Monday, September 29, 2014

Suffer The Little Children

Don't mix up Hong Lim with Hong Kong
Right on cue, the mute button was toggled off. Politicians who stood idly by and played dumb for weeks while a 87 year old pioneer generation member was in grave danger of being robbed and pillaged by a foreign intruder were suddenly jostling to leap into a feeding frenzy. Note the common thread in the cacophony of protestations:

Manpower Minister Tan Chuan-Jin:
"I am appalled. We now heckle special needs children? Vile. Total and absolute disgrace."
Social and Family Development Minister Chan Chun Sing:
"To cause alarm and distress to special needs children, and disrupting their routine cannot be right no matter how righteous you think your own cause may be. "
MP Janil Puthucheary:
"No excuse for bad behaviour, but especially not directed at kids."
MP Zaqy Mohamad: 
"A pity that special needs children were heckled by protesters at event by YMCA at Hong Lim Park."
MP Ang Wei Neng:
"There was no good reason for the bloggers to heckle children with special needs and hurl vulgarities."
MP Denise Phua:
"I heard while the kids were not physically harmed, many were alarmed, confused and disturbed by the unexpected unruly turn of events."
MP Tin Pei Ling:
“What have these special needs children done to deserve being heckled down?”

You know brains have left the building when "Return our CPF" is construed as a phrase to "heckle" special needs children - unless the folks withholding our CPF are certified retards in the medical sense. Why did MP Teo Ser Luck, supposedly a "fixture" at the YMCA event (or NParks director Chia Seng Jiang who set the stage for a potent mix), insert the vulnerable kids into a crossfire of political ploy? A bit of history is enlightening:
"At about 10.35 pm that first evening (circa 1955), a mob had attacked a police patrol car with a British police lieutenant in charge, hurling bottles and stones as they closed in for the kill...
He was not aiming at the crowd, he said, but one shot appeared to have hit a Chinese student of about 17. Instead of taking him straight to hospital, however, the other students put him on a lorry and paraded him around the town for three hours, so that by the time he was brought there he was dead from a wound in the lung. Had he been taken to hospital directly, he might have been saved. But what was one life if another martyr could stoke up the fire of revolution?" ("The Singapore Story", page 203)

It is doubtful that any grassroots leader, however rabid his card-carrying convictions, is prepared to be martyred and paraded around Hong Lim Green. The collateral damage will have to be borne by somebody else. History will revisit this episode and determine if the YMCA is just another gullible partisan NGO.

24 comments:

  1. I thought I saw many videos and pictures of a smiling Teo Ser Luck.?
    Why didn't he react to a very dangerous situation?
    Surely Teo Ser Luck would stand up and protect the children?

    ReplyDelete
  2. Where were Tan Chuan Jin, Chan Chun Sing, Denise Phua, Tin Peng Ling and Intan (the MP in the PR appeal) when questions were brought up about crook Yang Yin manipulate and cheat the rich old lady and how he got his PR? You are in the gov't, you are in a better position to know how Yang Yin got his PR and how he became a PAP grassroot leaders. Why you all so quiet, I'm more interested to know about these. I've been to the PWP protest with a larger crowd, S'pore protesters are well behaved lah.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Sign the petition here attentioned to
    "Rev. Johan Vilhelm Eltvik:
    Investigation into YMCA Singapore for using children with special needs as Human Shield. YMCA's Master of Ceremony shouted "WE LOVE OUR CPF" in presence of group of Protesters to stir up anger."

    ReplyDelete
  4. As a senior citizen, I am sad to note that many Sin Leaders seemed ready or are preparing for events liked those happening in HONG KONG NOW.
    It may not be tomorrow, next month, however, whence the people get shove too far or piss off too much, it shall happen.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The events in Hong Kong are organized by University students.
      That is why PAP Ministers tell Singaporeans.
      "You don't need a university degree"
      Why?
      So that we can stay in power forever is it?

      Delete
  5. That the political party that was elected to run a country has sunken to such low level, resorting to dirty under-hand tactics, simply to disrupt and avoid answering simple questions about the citizens' forced savings, has certainly lost its moral authority to govern and consign its leaders to the dustbins of history.

    ReplyDelete
  6. YMCA could have held their event anywhere in Singapore.
    So why choose Hong Lim Park?

    ReplyDelete
  7. I am apalled by this pack of politicians. So, sensing blood.....
    "It becomes like pack behaviour. You scold, you swear, you curse. All the wrong instincts get fed and in a group, there's a certain group dynamic and it is like a pack of hounds hunting, which is bad,"

    ReplyDelete
  8. It is the Pack Cohesiveness that makes it head and shoulders above the Alternative Parties. They hunt and attack with concerted efforts.
    Alternative Parties in Sin are like leopards, always lonely. Not much of a threat except to timid and weak species.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Minister: Sic 'em, sick 'em.

      Delete
  9. My heart bleeds when I see organisations "displaying" mentally or physically challenged human beings, in order to solicit funds.(NKF, President, or Star Charitiy show). It is no different from maid agencies displayig their "maids" as highlighted recently in the news.

