Singaporeans who don't support foreign-born athletes are small-minded, unfair and very very selfish

When asked about his views on the need to engage foreign talent in local sports, particularly that from China, Minister for Community Development, Youth and Sports Vivian Balakrishnan said: "I believe that the survival and prosperity of Singapore depend on our remaining an open society - a society able to attract and absorb and integrate talent of all shapes, sizes, races, languages, religions, countries. In other words, do not judge people simply on where they are born."

Dr Balakrishnan went on to refer to those who view Singapore's foreign-born athletes as 'less of a Singaporean, or less of a champion', as 'small-minded', 'unfair' and 'very, very selfish'.

"To deny them the right to call themselves Singaporean is very, very selfish. It's very unsportsmanlike... They have made great sacrifices to be here," he added.


How touching. Rather than investing on developing local sportsmen, Singapore has taken the short cut by buying sportsmen off the market. And sure these foreigners did make great sacrifices. Like sacrificing their little pay and no fame in their countries to come all the way here to make big bucks and be famous. And of course they will stay in Singapore and contribute to the country after they have achieved fame and money, right? Er... right?

Orchard Road flood is another freak event that occurs once in 50 years?

In November 2009, heavy rain submerged parts of Bukit Timah and Minister for the Environment & Water Resources Yaacob Ibrahim said it was a 'freak' event that occurs once in 50 years.

"What happened was very unusual. The intensity was tremendous.", he said.


Fast-forward to 2010, not 2059. In fact, less than one year later on 16 June 2010, Orchard Road becomes Orchard River.




Interestingly, even earlier in 1999, the Ministry of Environment said that for a flood to hit anywhere in Singapore, it takes a combination of high tides and about 100mm of rainfall within an hour. And Orchard Road is protected by its mighty rain drain - the Stamford Canal.

Why Orchard Road will never flood…

Less is the new more for Singapore Arts Festival

When closing the Singapore Arts Festival, Acting Minister for Information, Communications and the Arts Lui Tuck Yew noting that there was a growing interest in the arts, even though fewer people are attending ticketed productions.

Attendance for this year's 29 ticketed productions had not matched last year's 'exceptional' numbers, but about the same amount of revenue was collected from this year's ticketed shows. Meaning, the fewer people who still have vast interest in arts are made to pay more.

So... more expensive tickets -> fewer attendees -> more successful?

Which means next year we should have even more expensive tickets for the Singapore Arts Festival so that we are even more successful?

Interesting elite logic.

Singaporeans should vote for PAP because they know which direction they want to take Singapore to?

“People should decide what kind of government they want for the next five years and not just base their votes on seasonal topics. We have a tried and tested short- and long-term plan, and know which direction we want to take Singapore to.”

-- Michael Palmer, Member of Parliament (MP) for Pasir Ris-Punggol


Let's look at the recent example of a mistake made in a tried and tested short-term plan:

After Education Minister Dr Ng Eng Hen spoke to Singaporeans nonchalantly that "high weighting given to mother tongue languages in the Primary School Leaving Examination (PSLE) is now under review and could be reduced", the minister accidentally triggered public rage and a gathering of two thousands over people (including some big shots in the Chinese society) at the Speakers' Corner to sign a petition. Finally the Prime Minister had to come out to cover the mess he made and assure the people that what Dr Ng said was not true.

Finally, Dr Ng gave a typical half-hearted bureaucratic reply: "But I should have chosen my words more carefully and apologise for creating that wrong impression."


And not forgetting a rare example of a mistake made in a tried and tested long-term plan, by the honorable flawless MM Lee:

Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew said his insistence on bilingualism in the early days of education policy was “wrong” which caused many students to give up learning the Chinese language.

"We started the wrong way. We insisted on ting xie (listening), mo xie (dictation) – madness! We had teachers who were teaching in completely-Chinese schools. And they did not want to use any English to teach English-speaking children Chinese and that turned them off completely."


Coincidentally, both tried and tested short- and long-term mistakes impacted the education of our young. The future generation of Singaporeans.

Why should Singaporeans vote for the PAP again?