statestimes

[statestimes]

States Times Review to shut down on Polling Day

States Times Review will shut down tomorrow on Polling Day.

I have done enough for Singapore and it is up to Singaporeans to decide their own future from here on.

Whatever the result is, I like the fact that I did all I could to affect the outcome, than be a person who did nothing waiting for an outcome.

This will be the last post. Thank you, good bye.

Alex Tan STR Editor

[statestimes]

Singapore airports to remain close in 2020, reopening in early 2021 pessimistic

Singapore is on track to break the 50,000 figure by the end of July, with daily reporting still in the hundreds.

There are currently 45,298 confirmed cases in Singapore, with 158 newly reported yesterday.

The hundreds of new cases reported each day, is likely to continue into September, which the health ministry said by then they would have completed 80% of the 323,000 foreign worker population. By the time the testing of foreign workers complete, Singapore could easily see 80,000 in confirmed cases.

No foreign country is willing to open up travel with Singapore, with hundreds of new cases reporting each day until November. The European Union and East Asian countries like Japan, Taiwan and China have refused to open travel with Singapore. This means Singapore’s airports to close for the rest of the year in 2020, and it is also unlikely to reopen by early 2021.

The true infection is still hidden, as the government has not done any mass testing and restrictions are already being eased ahead. The Ministry of Health is adamant in its refusal to disclose the number tests done each day, and the reporting figures are suspiciously low in the election week.

Unlinked infection is also on the rise, and students and young children are increasing in the so-called community cases. A second wave has begun, with daily community cases now back to circuit breaker lockdown figures.

[statestimes]

More arrests, more POFMA and more censorship

Following the increase in public criticism as seen in the PAP candidate Ivan Lim saga, Singapore’s ruling party dictatorship looks set to impose stricter censorship and restrictions after this election.

Rising unpopularity has triggered the PAP government to come down harder on Singaporeans, with over 12 POFMA orders during this election.

Two Singaporeans were immediately arrested when they wrote an online comment, suggesting eggs be thrown at Law Minister K Shanmugam.

Defamation lawsuits seek to destroy a particular vocal individual, as seen in the case of writer Roy Ngerng who owe the Prime Minister S$150,000 in defamation claims. Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong has another defamation lawsuit ongoing, with opposition candidate Leong Sze Hian.

The abuse of law and the judiciary is more outreaching than before, with even elected Opposition MPs not spared. Three Workers’ Party MPs – Pritam Singh, MP Sylvia Lim and Low Thia Khiang – were ruled to be liable for S$33.7 million in “improper payments” at Aljunied Town Council. The 3 MPs will likely be bankrupted, and lose their seats if they are elected this election.

[statestimes]

Lee Kuan Yew’s last will to be denied after elections

The very last will of former Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew will be denied once Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong secure another 5 years of government this election.

Lee Kuan Yew explicitly stated in numerous interviews that he does not want a memorial and in his last will, demanded that his family house at 38 Oxley Road be demolished right after his death.

His eldest son, Lee Hsien Loong, has something else in mind. Using the National Heritage Board, he plans to turn 38 Oxley Road into a memorial for Lee Kuan Yew and secure the Lee family’s dynastic political power in Singapore government. Lee Hsien Loong’s son, Li Hong Yi, has recently been made a director at the Ministry of Communications and Information – and he will very likely to join politics to be the next Prime Minister like his father did.

Defending Lee Kuan Yew’s last wishes are the two younger siblings – Lee Hsien Yang and Lee Wei Ling. The sister sacrificed herself to live in the aged old house alone, to stop her elder brother from commencing construction of the memorial.

Lee Hsien Yang paid a bigger price, with both his wife and son being exiled out of Singapore. His wife, Lee Suet Fern, was ruled in a default court judgement that she had conducted herself “unprofessionally” for assisting Lee Kuan Yew in the last will. His son, Li Shengwu, was also ruled in a default court judgment for contempt of court over a private Facebook post criticising his uncle’s PAP government.

