Singapore Matters

'Ownself check ownself' is a compliment. 'Ownself check ownself' is about exercising self discipline. 𝗘𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝗱𝗼𝗲𝘀 𝗶𝘁 𝗼𝗻 𝗮 𝗽𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝗹𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗹 𝗶𝗻 𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗼𝘄𝗻 𝗹𝗶𝘃𝗲𝘀. How do we ownself check ownself? We set boundaries for ourselves and exercise discipline not to cross those lines. 𝗗𝗲𝗮𝗿 𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗱𝗰𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝗼𝗽𝗽𝗼𝘀𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝘀𝘂𝗽𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁𝗲𝗿𝘀, 𝗱𝗼 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝘀𝗰𝗼𝗳𝗳 𝗮𝘁 '𝗼𝘄𝗻𝘀𝗲𝗹𝗳 𝗰𝗵𝗲𝗰𝗸 𝗼𝘄𝗻𝘀𝗲𝗹𝗳'? 𝗗𝗼 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝘀𝗰𝗼𝗳𝗳 𝗮𝘁 𝘀𝗲𝗹𝗳-𝗱𝗶𝘀𝗰𝗶𝗽𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗲? Do you not 'ownself check ownself' sometimes? Or do you always need someone else to keep you in check? The ability to exercise discipline to 'ownself check ownself' is a 𝘃𝗶𝗿𝘁𝘂𝗲. If 𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝗰𝗮𝗻𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗼𝘄𝗻𝘀𝗲𝗹𝗳 𝗰𝗵𝗲𝗰𝗸 𝗼𝘄𝗻𝘀𝗲𝗹𝗳, you're in big trouble. 𝗡𝗼𝘄, 𝘄𝗲 𝗸𝗻𝗼𝘄 𝗣𝗿𝗶𝘁𝗮𝗺 𝗦𝗶𝗻𝗴𝗵 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗪𝗣 𝗱𝗼 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗯𝗲𝗹𝗶𝗲𝘃𝗲 𝗶𝗻 '𝗼𝘄𝗻𝘀𝗲𝗹𝗳 𝗰𝗵𝗲𝗰𝗸 𝗼𝘄𝗻𝘀𝗲𝗹𝗳'. They scoff loudly at 'ownself check ownself'. They do not believe that they are capable of exercising that discipline as a party. 𝗡𝗲𝗶𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝗱𝗼 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗶𝗿 𝘀𝘂𝗽𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁𝗲𝗿𝘀, seeing how they regularly post 'ownself check ownself' in efforts to demean the ruling PAP. If a political party lacks that discipline and virtue to 'ownself check ownself', can you count on that party? How can a party be held to accountability if the party thinks that 'ownself check ownself' is a joke? If an individual is unable to 'ownself check ownself', it will be left to society to discipline that individual. If a party is unable to 'ownself check ownself', it will be left to a third party to bring discipline and accountability to the incapable party. The PAP has demonstrated more than once that it is capable of 'ownself check ownself'. It did not hesitate to take its own members to task. It did not sweep under the carpet and pretend nothing happened. 𝗦𝗼 𝗱𝗲𝗮𝗿 𝗣𝗔𝗣 𝘀𝘂𝗽𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁𝗲𝗿𝘀, next time someone uses the line 'ownself check ownself' in a demeaning manner, just reply with: '𝗧𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗸 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗽𝗹𝗶𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁. 𝗜𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗲𝗱, 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗣𝗔𝗣 𝗶𝘀 𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗼𝘄𝗻𝘀𝗲𝗹𝗳 𝗰𝗵𝗲𝗰𝗸 𝗼𝘄𝗻𝘀𝗲𝗹𝗳'.

