Q: There was talk during and after the general election about how the PAP has to transform itself.
A: No, who's talk was it?
Q: George Yeo was one of those making the comment.
A: No, no. George Yeo lost. And every defeat must be accompanied by a thorough rethink. But it does not mean a change in your basic values and policies.
("One Man's View of the World", page 214, 215)
Instead of reflection and repentance, Major General "keechiu" Chan Chun Sing tuned up his rabble rousing rhetoric. Making mockery of Winston Churchill's famous war cry, Chan inveighed against the unconverted and unconvinced, "We will have to learn from the 1960 generation of PAP pioneers - to fight to get our message across at every corner - every street corner, every cyberspace corner, be it in the mass media or in the social media".
The key difference is that, as a young army officer, Churchill saw action in British India, The Sudan, and the Second Boer War. So his words had bite when he spoke at the darkest hour of the Battle of Britain, "... we shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills; we shall never surrender."
And where were the rhetoric masters when Little India burst into flames? The carnage that started at 9.30 pm on Sunday night involved a mob of 400, damage to several private vehicles, 5 police cars and one ambulance set afire. The other general, Acting Manpower Minister Tan Chuan Jin, rushed to man his keyboard, probably contemplating choice of words: is this a real riot (first in Singapore in decades), or an illegal gathering exceeding 5 persons? Oh, they sent the Gurkha Contingent out to handle the unruly, our boys in blue are more acquainted with manhandling docile Singaporeans.
"They may throw stones at you, they may attack you, they may work against you but we stand firm." The speaker was obviously nowhere near the junction of Race Course Road and Hampshire Road where the projectiles were more deadly than alleged cyber attacks. If he was, he would have been crapping his lily white pants. Trust the Secretary General to cap it all with irony, "Don't worry, the PAP will take care of everything, quite safe."
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| Clearing vehicle blocking access of ambulance |
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There is nothing more dangerous than a paper general with a wild imagination. Instead of fighting real wars he gets carried away with cyber wars "fighting at street corners." Somewhere in command college in the US they taught him that such wars really exist. You cannot expect such a general to handle a real riot, best left to the mercenary Gurkhas.
ReplyDeleteInstead of spending Billions on F35s and submarines, the PAP buggers better reconsider having armoured vehicles and flame-proof personnel stationed at every housing enclave to make 6.9M crammed on this tiny island a success story.
DeleteNow that Little India has blaze the way forward, it is now up to Ah Tiongs, Pinoys, etc to show they are capable of doing better.....LOL
Keechiu said they must fight all the way even in cyberspace but the Clown Prince recently said only those who are active in the net are the unhappy ones.
DeleteLooks like one of them must have talked cock.
Who are the jokers who allow all these rioters in by the millions in the last 2 decades?
ReplyDeleteSingapore's last illegal strike was in 1986, and this state of industrial peace was shattered this year after 27 years.
Now, rioting after more than 50 years. And the police were helpless. Guess they are better at arresting citizens.
So, 5.4 million people with about 40% non-citizens, is already like packing rats into a confined space. Surely the rats will riot and bite each other.
And yet they are targeting 6.9 million. Or even 7 to 10 million.
These foreigners bring with them their best practices - strikes, riots and what not. Are our infrastructure adequate? Can our police deal with aliens gunning down people on the streets?
Dr Parang the "futurist" must now change his statement to SG can still fit in up to 8m residents, as well as more riots fighting at street corners.
ReplyDeleteI will gladly support Parang's theory of 8Million residents if he agrees to take up my sponsorship to live in the same premises as those in Little India...free flow of booze is of course included for the daily evening happy hour.
DeleteI suppose this is what will happen when the foreign workers can't help feeling being exploited in a rich country where their overall welfare is very much if not totally neglected. It must be the result of some kind of pent up frustration waiting to explode and that fatal accident provided the spark to ignite everything into a riot.
DeleteLooking back in hindsight, what kind of benefits has the MOM provided these foreign workers in return for the millions of workers levies collected. I suppose this riot incident is the kind of payback for exploiting foreign workers to the maximum by their employers. And our Govt must have abetted them to a certain degree, whether directly or indirectly.
The Universe of the Thundergod must have heard Mr Chan's rhetoric that they decided to send a mob squad to little india and start a riot for him to instantly fight in those street corner. Was he there along with the Gurkha contingents?
ReplyDeleteChina bus drivers came here for mass strike.
ReplyDeleteIndian workers came here for mass riots.
What next? Will our Pinoy workers come here for mass protests?
Looks like is not only Singaporean workers who are under stress and oppressed, all the foreign workers included.