[statestimes]

New citizens become biggest losers of new HDB lease policy

About 700,000 new citizens who joined Singapore during the rapid population increase between 2006 and 2013 are set to become the biggest losers of the new HDB lease depreciation policy.

Singaporeans who bought HDB in the period are suffering losses from 15% to 60%, depending on the amount of lease left in their HDB flat. HDB resale prices peaked at 2013 and it is now on its 7th consecutive year of decline today.

Many new citizens sold off their houses in their home countries to buy a HDB flat in Singapore, thinking it would appreciate forever like Hong Kong’s. This turned out to be the biggest financial mistake they ever made. The bigger your HDB flat is today, the bigger your losses.

In 2018, Lee Hsien Loong confirmed at his National Day Rally that HDB flats will be handed over to the government at zero compensation at the end of its lease. The PAP leader said “it is only fair”, to justify his new policy allowing HDB flats to depreciate – a reversal from his father Lee Kuan Yew’s promise that HDB prices will appreciate every year.

To be fair, the HDB lease regulation did not change. The policy did. Unlike the old leaders, the current PAP leadership is not taking any action to promote HDB value appreciation. En bloc schemes like SERS that pays HDB owners profitable compensation are dwindling, and it is likely to be eliminated.

Estate upgradings promised during elections are no longer relevant as housing prices will continue to depreciate.

A depreciating HDB lease had also reversed public support for a 6.9 million population policy, since more newcomers is not going to increase property value. Singaporeans are also facing a more worrisome retirement, since they are unlikely to extract any substantial funds from downgrading and lease buyback.

[statestimes]

“State secrets” like Ho Ching salaries at stake this election

“State secrets” are at stake this election, and a PAP loss would mean public would have knowledge like Ho Ching’s salaries at Temasek Holdings.

At the centre of the secrecy is the Ministry of Finance. Present and past Finance Ministers Heng Swee Keat, Tharman Shanmugaratnam and Lee Hsien Loong, had repetitively refused to divulge any financial information on the state of Singapore’s national reserves.

The PAP minister also quickly issued a POFMA order when local news media picked up a Taiwan news report revealing that Ho Ching’s salaries is about S$100 million.

In the recent coronavirus support package debate, Minister Heng Swee Keat was unable to justify the S$100 billion spending. The PAP minister also stated the government is borrowing to fund infrastructural spending, but he refused to reveal how much.

Nobody knows if Temasek Holdings or GIC is doing well, and financial losses are only reported by foreign financial news media like Bloomberg and Financial Times.

Earlier in March, Bloomberg reported Temasek Holdings lost US$23.5 billion in the period January to March. This is before the circuit breaker lockdown on April 7th.

Aside from covering up financial losses, Singapore’s ruling party government is also covering statistics that may be used against them. The unemployment rate of Singaporeans are never reported in absolute figures, and the median income are always given in “household” instead of individuals.

Annual wage growth and income information for citizens are never given, and mixed with the 2 million foreigners workforce.

[statestimes]

Singapore looks to return million dollar salaries politicians

Singapore’s notorious million dollar salaries politicians, PAP ministers, are set to return following Polling day tomorrow (Jul 10). The ruling party dictatorship cost S$53 million a year in salaries, with Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong alone drawing the world’s highest salaries at S$2.2 million a year.

Lee Hsien Loong, the unofficial dictator of Singapore, is paid more than five times the US President.

Most PAP ministers like Chan Chun Sing, a former army general with no formal qualifications or working experience, would never make this kind of money in the private sector if they had not joined the ruling party PAP.

All other PAP politicians are mostly civil servants or military generals, who are even more unlikely to be drawing S$1.2 million on a ministerial ticket.