A look back. "Through the centuries, Singapore has stayed resilient as a maritime nation, and likewise through the latest covid-19 pandemic." - Chee Hong Tat Throughout the pandemic, Singapore kept our port open and and helped keep supply chains running. At that time, unreasonable people attacked the government for what they described as 'prioritising economy over lives' and for being 'greedy'. Some had an agenda to turn sentiments against the government. It was impossible for us to shut down even during a global pandemic or national lockdown because without the port, essential goods cannot reach our shores. We import our daily necessities. Well, with many ports closed, our port became the ‘one-stop-shop’ for ships to call on for essential marine services including refuelling, ship supplies, crew change and cargo operations. To help keep the supply lines running, MPA (Maritime and Port Authority) continuously introduced and enhanced regulations and safety measures. MPA also played its part in addressing the global humanitarian crisis of crew change. As national health authorities across the world imposed restrictions on crew change, hundreds of thousands of seafarers – a number that ballooned to 400,000 by September 2020 – were trapped at sea, unable to leave their vessels. The MPA launched a Crew Facilitation Centre in September 2020 and set up the Singapore Shipping Tripartite Alliance Resilience Fund with tripartite partners to establish standards for safe crew-change protocols. Thus, Singapore facilitated hundreds of thousands of crew changes to aid stranded seafarers on ships through its ’safe corridor.’

When doing what is right for Singapore results in calls to 'VTO'. This is yet another challenge faced by the PAP. Some people think climate change is just an excuse cooked up by the government to take money from them. 🙄 There are also those who think the problem is very far away. It won't affect them. These are the shortsighted and who think you start to prepare only when the threat of being inundated has become real. But by then it would be too late. This Government is not waiting for calamity to overtake us. It is preparing far ahead to protect future generations of Singaporeans. It is taking concrete steps to do so. Singapore is generally flat. We have no real mountains. The highest point is Bukit Timah Hill which is 164 metres. Most of Singapore is within 15 metres of sea level. 30% of Singapore is less than 5 metres above sea level. You get an idea. The PAP Government is doing right for the country. But unfortunately, doing right to some means 'VTO'. You bet this same group of people described above will also be the ones to cry 'VTO' whenever there is a flash flood today.

​​𝗖𝗶𝘁𝗶𝘇𝗲𝗻𝘀 𝗶𝗻 𝗺𝗮𝗻𝘆 𝗰𝗼𝘂𝗻𝘁𝗿𝗶𝗲𝘀 𝘄𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱 𝗹𝗼𝘃𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝗮 𝗣𝗔𝗣 𝗚𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿𝗻𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁. 𝗜𝘁 𝗶𝘀 𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗳𝗲𝘄 𝗴𝗼𝗼𝗱 𝗴𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿𝗻𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘀 𝗹𝗲𝗳𝘁 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗹𝗱. In the Asia Pacific, housing in Singapore is the most affordable according to the 2024 ULI Home Attainability Index. ULI - Urban Land Institute - is the oldest and largest network of cross-disciplinary real estate and land use experts in the world. You'd think that after all that the PAP have done, they can have confidence going to the polls. But no. On the contrary, the PAP is bracing themselves for a tough fight and the possibility of losing another 3 or 4 GRCs. The Opposition have wasted no time to seize on a small number of million-dollar HDB transactions to paint a skewed picture of housing affordability in order to score political points. Take WP MP Louis Chua. While he published a paper for Credit Suisse saying that HDB housing is very affordable in Singapore, he also declared in Parliament that housing is very unaffordable. This is not only irresponsible, it is manipulative and dishonest. Media too have to take responsibility for creating the perception that housing has become unaffordable. They have chosen to focus on million-dollar transactions for eyeballs' sake, and created a bias impression that such transactions are the norms. This raises sellers' expectation, further pushing up prices. You cannot have both a strong PAP Government and a strong Opposition. This is common sense. The questions voters must ask themselves is: Do you want a PAP Government or a new Government formed by the Opposition? If a PAP Government is what you want, do you want a strong PAP Government, or do you want a weak PAP Government? Can a weak PAP Government do better than a strong PAP Government?

