Couched in pseudo legalese, the Law Minister claimed, "Now, the elected president controls a second key to our reserves so that a government cannot take something that belongs to the reserves and just spend it unwisely - this for our future generation, our children and grandchildren; they (referring to the opposition) want to dismantle that." Well, his PAP government has already granted free access to GLCs to dip their greedy hands into the cookie jar, without explicitly explaining to the people the rationale for doing so. The lock has already been tampered with.
If that's not enough, Shanmugam reminds us that the elected president also controls the insidious instrument of the Internal Security Act. That alone is plenty reason to do away with the elected presidency. Dominic Puthucheary, and his dead brother James Puthucheary, would surely agree. So would Chia Thye Poh and Dr Poh Soo Kai. Asked whether he would shake the hand of Lee Kuan Yew if they met, Dr Poh's answer was no. It would be hypocritical if he answered yes.
Personally, it was very painful to see another victim, Teo Soh Lung, on the electoral podium. Each line of her face, set on a tiny frame, is a reminder of how much of her youth was cruelly robbed by a paranoid who actually claims he detained innocents without trial for an honourable cause. Innocents who he would laugh off as "do-gooders" to an Archbishop. In case you thought special consideration was given to her as a member of the weaker sex, here's how she described the horrors of being detained "at the pleasure of the president":
"During interrogation, I was verbally abused, slapped, made to stand for hours on end in the cold room with spotlights shining into my eyes and sit on a 3 legged chair, – i.e. one leg was shorter than the other 3 so that a prisoner cannot sit and sleep and thus deprived of sleep for days! Imprisonment was not too bad. For some months I was locked up in a small cell with slits for air and the rest of my stay was in a big spartan cell, which ISD called a “Shangrila Suite”. I was in solitary confinement throughout my stay."
The one redeeming feature, the Presidential Pardon, has already been amply demonstrated as another false promise of hope for those facing the gallows.
So is the elected presidency a fundamental pillar of government? Not in its present form it isn't. It's more of a crutch for those with a perverse sense of justice and in desperate need of some third party to expose the flaws of their legalistic reasoning.
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| The fundamental pillar of government pressing the flesh |
Posts
Hahaha
ReplyDeleteWhat is created by farcial means cannot be there for the purpose it was created.
I am afraid that the result of this election will be similar to the past elections which
ReplyDeletePAP wins all except one or two seats.
Though WP rallies for Aljunied GRC attracted more than 15,000, many of them are from other constituencies. It is likely that of the 15,000, less than 10,000 are from the Aljiunied GRC. This (10,000) is only a mere 6.99% of the total voters of 143,148 in Aljunied GRC.
If the majority of the 93.01% (133,148) voters prefer to watch TV and read Straits Times/Lianhe Zoabao, and WP has no other means of reaching these voters, then the likely winner of Aljunied GRC is PAP (the party that controls the MSM).
I think more and more Singaporeans are now beginning to realise that what we have been frequently told and reminded again and again are just mere lies rather than the hard truths.
ReplyDeleteIf we believe him, I think we might as well also believe that pigs can really fly.
Do not brush aside the meaning of the crowds at WP rallies as totally inconsequential.
ReplyDeleteThis time, the anger and issues are serious and hitting hard the voters' pockets. Further, with the ready availability of opposition material and videos on the internet and the subsequent spread of such materials originating from that source through word of mouth, the effect has been multiplied. It is a relevant and effective source, that is why the PAP Government is so worried initially. But they know they can do nothing much about it.
If you go by statistics alone, a 15,000 crowd at the WP rally (I believe it was more than twice that) is only about 10% of voters in Aljunied GRC. But the opposition voters in 2006 then was already much more than that, at 42% or thereabout, which works out to about 56,000 opposition voters in Aljunied GRC.
So, there is a huge chunk of voters that did not attend rallies but still voted opposition. This time may be more, as many analysts now believe the anti-PAP sentiments for this election is the highest in two decades.
Finally, many Singaporeans now refuse to accept the viewpoints of the PAP and their arguments. They treat them as pure propaganda, and that is worrying for the PAP.
Loose the ability to convince and they will lose the votes.
The elected President is never a threat to the PAP as long as the party can change the constitution at will.
ReplyDeleteThe current "elected" president is a joke and real evil in this world.
ReplyDeleteTheodore Rooselvelt will have "choice" words and the actions to go with those words for Singapore's so called "elected" President.
A President of no substance and of lesser character.
Sad for everyone including the so called "elected" prez of Singapore.
The elected President in Singapore's context is totally irrelevant, waste of resourses, and as someone said, the most expensive hand waver in the whole world.
ReplyDeleteThe PAP's claim of him holding the 3rd key is totally unconvincing. It is all in the family, so can he say no if his boss ask for his key?
Think about it!