Singapore opposition parties expressed bleak expectations in this election, with both SDP and WP leaders pointing out that the opposition could see a “wipeout”. The sole opposition party in parliament, the Workers’ Party, almost lost the Aljunied GRC and its long-time opposition ward Hougang lost 7% in swing votes in the last election.

[statestimes]

“Cooling Off” censorship threaten Singaporeans with 12 months jail sentence

Singapore’s ruling party dictatorship has imposed a “Cooling Off” censorship on Singaporeans, banning them from discussing politics on the internet today (Jul 9).

According to the loosely-defined regulation, anyone is deemed to have broken the law if they write a comment criticising the PAP government. Offenders face up to 12 months’ jail and S$1,000 fine.

No other country in the world imposes such media censorship during elections.

Singapore’s state media, ranked 158th in the world for credibility, is exempted from the government censorship, allowing it to publish pro-PAP propaganda in the guise of news reporting.

The unfair advantage provided by the “Cooling Off” censorship ensures the PAP government continue to influence voters with political messages on the last day of campaign.

[statestimes]

Minister Chan Chun Sing: Foreign investors scared of PAP loss

In his last election campaign message to Singaporeans, Minister Chan Chun Sing threatened Singaporeans that if the PAP lose this election, there will be no foreign investment and jobs in the country:

“What we need to do is make sure that we have a conducive environment to inspire confidence in investors to plant their investments in Singapore, to create good jobs. At this point in time, we must be careful… I think it is wrong to assume that investments will come in to Singapore, regardless of what happens in Singapore. Investors will be looking at whether Singapore can still provide a safe harbour. At this point in time, the last thing we need to do is add to the uncertainty.”

The former army general claimed that only the PAP is “capable” of creating new jobs and attracting foreign investments. Minister Chan Chun Sing said foreign investors will be scared of PAP loss:

“It is not correct to say that, regardless of what happens in this election, people (foreign invetsors) will continue to have the confidence to plant their investments in Singapore… A (PAP loss) will further erode confidence in Singapore and erode our attractiveness as a choice destination for investments.”

Minister Chan Chun Sing refused to reduce the foreigner population in Singapore, where most Singaporeans find excessive due to overcrowding in the country.

[statestimes]

Pro-PAP page run by Polish national taken down

Facebook has taken action against foreign interference in Singapore’s elections, by taking down a pro-PAP page run by a Polish national. Critical Spectator page, run by Michael Patraeus, often post fake news attacking the critics of Singapore and support ruling party PAP politicians.

This is the third action against fake news taken by Facebook, without the government-issued POFMA order. Two other actions were taken against another pro-PAP page, Fabrications About the PAP, which is owned by a Malaysian called Jason Chua Chin Seng.

In this election, the Singapore government had POFMA-ed 4 Facebook pages, including States Times Review, but Facebook did not un-publish any of them.

Facebook in July last year, set up a special election team for Singapore, after complaints and false accusations by the ruling party government for condoning the spread of fake news.

[statestimes]

MOE: Coronavirus infection found at 5 different schools, over 280 quarantined

Singapore’s Ministry of Education today reported that the coronavirus infection had hit 5 different schools in a single day yesterday (Jul 7):

“Four students and a teacher have tested positive for COVID-19. They are from different schools, said MOE – the students are from Bedok View Secondary School, East Spring Primary School, Jurong West Primary School and Jurong West Secondary School, while the teacher is from Assumption Pathway School.”

At least 240 students and 40 staffs from four schools were quarantined:

“About 60 students and 10 staff each in Assumption Pathway School, East Spring Primary School, Jurong West Primary School and Jurong West Secondary School have been issued either a 14-day leave of absence from MOE or home quarantine order from the health ministry.”

No quarantine order was issued for students and staffs at Bedok View Secondary School, which the Ministry of Health claimed “the risk is low”.

The news came after Education Minister Ong Ye Kung promised that the coronavirus will spread slower if students are in school, than isolated at home.

