PAP Scorched Earth at Aljunied GRC!

What we suspected, but now confirm and double confirmed!

Recently, MND gave a report that WP's Aljunied GRC team CMI - WP got a red card for their late audit / management report. Ooooooh eyes on WP for being lame and giving excuses. Yes WP cannot excuse that away. However, as more bits and pieces came out about AIM, the financial services company that was holding WP Aljunied Town Concil hostage by putting admin obstacles in front of WP's management report to MND, then the blame and shame game on WP turned into one on PAP's scorched earth policy. Not new, this PAP denial of the political enemy access to infrastructure, like how WP had trouble with use of common space in Hougang because MND and PA were politically motivated in their decisions. Ooooooh

Lau gay Alex Au was half right to say that AIM is a stay-behind sabo party - right because AIM is actually owned by former PAP MPs and I think still PAP members, not so right as AIM took over the financial and computer systems of the PAP town councils before GE 2011 in January last year, and not just before handover of Aljunied to WP. How was the tender process that AIM won, we are very curious!

Tessa Wong, one of the few ST journalists who covered opposition news objectively, nudged readers to think about who should fingers be pointing at, and for WP Pritam Singh to copy it lock stock and barrel into his Facebook note, he endorsed the finger taichi implied! Ohoh, would nation-building press ST warn Pritam Singh about blatant copyright infringement by copying the entire ST article into his Facebook? LOL

AIM, the Tessa Wong report also said its directors and former PAP members don't want to comment, like MIA!

Palmergate in Pictures

Some of the funnier grabs from the Internet. Still no naked pictures of Palmer and his fling. Half-naked ones also don't have!

The Sketch Times

WP to start the year, PAP to end the year and it has been a fucking great year! Woohoo.

Cartoon Press 

It's all about how to own up and milking the rhetoric, without letting people know you are milking the rhetoric otherwise it just curdles quickly and yucks. PAP did a good job by pressuring Palmer take one for the team and resign. But they overdid it in their spinning.

EDMW 

Karma, and revenge is a dish of big sweet mangoes. WP's rhetoic was sublime, and Low's display of gracious understanding pat on Palmer's back, good showmanship. They sat back and watched the parade.

Xiaxue

Xiaxue unloads a splendid point and wins the wife votes, and the hubbies next to them as the hubbies must nod and openly agree with the wives here if they are smart. Politicians should have high moral standards, or at least as high as possible. Or least don't be stupid to get found out even if have low moral standards.

Good Game, Michael Palmer

Who is Palmer?

He is the former Speaker in parliament, former MP in Punngol East SMC, former PAP member and man who screwed Laura Ong, someone from PA. Didn't everybody say PAP and PA are bedfellows! Wonder if she is prettier than the woman that former WP MP bonked!

Still, one thing about this Palmer, this guy had balls. Balls to stand alone in a SMC in the last GE when all his other PAP comrades hide with the big boys in GRCs. Balls to bonk around after the Yaw Shin Leong scandal earlier this year that led to the Hougang by-election. Facepalmer!

Obviously didn't learn that lesson from Low Thia Khiang's protege that these sort of private sordid things cannot be kept under the covers for long when one is a political figure with enemies of all colours. Private tho affairs may be, the game is to make it public interest when one is a politician. Stupid cockhead, also not thinking ahead!

And to match and even surpass WP's standards of transparency set a few months ago, the PAP is putting Palmer on a donkey cart, parading him around town with a self-flagellating press conference and even naming the woman who led to his fall, outdoing WP in openness and decisiveness on who can shame its own more. Karma is an equal opportunity bitch who just squeezed PAP's balls after the PAP preached about MPs setting high moral standards a few months ago. LOL

You know what,? While we snigger about Palmer and make snide remarks about PAP's karma, Low Thia Khiang is ever the graceful politician-gentleman in his comments about Palmer. He did not kick mud into Palmer's face like what the PAP did when Yaw was crawling away in the mud. Low Thia Khiang has class.

Michael Palmer's resignation 'unfortunate': Low Thia Khiang
Updated 09:58 PM Dec 12, 2012

SINGAPORE - Workers' Party (WP) chief Low Thia Khiang today said it is "unfortunate" that Mr Michael Palmer has resigned as Speaker of Parliament.

Describing Mr Palmer as a "well balanced Speaker", Mr Low said Mr Palmer "managed Parliamentary affairs very well and very efficiently".

"He's well balanced giving both front and back benchers sufficient time to debate. He also has given members of the Opposition sufficient time to engage the front bench, said Mr Low. "Personally I quite like him as a Speaker so it's unfortunate that he has resigned."