Singapore is the second top container port in the world. 🇸🇬🇸🇬

The strongest passport with visa-free travel to the most number of countries means that the Singapore Government has succeeded in establishing strong diplomatic relations with these countries. It also demonstrate the trust and confidence these countries have in Singapore. This is why good government matters. Diplomatic relations is established in various ways. One of these ways is, for example, offering scholarships to students from ASEAN countries. It's a way to build people ties. So next time you're tempted to attack the offer of scholarships to foreigners, remember that it is part of diplomacy to build good ties and to do our part as a member of the international community. After all, do you attack foreign governments that offer scholarships to Singaporeans?

Singapore is the world's 5th best city to live, work and visit according to marketing consultancy Resonance. 𝗪𝗲 𝗯𝗲𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝟱𝘁𝗵 𝗯𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝗯𝗲𝗰𝗮𝘂𝘀𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝗴𝗼𝗼𝗱 𝗴𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿𝗻𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲, 𝗴𝗼𝗼𝗱 𝗰𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗽𝗹𝗮𝗻𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗶𝗻𝗳𝗿𝗮𝘀𝘁𝗿𝘂𝗰𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗴𝗼𝗼𝗱 𝗽𝗼𝗹𝗶𝗰𝗶𝗲𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗿𝗲𝗴𝘂𝗹𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀. The reports says the island is celebrated for its cleanliness, safety and efficient infrastructure and has made significant strides in creating a sustainable urban environment. Singapore also ranks high in the Prosperity Index due to its impressive GDP per capita. The report also highlights the city’s vibrant food scene with offerings ranging from hawker centres to upscale restaurants, making the island a culinary haven. These are the 5 best cities in the world in order: London New York Paris Tokyo Singapore

Singapore has retained her crown. 🇸🇬🇸🇬 We have the world's most powerful passport with visa-free travel to a total of 195 locations, more than any other nation. Close behind, Japan, France, Germany, Italy, and Spain are tied at second place with visa-free access to 192 destinations globally.

With this kind of reasoning, it's no wonder that we are at risk of losing the good government that we have. 😕 Even PM Wong has warned that we should not assume there won't be a change of government in our lifetime. It's a fact that people take care to preserve what they value and they always lose what they do not value. Will an Opposition-led government lead Singapore to greater heights than the PAP and make Singapore even more respected on the world stage with an even louder voice whose views will be much sought after? #my_children_future

Elon Musk says Singapore is going extinct because of our low birth rate. By 2030, nearly 1 in 4 Singaporeans will be over 65, and the support ratio has plummeted to 4 working adults per senior. In 2014, it was 6. The government is urging more hiring of older workers and turning to robots. Meanwhile, there are still Singaporeans who think there are enough Singaporeans to take over the jobs held by foreigners. They cry when they see an elderly person working. They want Singaporeans in construction. Raise the salary to $5000 a month, they say, and Singaporeans will be willing to work as construction workers. They get upset when they see advertisement for foreigners to work as nurses. Without new citizens, our population will start to shrink in 2030s with the number of deaths exceeding the number of births.

Singapore is the second most trending vacation spot after New York City and beating even Maldives (in 3rd position) according to Accor. Tourism contributes to job creation and spur innovations and investments. It stimulates economic growth by generating revenue through spending on accommodations, dining, transportation, entertainment and souvenirs. Not to forget, the GST collected is revenue to spend on Singaporeans.

Best in the world. Thank you, PAP, for building a world class civil service. Head of Civil Service Leo Yip said he was humbled that Singapore’s public administration was rated well in the inaugural index. The Blavatnik Index of Public Administration, released by the Blavatnik School of Government - Oxford University's school of public policy - has declared Singapore's civil service as the Best in the world. “Singapore emerges at the top of the rankings, excelling in areas such as border services, tax administration, and innovation strategies and practices,” said the university in a release on Tuesday (Dec 3). At home, for the Opposition, whether our civil service is good or not depends on whether it suits the Opposition's cause. Thus the civil service is good when the Opposition needs to assure Singaporeans that everything will still run well in a Singapore with an opposition-led government. But as far as the opportunity to attack the PAP Government is concerned, the civil service is not up to standard. We saw this in the debate in Parliament on the NTUC - Allianz deal.