[statestimes]

Minister Chan Chun Sing: Lee Kuan Yew’s death saved PAP

In a leaked audio of PAP minister Chan Chun Sing, the former army general commented that every crisis saved the PAP and that the current election is deliberately timed during the coronavirus outbreak:

“In the past 50 years, a crisis will save us (PAP). Lee Kuan Yew’s death saved us (PAP). Before Lee Kuan Yew’s death, 9/11 saved us.”

The PAP minister admitted that the PAP government has chosen to hold elections during difficult economic times to win an election.

[statestimes]

Aljunied GRC and Hougang SMC might fall to PAP this election

Losing Low Thia Khiang is a huge blow to voters’ confidence in Aljunied GRC, and the years of PAP plotting its town council’s downfall had succeeded, with the Singapore Court ruling in the PAP’s favour.

The last election in GE2015 saw only the Workers’ Party securing only a 1.9% margin, and the competition is actually more neck-to-neck than people believe.

Hougang SMC, a long-time opposition ward, is also suffering “opposition fatigue”. The WP lost 7% votes to PAP in the 2015 election, compared to 2011. Another 7% loss will be fatal, and create a PAP win.

Ang Mo Kio GRC, East Coast GRC, Nee Soon GRC, Jurong GRC and Holland-Bukit Timah GRC. Sure-win constituencies are guaranteeing at least 84 PAP seats in Parliament, and it is likely a complete wipeout if Aljunied GRC and Hougang SMC falls as well.

None of the existing PAP GRCs like Tanjong Pagar had ever voted for the Opposition in the past 55 years. Breaking this trend would require at least a 15% swing – which is statistically impossible.

Lest we be reminded that there were 70% voting PAP in the last election.

The coronavirus outbreak has also tipped the chances in the PAP’s favour, due to the economy being in a wreckage and massive unemployment among Singaporean voters.

The PAP government has also flexed their muscles, making more arrests and charging people to court for criticising the government. Like unarmed hostages facing strong oppression, Singaporeans would behave obediently to avoid further punishments than to wrestle with their kidnappers who hold machine guns.

The POFMA and Reserved Presidential Election episodes have both proven that no Singaporean, in the island, would ever oppose the law no matter how unfair it is. It is Singaporean’s nature to be a coward and not upset the status quo, and this is why the PAP will likely remain in government this election and the ones after.

[statestimes]

Singapore might see 100% PAP parliament, opposition wipeout this election

Thanks to election frauds like vote buying and unfair news reporting from the government media, Singapore might see a full PAP parliament with the opposition parties fully wiped out.

The major factor behind a complete opposition wipeout will be the NCMP scheme, which “guarantee” 12 opposition candidates in parliament.

The use of POFMA has also silenced all election discussions, putting PAP as the default winner of every debate.

Weak opposition like Reform Party are not even turning up during televised broadcasts, a WP candidate is under police investigations and SDP’s Dr Chee and the party are under direct character assassination. Dr Tan Cheng Bock is also painted as a “family feud” party for Lee Hsien Yang.

The PAP candidates are also promising countless upgrading projects for the estates, with the opposition candidate unable to make similar commitments.

The PAP government is also reducing testing rates to report a lower figures for the coronavirus outbreak, and Temasek Holdings deliberately held off its annual reporting – that is expected to post at least S$50 billion in losses – to September after the election. Unemployment figures for June was also unavailable, with only March figures reporting a pre-outbreak figure of 2.4% unemployment rate. With official figures being censored, the opposition find very little ground to stand in this election.

Agreeing that the opposition chances are bleak is both Singapore Democratic Party and the Workers’ Party. Yesterday, SDP candidate Dr Paul Tambyah said all opposition candidates may lose the election:

“Between the major parties together, if we get one-third, we can prevent a super majority in Parliament. Although, to be honest, that is wishful thinking. Because right now, it looks like a wipeout. So, all we are trying to do is survive.”

