Archive Page 162
Since i’m on the topic of Singapore…. here’s the national anthem… heh. Honestly, i sing it by pure memory of the sounds of the words… never did bother to remember the meaning of each line. But since i’m feeling patriotic now… here are the lyrics in Malay, and the English translation. 🙂
MAJULAH SINGAPURA
Mari kita rakyat Singapura
Sama-sama menuju bahagia
Cita-cita kita yang mulia
Berjaya Singapura
Marilah kita bersatu
Dengan semangat yang baru
Semua kita berseru
Majulah Singapura
Majulah Singapura
ONWARD SINGAPORE
(English Translation)
Come, fellow Singaporeans
Let us progress towards happiness together
May our noble aspiration bring
Singapore success
Come, let us unite
In a new spirit
Let our voices soar as one
Onward Singapore
Onward Singapore
I’ve always been very apathetic about politics – locally and overseas till this latest General Election. Reason for this is most likely because this is the first time i got to vote and so i never really bothered to think about which party i would want to vote for. Anyway, my friend and i got into a little debate about what happens to MPs & Ministers when parliament is dissolved?
I bet most people wouldn’t know the answer either… well, simply put:
1) Members of Parliament cease to be MPs because there is no more Parliament.
2) The Government and its Ministers remains till polling day.
3) The President will then pick a newly elected MP to be the new Prime Minister.
4) Together, the President & the PM will then pick the new cabinet ministers.
This is in accordance to Article 25 of the Constitution of Singapore:
Appointment of Prime Minister and Ministers
25. —(1) The President shall appoint as Prime Minister a Member of Parliament who in his judgment is likely to command the confidence of the majority of the Members of Parliament, and shall, acting in accordance with the advice of the Prime Minister, appoint other Ministers from among the Members of Parliament:
Provided that, if an appointment is made while Parliament is dissolved, a person who was a Member of the last Parliament may be appointed but shall not continue to hold office after the first sitting of the next Parliament unless he is a Member thereof.
(2) Appointments under this Article shall be made by the President by instrument under the public seal.
Tenure of office of Prime Minister and Ministers
26. —(1) The President shall, by writing under the public seal, declare the office of Prime Minister vacant —
(a) if the Prime Minister resigns his office by writing under his hand addressed to the President; or
(b) if the President, acting in his discretion, is satisfied that the Prime Minister has ceased to command the confidence of a majority of the Members of Parliament:
Provided that, before declaring the office of Prime Minister vacant under this paragraph, the President shall inform the Prime Minister that he is satisfied as aforesaid, and, if the Prime Minister so requests, the President may dissolve Parliament instead of making such a declaration.
(2) A Minister, other than the Prime Minister, shall vacate his office —
(a) if his appointment to that office is revoked by the President, acting in accordance with the advice of the Prime Minister, by instrument under the public seal; or
(b) if he resigns his office by writing under his hand addressed to the President.
(3) A person who has vacated his office as Minister may, if qualified, be again appointed as Minister from time to time.
(4)
(a) Whenever the Prime Minister is ill or absent from Singapore or has been granted leave of absence from his duties under Article 32, the functions conferred on him by this Constitution shall be exercisable by any other Minister authorised by the President, by instrument under the public seal, in that behalf.
(b) The President may, by instrument under the public seal, revoke any authority given under this clause.
(c) The powers conferred upon the President by this clause shall be exercised by him acting in his discretion, if in his opinion it is impracticable to obtain the advice of the Prime Minister owing to the Prime Minister”s illness or absence, and in any other case shall be exercised by the President in accordance with the advice of the Prime Minister.
See below for refence links:
http://singabloodypore.blogspot.com/2006/04/mr-lee-or-pm-lee.html
Just had a slight debate with my dad. He was watching the news and said that the police / govt are being unfair to a certain Wayang Party politician by detaining him. I say, just too bad. I mean, if you want to play punk in politics, then you just have to face the music.
My dad said that it was a simple case of “he forgot”. But i say that’s bullshit. If you read the “fine print” in the newspapers (i.e. if you read the whole story instead of just the headlines) , you’ll realise that Mr. Wayang wasn’t as innocent as he claimed. Oh no… it wasn’t a simple case of “i forgot in a moment of distraction”.
As Mr. Wayang’s party chairman said herself, the party never intended to field him in AMK. Hence, if he wasn’t going to be in AMK, there was no need for him to get a minority cert. Since there was no need for a minority cert, why the whole drama of him claming that he had submitted the form, wagging his finger at the election dept people and warning them about “consequences” for losing his cert??
So how to pity him now? Want to play dirty then don’t be so stupid right? Bo wey gong! (Nothing to say.) Sigh! *Shakes head*
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For background info of this post, please see:
http://multimedia.asiaone.com.sg/03f/story.html
Other interesting links:
Singapore GE 2006
GE 2006 Results
Comment by Wong Kan Seng
WP’s “Suicide Party”
Not too long ago, i attended this training where the trainer spoke about the conscious & unconscious mind. The trainer believed that people found it extremely difficult to break old habits because no matter what their conscious mind told them to do, their unconscious mind would always act to steer them back to their old nature.