They have showed us #newwayforward.
the Malaysians did the protest already.
Deletethough not agst this govt, but their own.
The Pinoys in Singapore are a conceited, arrogant lot who probably are the happiest of all foreign workers (Oops..talent) here. Its highly unlikely for them to be staging any protest.
DeleteThey are the biggest benefactors of our FT policies.
Sorry for the typo...Should be beneficiaries instead of benefactors.
DeleteThis latest incident will not be the last. we will see more blatant behaviour by foreigners in every shade. There are just TOO many of them here.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=10152137649311383&set=vb.14440041382&type=2&theater
ReplyDeleteTOC got good exclusive tv clip. Unlike CNA, busy correcting eye witness account to say the "right thing".
Batman cars and F35, submarines? Body searches of pregnant women in MRT? Gurkahs deployed? Doesn't look like they did any better with all the burnt police vehicles, even the ambulance was torched! Must be the cozy atmosphere of their Mt Vernon township softening their bellies!
ReplyDeleteSo maybe its fair to ask 2-star paper genderal keechiu, who are you really fighting? who is your real enemy? terrorists? bloggers? Kovan drink stall operators in the year-end celebration in a WP ward? Or maybe its the man in the mirror?
Painful to watch as garmen's resources are squandered on frivolous empire-building projects while basic essential functions blow-up after another in an unbroken sequence since ge 2011. So much for this world class garmen and their million dollar scholars!
The End is near. For the Ruling Party. No, they will not admit defeat. It is just a 50 year occurrence. They are the Best! My foot!
ReplyDeleteThere are no floods in Singapore, just ponding.
DeleteI'm surprised our PAP gov did not declare that it was no riot, just a rowdy crowd and the police and emergency services were merely having an impromptu joint training exercise with the public.
And of course we can expect Hri Kumar to ask the WP what's their stand on this.
Whose ward was this in anyway? Why ask WP their stand on something they had no contributory part in?
DeleteI am just curious. Why did the rioters choose to overturn the police cars and torch the ambulance who were supposedly there to render justice and help? What happens to the bus driver who killed the bangla worker? Mobs go angry for a reasons..why/how did it get escalated so quickly? What happened there in the sequence of events that led to this escalation needs to be explained.
ReplyDeleteSeems like the police car was blocking the ambulance.
DeleteMaybe no policeman around to drive it away.
This may have been the spark.
I wonder why the police chose to leave it unattended in the middle of the road. People on the ground are better judge... and they administer mob justice quickly.
Good questions. Let me hazard an explanation. The Police Nd Ambulance were symbol of Authority. The coverment had not only screwed us Singaporeans, but they have let down even the FTs. Mostly, the lower earning ones. Their frustration got the better of them.
DeleteSeems from the first video one ambulance found its way to the pinned down victim in the opposite direction, and then the second video showed the over turning of police cars. So I doubt the over-turning of police cars was to let an ambulance get to the victim. There were so many of them, why didn't they try to lift the bus to free the victim instead of waiting for the (if delayed) ambulance? Only a few days ago in china similar accident with bus pinning down victim, the onlookers worked together and lifted the bus to free the victim and saved a life. I cannot say for sure, but I doubt they would have problem lifting the bus just a little. Imagine a few tons resting on a man, how can he stay alive for more than a few minutes?.
Deletehttp://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702303330204579246540635617948
DeleteIf those concerned friends of the victim had wanted to speed up the help process, they could easily have turned over the bus instead of turning over the police cars and smashing them! Still doesn't make sense why they did what they did to the authority. Perhaps there have been some simmering frustrations. Plus the fact that it's been a big enclaves for FW, they probably can't help but got carried away that they felt like they were in their own world/country/surroundings, thus letting out their helpless anger.
"Mobs go angry for a reasons..why"
DeleteMy guess is that there is a lot of pent up anger and frustration of these foreign workers, because of their exploitation by the capitalists with the government's collusion, which only needed a spark, like an accident in this case, to trigger off a riot. The same reason for a strike, workplace slowdowns, violence, etc. Ultimately the blame must go to the PAP government, for their cheap, better, faster policies, which benefit the capitalists. If things are bad now, wait till we reach 6.9 million.
Of course the government will go on a witch hunt, find scapegoats, after this incident. But they will never admit the underlying causes are due to themselves, because of their hubris. And this hubris will be their downfall.
Lui said alcohol might be a reason.