WP Pritam Singh said the coronavirus outbreak is pointing to a PAP win:

“There is a real risk of a wipeout of elected opposition MPs at the July 10 polls. It is a crisis election. So, history is a teacher – in 2001, they called for elections soon after the 9/11 attacks. And the opposition was nearly wiped out. There was a 75 per cent majority. The fact that they called the election at this time when they don’t have to… shows that they are hoping to get a wipeout. It is something we really hope doesn’t happen.”

[statestimes]

Minister Heng Swee Keat: Singapore does not want a non-Chinese as a Prime Minister

Deputy Prime Minister Heng Swee Keat made a racist remark at a public forum, declaring that Singapore does not want a non-Chinese for a Prime Minister:

“Based on my interactions with (Chinese) residents in past elections, views supportive of a non-Chinese PM are not as common among people from the older generation.”

His comments sparked anger from the indigenous Malays and Indian Singaporeans, who are offended from his racist intonation.

Numerous police reports have been lodged against Minister Heng Swee Keat, but the Singapore Police ruled in a default judgement saying there is no offence. All police cases against the PAP minister were dropped, following “advice” from the Attorney General:

“Mr Heng’s remarks, in the context they were made, do not evidence any intent to wound anyone’s racial feelings.”

The Attorney General is Lucien Wong, the former private lawyer of dictator Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong.

[statestimes]

Minister Gan Kim Yong: There is no second wave infection but there is higher infection

PAP Minister Gan Kim Yong engaged in doublespeak yesterday declaring there is no second wave of infection but there is a higher infection:

“Singapore has not seen a second wave of infections yet even though the number of community cases has gone up.”

Yesterday was the third consecutive day Singapore saw its community cases past ten cases, returning to circuit breaker lockdown figures.

In his coronavirus update yesterday, the millionaire minister said there is a risk of a cluster forming in HDB blocks as seen in Tampines Street 11, Block 111:

“The risk is there. Nine people living in Block 111 Tampines Street 11 have Covid-19 and I am concerned that this cluster could be a major outbreak for Singapore.”

The remaining 118 residents currently tested negative but the coronavirus has an incubation period that range from a few days to weeks.

National Development Minister Lawrence noted that the country will have to go back into a lockdown if the community cases rise further:

“Singapore cannot rule out having to impose additional restrictions or put in another circuit breaker down the road.”

To date, the Singapore government refuse to disclose the number of tests done each day, in a deliberate attempt to hide the prevalence rate. Unlike other countries that had opened up, no mass testing was done in Singapore.

[statestimes]

PAP Tharman: Your salaries rose 32% in the past ten years

In a PAP propaganda video, PAP Senior Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam claimed that Singaporean salaries have rose by 32% in the past ten years:

“Ten years ago, median incomes were about $2,900. Now, in nominal terms, it’s $4,600. After adjusting for inflation, it’s still 32 per cent – a very substantial increase.”

The PAP minister’s figures include the income of foreigners, who draw much higher salaries than Singaporeans. In addition, the cost of living also increased by 30% in the past 10 years – which Minister Tharman conveniently omitted.

Minister Tharman also claimed that fewer than 10,000 people are unemployed after the coronavirus outbreak. The PAP minister did not quote his source or specify which time period he is referring to.

Nonetheless, the millionaire minister made further baseless claims saying Singapore has unemployment rate a lot lower than the rest of the world:

“In Singapore, unemployment has gone up by fewer than 10,000 people. In Germany, it’s 6.4 per cent. In Hong Kong, it’s close to 6 per cent. In the US, it’s at about 13 per cent, although the economists say the true figure is more like 17, 18 per cent.”

Minister Tharman’s “less than 10,000” numbers does not add up as the PAP government announced it is spending S$2 billion to create 100,000 opportunities for unemployed Singaporeans.

The current job vacancy rate is 0.71, as of March 2020 before the lockdown on April 7th.