I agree with what the trainer said though i call it the heart vs. the mind. I realised a long time ago that even if your mind can think through a situation and come up with the most logical, most rational decision that you should take, as long as your heart tells you to go the opposite direction, chances are, you would head the way your heart told you to. The bottomline is, if you followed the decision of your mind, even if everything turned out fine, you would always still question and ask yourself, “what if…” But if you followed your heart’s decision, even if it turned out to be a mistake, you would still not regret it.
Ever since i came to this conclusion, i’ve always tried to listen to my heart. The best way of listening to what your heart is telling you is this: toss a coin. That’s because if the toss affirms what you really want in your heart, you’ll be very happy to follow through with the results. However, if the toss was against what your heart wanted, then you would probably want to toss again, and again, till the outcome matched what your heart wants. Point is, the result of the toss isn’t the main thing that you’re trying to find out… it just gives that tiny voice inside you a loudspeaker to shout what it wants to say.
That said, i’m afraid i’ve not been very good at listening to what my heart wants in recent years. This is especially true in the work arena, where it is often easier to take the path of least resistance. To just go with a job that feeds you, rather than something that you could do with much passion. And as time goes by, i think the tiny voice inside me developed a chronic sore throat ‘cos it’s barely audible.
I know that tiny voice used to be a very stubborn thing. It would go against the world if it had to, just to guard its beliefs. Nowadays, it does flare up occassionally… make that very occassionally. But it has mellowed to the extent that i don’t recognize it anymore.
And so i’ve decided to embark on a journey to find that tiny voice. I actually miss its stubborness, its persistence, and its uncompromising stance on what it sets its sight on. I think coupled with a slightly more matured mind now, that voice might sing a better song than what it used to.
Strepsils anyone?
This is the last video for now… Pinky jumping onto my lap (taken 28/3/2006). Sooo cute. Pardon my ga-ga tone whenever i talk to Pinky in the videos… heh.
And he hates it… heheh. Taken 31/1/2006.
I used to let Pinky run about the dining room a bit after his meals, for exercise. And boy can he scamper! This video was taken on 31 Jan 2006.
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This is one of the first few videos i took of Pinky, on 26 Jan 2006. Pinky was only 10 days old! Heh.. he’s like struggling to walk on the floor, and the bed. Cute.
Ah… i finally got round to looking for websites to host videos, so that i can air them here. Wasn’t sure whether to choose between Youtube or Google Video so i decided to sign up for both. I tried Google Video first & the uploader tool is really user friendly for a first-timer like me. You can upload multiple files at a time too… but… but… they don’t accept .3gp files!! And the more recent videos taken with my hp are in that format.
Disillusioned, i decided to try my luck with Youtube… and TADA!! Thankfully, Youtube accepts .3gp format so heh. Youtube has my patronage!
Anyway, i’m going to post 4 different videos of Pinky… from when he was scchhmall little baby to the big boy he is now. Heh. Enjoy!!
I’ve always been quite bo chup (apathetic) about politics and though i’ve openly declared that i’ll be voting for the PAP in this year’s General Election, i’ve never tried to convince anyone else to do the same. Likewise, i expect not to be badgered to vote for the opposition because i feel that who you vote for is something you ought to think about carefully, and come up with a decision of your own.
I admit that sometimes, i feel that the PAP can be a little high-handed in the way they handle things… but hey, even LKY has said that there is no level playing field in politics right? I mean, i look at my own situation – the developer of the project i’m selling got another agency in to be our joint marketing agent and i’m all out to kill them (you won’t believe the number of ways i’ve devised to get rid of them!)… what more to expect in politics!?!
If the opposition keeps making stupid mistakes, then who can they blame for their folly? I mean, if they wait so many years for another shot at winning a seat in parliament, only to be done in by their own error, then too bad right? You can’t expect the ruling party to sayang (dote) them on their heads & say, it’s ok, go on and fight me?
And if their “carelessness” was part of a more elaborate scam to discredit the government and/or the election organisers, then just too bad that they were found out. Live up to the consequences i say!
Anyway, this post isn’t about that. You go vote for whoever you want. And i’ll vote for my PAP. This post is about the mindsets of some people i’ve spoken to recently. It appears to me that quite a number of people who have said that they’ll be voting for the opposition, are voting only because they want an “opposition voice” in parliament. They want PAP to win overall, but they want a few opposition MPs inside to keep the ruling party on its toes.
I don’t agree to that. I feel that you should vote for a person / party based on its merits, and not for the sake for “having an opposition” around. I think this applies to all things. I would never do something just for the sake of doing it. I would only do something because i believed in it.
It’s also scary as i hear some people gripe on and on about how bad the gahmen has treated them and all i see is their inertia to improve their own lives at fault. We are all smart thinking adults. You can’t blame the government for everything that happens, and for your lot in life because you were lazy / ill-disciplined / foolish, and hence did not get very far in life.
I say instead of complaining to the air, take action and improve your own life. Take charge because no one owes you a living. When i see “aunties” & “uncles” complain mindlessly about how bad the gahmen has treated them, i try to just walk away because i see no point in arguing with people whose minds are shut. But what made me concerned enough to write about this, is that i saw a good number of young people, who should jolly well know better, complain about the same things!
So it bugs me. It bugs me that some Singaporeans are not willing to be responsible for their own lives, choosing instead to blame the government for everything, and ungratefully forgetting all that the government has done.
Sigh… i don’t know how my generation is going to turn out. I hope we don’t screw up so bad that we squander away all that our forefathers have slaved for. These are difficult times.
Sigh.
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