Mr Low was speaking to the media at the sidelines of his Meet the People Session this evening.

Mr Palmer, who was Member of Parliament (MP) for Punggol East SMC, today announced his resignation as Speaker and as a member of the People's Action Party (PAP) after admitting to having a relationship with a member of the People's Association staff.

Asked about what this episode showed about the PAP and its selection process for candidates, Mr Low said that no selection process is foolproof.

Declining to compare this with the WP's experience earlier this year - when then WP MP for Hougang SMC Mr Yaw Shin Leong's infidelity was revealed - Mr Low said it would not be fair to do so as "every case is unique". Mr Yaw was subsequently sacked from the party.

He said, however, that he hoped the people "who have been critical of the Workers' Party", including the media, would "display fairness and integrity in their comments and their sincerity in what they have said during the episode of Yaw Shin Leong".

"I think we have done our part and my conscience is clear. Other than that, it's always unpleasant to know, to learn of such things happen(ing) whether it's in the Opposition or the PAP. We hope to have a good public service," he said.

Earlier today, the WP issued a press release urging the Prime Minister to call a by-election in the Punggol East constituency as soon as possible. The party said it was ready to offer a choice to the voters of Punggol East SMC again in the by-election.

Asked who the party would field as a candidate, Mr Low said it was "premature" to speculate on the candidate. During the General Election last year, the WP fielded Ms Lee Lilian.

Good Game, Philip Pillai

Who is Pillai?

He is the guy who threw out that law soc lawyer who barged into court and said M Ravi was mad, as well as walked the fine line in the Hougang by-election hearing - his decision not to let Vellama pay damages when she lost the case. He was the judge in Dr Susan Lim's case for overcharging the Bruneian royalty. He presided over an Indonesian businessmen who sued Citibank when he lost money in investments. Overall, by the way he adroitly handled the Hougang by-election decisions,  he is one balanced judge. Too bad he won't be around in court anymore. Bye!

Singapore High Court Judge, Philip Pillai, to retire
AsiaOne
Tuesday, Dec 11, 2012

SINGAPORE - Supreme Court Judge, Justice Philip Pillai, will retire on 12 December 2012 when he reaches 65 years old.

He will be leaving the Public Service after three years of distinguished service.

Justice Pillai received his Bachelor of Law degree from the University of Singapore in 1971, and his Master in Law and Doctor of Juridical Sciences from Harvard University in 1973 and 1983 respectively. He was admitted as an advocate and solicitor in Singapore in 1972.

From 1971 to 1985, Justice Pillai taught at the Law Faculty of the National University of Singapore.

He was a Senate Member of the National University of Singapore from 1976 to 1985.

From 1981 to 1985, Justice Pillai was a member of the Board of Legal Education, as well as a member of the Executive Committee and Board of Trustees of the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies.

He was in private practice from 1986 to 2009 as partner of the law firm Shook Lin & Bok LLP and joint managing partner of Allen & Overy, Shook Lin & Bok.

Amongst other appointments, Justice Pillai was a Director and Audit Committee member of the Monetary Authority of Singapore from 2000 to 2005. He was also a member of the Regional Panel of Arbitrators of the Singapore International Arbitration Centre from 2003 to 2006.

From 2001 to 2003, Justice Pillai was the Chairman of the Singapore Committee on Company Legislation and Regulatory Framework. In 2003, he was awarded the Singapore Public Service Medal.

Justice Pillai was first appointed as Judicial Commissioner on 1 October 2009 and then as a Judge of the Supreme Court on 1 June 2010.

He was appointed as a member of the Legal Service Commission from 2007 and has been a member of the Special Personnel Board from 2010.

PAP Almost Sue TOC!

Wow. Throwing law suits used to be only at SDP, now letters of demand are hurled at keyboard warriors too. It did not stop at the old gay Alex (did not deserve it) but went on to TRS (deserve it), now TRE (deserve it) and TOC (did not deserve it).  This is PAP's new media strategy.

What was it all about this time. About gay SDP Vincent Wijeysingha's SMRT strike Facebook note that SMRT drivers who are unhappy can quit and join SBS. Firstly, Vincent's note was a wall of text and I did not even know Vasoo was mentioned inside it. Some good points were made by Vincent like unions CMI and the Tiong drivers complained before and still no action. The rest was pure political grandstanding like the Tiongs had the right to an illegal strike, since Vincent is SDP and opposition what, so a bit of rhetoric is expected.

