KISS - "Keep It Simple
Stupid" - this is the rudest way to wake the
Government.
The Singaporean population has been complaining about the cost
burden of living in Singapore, which besides seeing the wages
shrinking - with the last pay and CPF cuts; long term wage earning
ability is also reduced with employment contracts revised to
short-term conditions.
With a shrinking of the wages, we are now being assaulted by
another round of price increases in fuel, transport costs,
utilities and nearly all other essential services.
These have widened the income gap, and was a key feature of an
ariticle written by Mr
Brown, which caused the Singapore Government to
" Brown-Out
".
The TRUTH
to the Population Problem is the Cost of Living in Singapore - and
Mr
Brown's suggestion that the Singapore Government
has broken the " Social
Contract " with Singaporeans have certainly touched
their raw nerve.
With the " Cost of Living
" spiralling out of control, it has become too sensitive an
issue to be allowed free and easy access.
Singapores social contract under
strain
Financial Times
August 19, 2006
By John Burton in SINGAPORE
WHEN Today, a state-owned newspaper, recently published a satirical
article by a popular internet blogger known as Mr Brown, the
Singapore government was not amused.
The information ministry sent a sharp letter saying his views could
undermine national stability. The editors quickly decided to
suspend Mr Brown's regular column indefinitely.
The incident appeared to contradict promises by Lee Hsien Loong,
the prime minister, to promote more political discussion in the
tightly ruled city-state. We are building a more open society and
encouraging freer debate, he claimed in a National Day speech last
week.
The reason the offending column hit a raw nerve was that it
complained about the rising cost of living when the income gap is
widening.
The social contract under which Singaporeans gave up certain civil
liberties in return for prosperity is under threat.
There are other signs of official nervousness. New conditions for
the circulation of foreign publications were recently imposed.
Singapore banned outdoor demonstrations by international
non-governmental organisations during next month's IMF/World Bank
annual meeting. And Chee Juan-soon, a leading opposition leader, is
being tried for alleged defamation against top government leaders
and speaking in public without a police permit.
The moves come after the long-ruling People's Action party suffered
an 8-percentage-point drop in support during May's general
election, which focused on widening income disparity.
Shortly after the election, the government revealed that the income
gap was bigger than at any time since independence in 1965. The
bottom 30 per cent of households have seen incomes fall since
2000.
Singapore's Gini coefficient, a measure of income
inequality, places the city state at 105th in the world, between
Papua New Guinea and Argentina, based on data from the
latest United Nations Development Programme report.
A two-speed, dual economy appears to be emerging in Singapore,
said Citigroup.
Globalisation, for a small open economy, may be having a
disproportionately large impact.
The government has allowed some forms of freer _expression,
particularly in terms of theatre performances because they attract
a small audience.
The recent Singapore Theatre Festival included several plays that
were critical of the political and social climate.
The younger generation of journalists is trying to
challenge the government and push the envelope on what it can
report, said a senior editor with Singapore Press Holdings, which
publishes most of the local newspapers.
But the government is pushing back, warning journalists not to
overstep what it calls out-of-bounds markers.
The information ministry said Mr Brown was exploiting his access
to the mass media to undermine the government's standing with the
electorate, when instead he should offer constructive criticism
and alternatives.
Singapore has tightened regulations this month on leading
international publications, including the Financial Times, the
International Herald Tribune, Time, Newsweek and the Far Eastern
Economic Review (FEER).
The rules, which already apply to the Wall Street Journal Asia,
require the publications to post a security deposit of S$200,000
(US$127,000, 99,000, £68,000) and appoint a representative in
Singapore who could be sued, and gives the government the power to
restrict their circulation. Reporters Without Borders, a
Paris-based press freedom group, said the rules were meant to
intimidate the international media from reporting on Singapore's
domestic affairs and encourage them to practise
self-censorship.
The information ministry said the press act serves to reinforce
the government's consistent position that it is a privilege, and
not a right, for foreign newspapers to circulate in
Singapore.
They do so as foreign observers of the local scene and should not
interfere in the domestic politics of Singapore.
The move came shortly after FEER published an interview with Dr
Chee, whom it called Singapore's martyr, and ahead of the
IMF/World Bank meeting in Singapore next month, the biggest
international conference it has ever held.
Dr Chee, who promotes the idea of civil disobedience, had suggested
he might use the occasion to stage public protests.
Under an agreement with the IMF and World Bank, Singapore pledged
to allow an approved list of NGOs to take part in the proceedings.
But it recently said the NGOs would have to get police permits to
gain access to the lobby of the conference centre, where they can
gather and engage delegates.