    Donations should come from the heart, without having to see the misfortuned displaying their "wares" . Worse, organisations who donated should also not "display" their "kind hearts" with a gigantic cheque replica or have their names published in acknowledgement.

    Can we be charitable without the shows? so that no one can hold these special people hostage.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Surprised? No tactic is too low, as far as silencing the legitimate concerns of the citizens, for these fat cats.

    ReplyDelete
  11. HLP is not suitable for children as it was designated for political voices. Who decided to bring them there? These people are more guilty than the grey haired uncles.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Who brought the Children there
    to expose them to whatever that
    were going to happen.

    BEFORE THE EVENTS, MANY SINGAPOREANS
    HAVE EXPRESSED THEIR WORRY AND CONCERN
    ABOUT THE SAFETY AND WELLBEING OF PARTICIPANTS, CHILDREN INCLUDED.

    WHY WAS THE CAUTION THROWN TO THE
    WIND BY THE ORGANIZER?
    WAS THERE THE INTENTION TO USE THE KIDS
    AS A STAKE?

    ReplyDelete
  13. So you are admitting there was no heckling, and the 2 ministers and all the MPs were wrong and owe some people an apology. Strangely, Sunday Times also said there was only disrupting, no heckling.

    ReplyDelete
  14. First our PAP Govt imposed the Min Sum and ban total CPF withdrawal without even giving a damn about our financial situation at age 55?

    Then even if we have already met the CPF Min Sum criteria at age 55, we are also told that each year they can transfer some of my CPF Ordinary Account savings over to Medisave Account to satisfy the ever increasing minimum Medisave amount.

    On top of that we are also told we can't use my medisave savings for certain medical procedures like ST scan ?

    So how come our PAP MPs never come out and question why our Govt has been heckling our CPF savings without even a polite courtesy beforehand whether we agree or not ? Can we not use the same words to describe them :

    ... Vile. Total and absolute disgrace.
    ... their routine cannot be right no matter how righteous they think their own cause may be.
    ... A pity that CPF retirees are heckled by our Govt.
    ...There was no good reason for them to do so.
    ... I heard while CPF members were not physically harmed, many were alarmed, confused and disturbed by the unexpected change of rules governing CPF withdrawal.
    ... What have these CPF retirees done to deserve being heckled down?

    ReplyDelete
  15. Well, they voted for the Rulers and gave them the Mandate to govern their(the citizens') CPF in the First Place. At least 60+% are happy with their choices of the Rulers and Policies.
    What heckle?

    ReplyDelete
  16. The PAP used the special needs children as props and tools for their petty little political game.

    NParks letting both events occur at the same place, same time... yeah, like that's a coincidence.

    Who are the real vile ones?

    ReplyDelete
  17. First the Elderly. Now innocent Children. What next?

    For the sake of political powers, they willing to goes against their conscience.

    For the sake of their civil service career, they are willing to ????. Observe the attitude of the NParks Director. His career is on the line due to the presence of MP Teo at the event.

    Even the so-called plain-clothes police are afraid to identify themselves properly, clearly and reluctantly. A photo ID with no name or identification number??? Interesting. Of course, the name that plain-cloth police gave is questionable? Do you notice the older plain-cloth police wearing dark glasses? What type of feeling he gave you?

    ReplyDelete
  18. Examining all the evidence, doesn't it appear that there is a deliberate attempt to sabotage the "Return Our CPF" rally, to fix Han Hui Hui and Roy Ngern, and to score political points, by using the YMCA, special needs kids and parents, Nparks and the SPF, the grassroots, the msm, etc? Just my humble opinion, and I stand corrected if I am wrong.

    1. The oddity of staging a charity event at a protest site, when other locations are available.
    2. Allowing 2 conflicting events at the same time and place
    3. The arrival of the Nparks and SPF goons, as if on cue, at the last minute to intimidate and threaten
    4. The change of the time by YMCA to coincide with the protest rally
    5. Provoking the protesters by the YMCA organisers and PAP grassroots by shouting "We love our CPF"
    6. As if orchestrated, the immediate condemnation by the politicians and msm about heckling (sic) of the kids, and how caring they are
    etc etc etc.....

    Heckle: Was it heckling of the kids, or just voices raised at the PAP supporters?

    ReplyDelete
  19. I agree that there was no heckling, but it does not mean that what Roy and Hui Hui did - disrupting an event for special needs children - was appropriate.

    ReplyDelete
  20. The event should not have been held at Hong Lim Park in the first place. Like asking not to be hit by a car if you stand in the middle of a freeway.

    ReplyDelete
  21. YMCA should be held responsible for the bad choice of venue and timing. They should have known better.why not host the event at central in hong kong amidst the protesters there?
    I am not saying that they deliberately sacrificed the children they were supposedly looking after for the sake of politics. That is another question altogether. I am saying that you don't hold a musical performance by children near another noisy angry event like a demonstration or another outdoor rock concert

    ReplyDelete