DeleteLooks like all the 7-11 will have to ban selling after 7pm maybe? More CCTV surveillance. More police patrolling. More curbs and control. LOL, expect more whatever rules to come raining down from MIW. Same playbook every time. They have no awareness for self reflection or psychological improvements. 50 yrs from now, there will be more laws in SG per 100 people than there ever will be in any other globalised city. That's they way they know how to govern, judging by Keechiu's war of theory.
http://martinpasquier.com/2013/12/09/singapore-and-little-india-riot-when-demographics-knock-on-the-door-again/
DeleteEven a foreigner can do a good surmising of the situation in little india - where everything is super high" flash points for accidents waiting to happen. Only those sleeping on the jobs didn't pay attention to such potential conflicts due to complacency. They think moving 3m to 9m is like moving from 3rd world to 1st world. Well, good luck.
Ban alcohol, ban them from gathering together, ban them from any form of entertainment and make prisoners out of them.
DeleteAnd you expect meek compliances without anger, animosity and revolt?
Anyone who has driven through that area on a weekend evening would have seen this coming.
ReplyDeleteAnyone, it seems, except for the MPs of that area.
Are the MPs living in their nice, cosy la la land, totally oblivious to the potential dangers under their watch?
In answer to your question: Yes.
DeleteApplies to all PAP MPs.
They're not totally oblivious but intentionally ignorant.
DeleteHow often do you see patrol cars making rounds in Little India and Geylang?
Just bring in the Indian riot police from India to manage the riot in Little India.
ReplyDeleteThe solution to any FT problem is always to bring in more FT.
The solution is never to vote out the PIGS who created the problem in the first place.
After this episode is over, I think our Millionaire Ministers should reward themselves with another hefty pay rise.
For successfully solving yet another difficult Singapore problem.
300 PO + gurkhas against 400 mob squad, without firing a shot, all under 1 hr? Some people are very easily impressed with the handling already leh.
DeleteThat's how many PO involved as a % of total manpower?
Delete//without firing a shot//
DeleteThey ran away so fast that they didn't have time to unholster their weapons. Did you see how the fire engine back away in panic, and hitting the police car? The guys who got hurt must have tripped over broken bottles and cut themselves.
My sources tell me that it started around 930pm and went on till 1am before being contained. Are you sure is 1 hr as they like to claim? Had the gun shot be fired, 30 mins would have been what it took to contain the riots. Why did it got out of control? Where were the patrolling police on duty that weekend? Were the 300 PO that sent in armed appropriately to face the squad? Sorry to the 14 injured officers, but did they have the tools and smarts to do their job and put their lives on uneccessary risks?
DeleteRight, bring in more Indian Policemen, they are cheaper than the Gurkhas....Maybe they can work 24/7...and dont need to stay in their 'HDB' or bring their family along...
ReplyDeleteWhy do we need a foreigner forces to help us ....why can't we do it ourselves.
Please lah! How to do ourselves?
DeleteCan't even assemble at Hong Lim Park. Got no balls.
Anyway, I not millionaire.
Let the PAP Millionaires mobilize their Men-In-White to control the riots lah!
I dun have any million dollar salaries to protect.
And my HDB flat belongs to HDB not me.
Fight and die for what?
Better just to pack up my bags and leave tiok boh?
DeletePAPIGS always say.
You not happy, then leave Singapore lah!
This year’s theme for the PAP is “Our New Way Forward, A Call to Action”.
ReplyDeleteLHL and his "New Way Forward"? What happened to the old ways? In his 2013 National Day Rally speech in August, he said "TOGETHER, OUR NEW WAY FORWARD". In fact it is not surprising that everytime there is a new way, because they are all the same ways, couched differently. These are the very same things that any good government should be doing, not just the PAP government. Why keep repeating the same things differently then? Because it is just rhetoric and is not working, because they are losing the public's trust, and ultimately their votes, and therefore a call to action is imperative. If you cannot convince people, you confuse them - with rhetoric.
As for Keechiu, brave words indeed. What koolaid is this little LKY drinking, who wants only his and his Party's message to be heard and read? More clampdowns on the internet and social media, on unruly voices anywhere, even on street corners, I expect.
Police can be very high handed.
ReplyDeleteTheir focus ( training?) is to keep people away when there is accident etc.
Perhaps their handling was not mindfull that one of the FT brother was injured. It can get emotional.
Besides crowd control, the skill of EQ under such circumstance is vital. I think it may be a lack of situational awareness, and inability to connect with the crowd.
Singaporeans are extremely task orientated... something which is reflected in the Gov... always looking at the task but missing the emotional aspects. Remove dialects to encourage mandarin... prohibit CPF access... etc
Hmm...