PAP lawyer hitman Davinder Singh then sent letters of demand left, right, centre. Making the issue even bigger, making people even more interested in what happened between Vasoo and Chee, making people think more that Vincent must be right for the PAP to want to silence him. PAP, you are so funny and you bring weekend entertainment to all of us. Thank you.

Did TOC pwn PAP, or PAP pwn TOC? You guess!

Public Transport Fare Increasing!

The MIA transport minister and former navy general has reported for duty finally. After taking cover for so long since the strike started and ended, he has come out to say that next year, bus and shhhhh...train fares would go up to pay for drivers' increased wages.   Sure, this policy to increase bus fares would be super popular and a sure vote-winner for the next election. Outstanding!

All this while, the former SAF army generals have taken the heat. Tan Chuan Jin from manpower for backing Desmond from SMRT. Desmond was also MIA on holiday when the crisis started as he was also trained enough to avoid the shelling, and would stick his head out only when safer. At least Tan stood up from the foxhole first with SAR 21 firing from both hands. Desmond and Tan wanted to turf out the troublesome Tiongs and send a fuck-you hardline message that the Tiongs must not get the impression that they can screw us more than we can screw them. We the boss! If the Tiongs don't get that message to play ball and not play punk, they would be climbing over heads of their bosses and even onto top of construction cranes to "sabotage" worksites!

However, this Lui is sending a contrary and not subtle signal that the strike by the SMRT service leaders', a damn stupid term and worse than "bus captains", was successful and salary changes would be made as a result of it. Army-Navy boxing! Fight fight fight!

BTW, SMRT chief Desmond also said they would be bringing in more SAF personnel into SMRT to do HR and other command-control tasks. That really inspires confidence in SMRT, at least the former butch SMRT CEO was a great retailer and made SMRT profitable from its retail rather than buses and trains.

SAF has a stellar background in HR policy and management. Sure, right. What they going to do, make the SMRT bus drivers do area cleaning and stand-by bunk to wake up the idea of the Tiong drivers? Make them do sentry duties so there would be no vandal intrusion into SMRT interchanges? Make drivers sign extra do weekend duty driving? Facepalm.

Public transport fare adjustments to take into account bus drivers' wage increase
By Dylan Loh | Posted: 06 December 2012 1626 hrs
Channel News Asia

SINGAPORE: Transport Minister Lui Tuck Yew said on Thursday public transport fare adjustments, due next year, will take into account the need to raise bus drivers' wages.

Mr Lui was speaking for the first time in the aftermath of the illegal strike by bus drivers from China last week, and said public transport cost increases over the years have outpaced fare adjustments.

He was trying out the route of a new service on Thursday under the government's billion-dollar Bus Service Enhancement Programme.

Mr Lui said the 34 Chinese bus drivers out of work from SMRT due to the strike make up only about 0.5 per cent of the total pool of 8,000-odd drivers.

Therefore, the impact on bus enhancements should be minimal.

What's of concern, however, is the lingering effect of the strike on recruitment and retention of bus drivers, and Mr Lui said the government is watching this carefully.

Looking at public transport fare adjustments of past years, Mr Lui said while fares have increased by 0.3 per cent, costs in fuel and wages for instance have gone up by 30 per cent.

He said the fare review committee recognises this "significant mismatch".

Mr Lui said: "Any fare adjustment will allow the two operators to have more resources, in time to come, to make further salary adjustments to their drivers. We recognise that the drivers need to be paid more. (The) question is, where is that money coming from?

"So we need to see the relationship between any fare adjustment, wage increase, and any other forms of government support that we might be required to give to the operators."

Mr Lui said it is difficult to wean dependence off foreign bus drivers as Singaporeans may not want to take up the job.

So salary adjustments, at least, will make the occupation more attractive to locals.

He said previous salary adjustments have helped to increase the recruitment of drivers, both local and foreign.

When asked whether SMRT should face any penalty as a result of the strike, Mr Lui said the operator will be evaluated according to quality of service standards.

Impact on bus services as a result of the two-day strike will be taken into account.

Mr Lui said he also spoke to SMRT's Chief Executive Desmond Kuek on the strike, and said the organisation needs to improve in many areas.

He said Mr Kuek needs to be given time to turn things around.

From December 16, two new SBS Transit bus services will start plying under the Bus Service Enhancement Programme.

Service 50, which will start service on December 16, will cover Ang Mo Kio, Yio Chu Kang, Sengkang and Punggol.

Express Service 513 will start on December 17, connecting residents of Tampines to the Central Business District. This service only runs during the morning and evening peak period on weekdays.

In addition, four new bus services will be added to the bus network in the first quarter of 2013.

