A reminder of why you should vote for them - Holland-Bukit Timah MPs

"We may be the highest paid, but at the same time it is also important for them to understand we're probably the most effective, the best civil service in the world. And this came about because AUPE and PSD (Public Service Division), we work hand in hand, so on the one hand, we negotiate for fair terms, for good terms, for responsive rewards for civil servants."
-- Labour chief Lim Swee Say

"It's a solution (that) looks easy... but actually we don't believe it will serve the interest of low wage workers of Singapore."
-- Labour chief Lim Swee Say on why minimum wage will not work in Singapore

"All except one frog who did reach the top. And when asked afterwards why he ignored the crowd, the frog said: 'I'm deaf. I can't hear them.' We never give up. We are like the little frog. We are deaf to all these criticisms. So instead of telling us that low-wage workers are having problems, why not be part of the solution?"
-- Labour chief Lim Swee Say


"Even the newspaper report, I didn't even know about it until I read about it in the papers. It shows that I almost didn't care. I had more important things to do, I had good feedback and good suggestions from so many people, and I focused on that. I didn't lose sleep about that."
-- Vivian Balakrishnan, when everybody was trying to tell him about the screw-ups in YOG

"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."
-- Minister for Community Development, Youth and Sports Vivian Balakrishnan

“How much do you want? Do you want three meals in a hawker centre, food court or restaurant?”
-- Minister for Community Development, Youth and Sports Vivian Balakrishnan on why we should not increase the monthly PA allowance so that its recipients can have three basic meals a day


“I want to clarify that the mayors do not decide on the salaries, the increments, the bonuses of all our staff at the CDC. The mayors are political appointment holders. We chair the CDC to spearhead the CDC, to build a social safety net and help the people. That is our job. If you ask me, I do not know the salaries; I do not know the bonuses of all my staff.”
-- Dr Teo Ho Pin when questioned about two staff member of Northwest CDC receiving 8 months bonus

“They (residents) should thank the Town Council for working hard to come up with a diversified portfolio to generate income so that residents do not have to fork out more money.”
-- Dr Teo Ho Pin about why it makes sense to invest constituency’s funds in high risk funds

Singapore civil servants should have no shame in getting the highest pay

Labour chief Lim Swee Say said Singapore should not be shy about having one of the highest paid civil services in the world.

He said this is because Singapore's civil service is the world's best and most effective and part of the credit must go to the public sector's biggest union, The Amalgamated Union of Public Employees (AUPE).

"We may be the highest paid, but at the same time it is also important for them to understand we're probably the most effective, the best civil service in the world. And this came about because AUPE and PSD (Public Service Division), we work hand in hand, so on the one hand, we negotiate for fair terms, for good terms, for responsive rewards for civil servants.

"And yet at the same time, we mobilise our ground to ensure that the civil service always move ahead, stay ahead to do their best for the citizens of Singapore, because that is our purpose, our mission."


And this is from the man who wants Singaporean to work "Cheaper, Better, Faster".

I'm not sure where did he get that hunch that Singapore's civil servants are really that good and best in the world, but this does helps to prove his point that he is but a deaf frog at the bottom of the well.

Nevermind the rest of the world, we'll still get 2.5 months of bonus for doing nothing!

Labour Chief Lim Swee Say said he would not be pushing for every company to match the two—and—a—half months year—end bonus for civil servants. He explained performances across different industries would be different.

Well, of course. Just listen to what Lim Der Shing, CEO of JobsCentral.com.sg was saying.

"There are still many economic trouble-spots around the world and there's always a danger of pullback for Singapore. Even in Singapore, not all sectors have rebounded evenly, and I suspect some SMEs and industries may have difficulty giving good bonuses even this year."

And apparently it must have sounded perfectly logical and seemed totally fair for these buggers to receive 2.5 months of bonus for doing nothing. Oh wait. I must apologise for not being fair there. To be fair, we should pay them for the effort in screwing up YOG and keeping the flood water in Orchard.

More raids with more prostitutes nabbed, but don't worry

Member of Parliament Christopher de Souza (Holland-Bukit Timah), who previously raised the issue in Parliament of the rising number of arrests of women soliciting, told MediaCorp that recent raids are more of a "deterrent" than anything else.

The cat-and-mouse game of vice crackdowns
Source: TodayOnline.com


... There have been no less than 10 raids on different days reported in Today and The Straits Times, in operations carried out between January and April by law enforcement agencies. These include landmark anti-vice operations online.

In contrast, there was just one raid reported on during the same period last year.

Even as the crackdowns have taken on a higher profile this year, the number of foreign women nabbed for vice has been climbing since 2006, when 4,310 were arrested. In 2008, the figure was 5,047 and last year, it was 7,614...

... Joo Chiat's Mr Chee believes "our social visit pass process is too liberal". "It was set out with the objective of driving up tourist numbers, but it has also served as an open though unintended invitation to women who ply the trade," he said.

During a recent raid at Orchard Towers, one woman who was not arrested told MediaCorp: "Yes, there are a lot of raids now, so we have to be careful. But a lot of girls still prefer to come to Singapore ... Places like Hong Kong turn us away at immigration."