ReplyDeleteJust last week...one of those tax funded so called doctor from the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public (or is it pubic) Policies thant Singapore can have a population of 8 million...
When things go south...will this farker be right infront to solve the problems he is responsible for creating or standing behind safe doors while others do the dying for him or worse packing his bags to be the first to fly out....
And this the PAP gov't called talent...,fark you understand!
"You know, the cure for all this talk about having 6 or 8 million people here, is really a good dose of rioting by foreign talents..."
DeleteLOL...
ReplyDelete"General" Kee Chiew at PAP convention yesterday speech "we will fight them at the street corners, under the lamp-posts etc etc nauseam"....
Think he is watching too many world war 2 movies...and CCS is definitely not Winston Churchill...old winston at least have fought in real battles..
Well rioting in little india now...
Nuts lah CCS! Or as good old winston would remark "good grief".
“Every street corner, cyberspace corner, in the mass media, social media and so forth — we will have to do battle everywhere as necessary,” - Chan Chun Sing, PAP party annual convention Dec 8 2013
DeleteIf they have to battle everything & everywhere then that means they do not have support anywhere.
Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong has emphasised that in a more contested political environment, the PAP must fight for what it believes in.- as reported ny CNA
If they have to fight, then they could not have convinced and it goes to show that fighting is the last resort of the incompetent.
Bottom line. Why do they have to do battle with its citizens?
DeletePM Lee:
ReplyDeleteLee Hsien Loong
I have ordered a Committee of Inquiry (COI) to look into the Little India riot. The COI will review the factors that led to the incident, how the incident was handled, and how we manage areas where foreign workers congregate.
This was an isolated incident caused by an unruly mob. The vast majority of foreign workers here obey our laws. We must not let this bad incident tarnish our views of foreigner workers here. Nor should we condone hateful or xenophobic comments, especially online.
Let us remain calm and continue with our daily lives. Support our Home Team officers on the front line, and share with them any leads you may have. We must unite to deal with this unfortunate incident, to keep Singapore orderly and safe. - LHL
---
"especially online"
Once again...trying to tarnish the image of online as another cyber outlaw.
When he wants information, videos and photos, he welcome the online netizens to come forward and share.
When he doesn't want any xenophobia or racism to spread, he welcome the online netizens to stay out.
As if he can slice and dice and just take the good part and wish the bad part away.
Can we just tell his govt to take away the foreign trashes that causes all these social problems and keep only the foreign talent..can he sort those wheat from chaff to show the new way forward first?
Since buses can cause riots, we should start banning buses too.
Is a black swan. Once in 50years kind of incident.
ReplyDeleteNo sweat..conduct COI..charge and deport those arrested..write a nice report...case close. Let's move on.
Then put your china town and geylang next to little india, machiam form a big GRC gerrymandering, and get Sg tourism board to start and flood in all sorts of tourists, and viola! Your enclaves will be gone, and this will be a nice boho area once again..$$$ comes in, and everything is spanking new. PAP playbook..boost GDP and sweep social tensions away 'for now'. Huat AH!!!!!
Send the Millionaire For Home Affairs, Teo Chee Hean to India for a study mission. We need to learn from Indian police to see how they handle riots in India.
ReplyDeleteHi General, would I take what you said? Obviously no as you are not up to the mark yet when compared to the older generstion. Simple as that.
ReplyDeleteNo need COI into the riot lah!
ReplyDeleteWhy not start a NatCON with the FT community on how Singapore can do more to make FTs part of the nation.
PM Lee. Your 6.9 million population white paper.
ReplyDeleteWhat happened?
Damn!
ReplyDeleteNassim Hill!... not Race course road!
Thats the problem now days... you cant get good help!
why is nassim hill a problem? can't get enough good prostitutes to ply their trade in your backyard?
DeletePreliminary findings indicate that our emergency vehicles need to be a little bit more robust.
ReplyDeleteAlso, the sirens were not loud enough.
Paramedics need to be issued with Nike sports shoes to facilitate expeditious fleeing from danger.
What was the language used by the riot police in their loudspeakers?
DeleteWhat was the mother tongue of the rioters?
FOREIGN TALENT = FIRST MUST BE OUR OVERSEAS SINGAPOREAN LIVING IN OVERSEAS WITH TALENT.....Second, then the rest of those other talents....do not restrict to Nationality or Race.....the government should consider to attract our "true born" Singaporean living overseas back here and to better serve our economy...this will be the way forward!!!
ReplyDeleteBut these overseas Singaporean talents.
DeleteAre they loyal PAP voters or not?