Three of them come under the government's enhancement programme, while the other is a trunk service by SBS Transit at its own cost

SDP Chee Soon Juan Purposely Sabo Yale-NUS!

Since Dr Chee Soon Juan is no longer a bankrupt, he can leave the country and the first thing he did, was to head over to the USA, and complain about Singapore. Which is not really new as he likes to whine and wring his hands about Singapore in front of foreigners, especially Americans. However the new twist is that he is complaining in Yale to Yale about the Yale-NUS College in Singapore and that it is a big bad thing for Yale as NUS and Singapore is a big bad place better left alone. Let me lay it out straight that I'm biased against SDP, so you know where I'm coming from.

Chee is also biased, let me lay it out. Biased against PAP which he often equates with Singapore, and biased against his former employer NUS. Let me explain if you have not joined the dots about his gritty personal vendetta dressed up as glam political reformation.

Chee was kicked out of NUS for ridiculous charges of making false taxi fare claims. Whatever. He was damn pissed as his former NUS boss Dr Vasoo was a PAP MP then and it was all a PAP-NUS conspiracy to fix him as Chee just entered politics and was, Chiam See Tong's protege in SDP. Ever since then, the former NUS lecturer turned Red politician has gone head to head with the PAP, providing good political black comedy to many onlookers as it made him and his archenemy the PAP look ridiculous at the same time, from his shouting in a market to him being dumbly sued constantly by the PAP. Since Chee is no longer a bankrupt, that means he can and will be sued to bankruptcy again so bring out the popcorn!

In a nutshell, this is why Chee is still upset with NUS and does not want a Yale collaboration. Even though it would benefit students here who would want a Yale experience, albeit in Singapore. Better than nothing if can't go all the way to Yale what. Even though it would benefit Singapore's education industry. Even though it would boost NUS' reputation and research. Even though Yale was promised that NUS would not inhibit academic freedom in the Yale-NUS college. Even though by Yale being here, it is the seed that would grow more critical Singaporeans who will see different sides to stories and be more balanced.

You don't hear the other opposition political parties complaining about Yale-NUS as they see the big picture. Chee doesn't see the big picture about Yale-NUS. He just sees it as a way to get back at his former employer, a personal grudge, nothing more. Serious.

Strike, and You're Out!

I want Tiongs, Banglas, Letticias. We need them in our economy. Construction, drivers, sales staff, nurses, cleaners, KTV girls, and other jobs that locals are not desperate enough to do. Despite what small-minded Singaporeans think that we should kick them all out. BTW I have even seen Pinoys cook and serve Chinese-style mee pok in food courts! They put so much vinegar into the mee pok, as if like their Pinoy dishes! WTF

Recently, SMRT bus drivers went on strike, more than 100 some more. They think it is some Foxconn strike! In a strike, there are always 2 sides to the story and given SMRT's pathetic track record on maintenance, I tend to give the bus drivers some leeway about their sad sob story (dirty dorms, not enough sleep, low pay - fucking pussies, it sounds like my BMT). However, people were inconvenienced and public transport, like public utilities and services should never be held hostage by strikers, especially if they are foreigners. Giordano or McDonalds workers strike I don't care. But SMRT staff?

It is only good news that 5 strike ring-leaders were charged and 29 others, probably those who instigated to a lesser degree, would be deported ASAP. The strikers are not the victims once they broke the law and ignorance is never an excuse. Bye-bye! Those who support the strikers unconditionally, shut the fuck up, you want the strike to spread and continue?

It would have been better if more of the 100 plus strikers were deported to show a strong disapproval and a zero tolerance on workers crippling public services. But the main reason more were not kicked out probably with SMRT negotiation is because too many bus drivers would have been taken off the roads as a result. It would self-pwn sabotage of SMRT bus services and cause more inconvenience to SMRT bus passengers.

SMRT bus strike: 5th driver to be charged, 29 to be repatriated
By Royston Sim & Maria Almenoar

The police has "substantially completed" its investigations into the illegal strike earlier this week and will be charging a fifth SMRT bus driver from China for instigating the work stoppage.

It has also issued stern warnings to 29 other drivers, who have since had their work permits revoked, and will be repatriated by the Immigration & Checkpoints Authority (ICA) soon.

The Ministry of Home Affairs and Manpower Ministry, providing an update on the incident, said in a joint press statement on Saturday that "barring any new developments, we do not expect further arrests or repatriations related to this illegal strike".

"The police will be issuing warnings to the others who were involved, but no further action will be taken against them and they will be allowed to remain and work in Singapore, so long as they continue to abide by our laws," added the ministries.