One similarity between ex-unionist Ong Ye Kung and unionist Desmond Choo is that they have been defeated at the polls before. Given Singapore’s history of being dominated by the PAP for more than half a century, defeat is not something that gets talked about too often. They are back, albeit in different places. Ong Ye […]
“People only remember the bad things, not the good things.” How true it can be. In this case, it has caused the resignation of our Transport Minister, Lui Tuck Yew. I cannot say for others, but I must admit that his job was a poisoned chalice from the start. Initiatives in land transport that […]