If they come back and vote Opposition then how?
Worse. Like CSM, they go and join an Opposition Party.
SOS....teochew saying...better to be with you own people first, right? "None Singaporean" Foreign Talent will definitely "build empire"....not all...but chances are very high, right? .....Think Group, Think Empire.....our political issues must be kept and entrusted with our "own kind first"....is that is the genuine reason for lack of talents, why do not we do this as priority, but the political concern as secondary....not forget how did Rome, Tang dynasty...great empires fall....to us all in Singapore today is that the true born MIDDLE-CLASS is very diminishing ....much of a polarization is taking place here.....we want a multi-racial society, not a divided one....this was well-built and developed by many of our pioneer leaders...Dr. Toh Chin Chye, Dr. Goh Keng Swee, many other of different ethnic group of leaders that forged and fought together to build this nation state together....etc,
DeleteWhen MANY Foreigners are converted to Singapore citizen the chance of enclave will be very high from the same country, and of majority of the same nationality, and, next, with these "NEW CITIZENS", with economic power will form their own "political parties" to run for General elections, together with one vote, they will win the majority as their size outnumbering the true born Singaporeans as well as other races....just "invade" Singapore in a "lawful" way...cross-pollination" to establish their own "power" and "control" the rest of minorities, right? Then, we can see that more unrest, "extermination" of the different kinds...will all be happenings right here in Singapore !! When that happens, there will be a rewritten of history of Singapore...Singapore was founded by a "NEW CITIZEN" instead of Sir Stamford Raffles....note: Ming Dynasty Adm. Zheng Ho came earlier....not forgetting....there is tendency that a growing giant in Asia is starting to claims land, sea and air...belong to it ....based on her very very long ago histories.....soon Singapore will be one under this radar soon !!! Our fear of 6.9million is not the people size.....where will be our food source when we can not even feed ourselves, right?
ReplyDeleteNow that we know what a riot looks like, do we know what a rioter really feels like?
ReplyDeletehttp://robertnielsen21.wordpress.com/2013/02/28/what-causes-riots/
1st it was the PRC bus drivers and now the Indian foreign workers. Something very basic must be very wrong with our system. How do you feel when your employer is deducting part of what goes into your pay to pay the FW Levy to the Govt but gets no benefit from the Govt in return? Isn't this a kind of disguised tax on the earnings of a FW and it is out of proportion to the net wages that they earn?
ReplyDeleteI suppose for some of them, it's kind of greedy for the Govt to demand so much and yet doesn't deliver any benefit for them. And as with the PRC bus drivers, they must have felt "Enough is enough" and has resorted to taking the laws into their hands!
For decades, Singaporeans have been bullied into silence and it is somehow ironic that the foreign workers seems to more capable to fight for their own rights when they are simply exploited by others or treated badly? Looks like our PAP Govt has a lot to learn to respect the basic wellbeing of each individual whether foreign or local!
Wonder if the old fart has been updated
ReplyDeleteHere, on the very expensive island, wherever possible, instant cure:
ReplyDelete- Instant tree planting
- Instant arrests
- Instant noodles
- Instant issue of parking tickets
- Instant HDB housing ( in the past lah )
- Instant Citizen
- Instant ERP rates
If one man says "Now!" he means it... and it is done.
kind of odd...no...crazy to me...
ReplyDeleteGov't collect taxes from its citizens and in return uses the taxes for the benefit of the citizens & country...
Here is Singapore...the Gov't collect taxes..but only some of these monies "actually" helps the citizens & country. It has reached the point where the PAP gov't thinks they deserve the people's / citizens money cos they believe they are doing "real" work...when you look at it...the amount of work versus the amount of money they are being paid is not only lopsided...it is obscene.
Sad.
Don't forget these many of these PAP ministers and their kakis have developed this thing also...
ReplyDeleteIt is called SELF ENTITLEMENT....
Here we feed them, we clothed them, feed their kids etc...it is not gov't taking care of these useless people...it is the people of Singapore taking care of this self entitled pampered PAP ministers lah...haiz
We have Special Operation Command ( Riot Squad ) with expensive vehicles and equipments ( including tear gas ) but dare not use it on s small riot ! They can watch their vehicles being set on fire. Then we better not have SOC , close it down and save tax payer's money.
ReplyDeleteNever use water canon , never use tear gas but now telling long grandfather stories.
I am surprised many Singaporeans still believe our Police Force is reliable to handle such events. After spending so much on new equipments and training , they dare not use them. Why keep tear gas and dare not use ? maybe they want to use to fight dengue.
ReplyDelete