Good to know that PM Lee is aOK and on 1 week medical leave to rest properly. Also, welcome back Minister Heng to his Finance Portfolio and the additional appointment of Minister Lawrence Wong as the 2nd Finance Minister.
On the NDR Speech,
1. interesting that there were not that many policies issues being mentioned. Most were rehashed of 2015 NDR Speech items;
2. interesting that PM Lee touched on openly about how our 2 immediate neighbours see us. The mention of certain minister in Indonesia voicing comments that are not helpful like: 'we are not afraid of Singapore'. That his personal relationship with President Jokowi and PM Najid are good; and that the country-to-country level are generally fine.
So we have 2 neighbours and then we have the 3rd neighbours that include USA, China, Russia, Japan, EU, Australia, UK, etc. And that we want to keep peace with all neighbours using international convention and laws as a small nation like our must rely on.
3. the candid sharing of our position on the sensitive South China Sea dispute is good to see. Hopefully those critics, especially those who wield real power, and not those internet critics, can appreciate where we are coming from.
China can play the 'might is right' tactic like Russia had done in Ukraine, but has to recognise the leaning of small nations like Singapore had to have. We used the international tribunal to settle our territorial disputes with Malaysia. One we will. One we lost. The key fact is: both nations abide by the decision and still on good terms!
4. the preparedness for a terrorist attack and launching of the SecureSG initiative in September will be a significant one. Much has been written and talked about how we can prepare for it and how we must respond immediately and post-attack.
One clear action we can take is HOW we handled the scare of PM Lee's fainting last night where PMO updated the public FAST and REGULARLY so that no RUMOURS or -ve guesses get to make their rounds. -ve guesses and speculation there were for sure last night. That he might had a stroke. That he had collapsed on stage or seemed to have collapsed. Etc. etc...
In a terrorist attack, the 1st respondents must seized the initiative on the internet/in the cyber space! What attack had taken place, who were involved (or unknown), number of casualties, keep calm, stay in door, etc. etc. must be standard operating procedure.
Keep the races and religions front and central. Be clear. No fear mongering. No unfounded rumours can be spread in the cyberspace and on the internet.
5. The EP debate. Honestly I am not convinced of the need to have a framework that we must have a minority as EP. Not sure if there are cries from the minority about this since we had minority EP in Nathan, the Indian. Tony, the Eurasian. And President Wee is an Eurasian too?
PM Lee's example of the most recently crisis where the cabinet asked the EP for permission to use the national reserve is not convincing as it is hard to see that the CPA (the Council of Presidential Advisers) and the EP have that type of insights and resources to study and then present the proposal to the EP and his CPAs to consider.
Could the EP had 'disapproved' the cabinet's proposal? Seriously!!
6. The 'old' PMETs finding another job switching careers or upgrading, everyone single one of them who tried but did not succeed means real pain if they had not sorted out their finances at this stage of their lives. Once there is no income, it can be a really stressful existence. Resilience will be an important quality to have. How to survive and live through 'restricted finances' will be key. These will include: 'less is more' for consumption, medical expenses covered by medical insurance besides those only claimable when hospitalised i.e. non-hospitalised medical expenses can be insured too (?), if still have young kids due to late marriage and having kids late, etc.
The way forward is going to be tough though he mentioned about 'disruptive technologies' also create opportunities. If the loss is much greater than the new opportunities created, we will still have a problem. Learning to live in an extended very lean time may be what we need to learn in SkillsFuture?
Majulah Singapura.
On the NDR Speech,
1. interesting that there were not that many policies issues being mentioned. Most were rehashed of 2015 NDR Speech items;
2. interesting that PM Lee touched on openly about how our 2 immediate neighbours see us. The mention of certain minister in Indonesia voicing comments that are not helpful like: 'we are not afraid of Singapore'. That his personal relationship with President Jokowi and PM Najid are good; and that the country-to-country level are generally fine.
So we have 2 neighbours and then we have the 3rd neighbours that include USA, China, Russia, Japan, EU, Australia, UK, etc. And that we want to keep peace with all neighbours using international convention and laws as a small nation like our must rely on.
3. the candid sharing of our position on the sensitive South China Sea dispute is good to see. Hopefully those critics, especially those who wield real power, and not those internet critics, can appreciate where we are coming from.
China can play the 'might is right' tactic like Russia had done in Ukraine, but has to recognise the leaning of small nations like Singapore had to have. We used the international tribunal to settle our territorial disputes with Malaysia. One we will. One we lost. The key fact is: both nations abide by the decision and still on good terms!
4. the preparedness for a terrorist attack and launching of the SecureSG initiative in September will be a significant one. Much has been written and talked about how we can prepare for it and how we must respond immediately and post-attack.
One clear action we can take is HOW we handled the scare of PM Lee's fainting last night where PMO updated the public FAST and REGULARLY so that no RUMOURS or -ve guesses get to make their rounds. -ve guesses and speculation there were for sure last night. That he might had a stroke. That he had collapsed on stage or seemed to have collapsed. Etc. etc...
In a terrorist attack, the 1st respondents must seized the initiative on the internet/in the cyber space! What attack had taken place, who were involved (or unknown), number of casualties, keep calm, stay in door, etc. etc. must be standard operating procedure.
Keep the races and religions front and central. Be clear. No fear mongering. No unfounded rumours can be spread in the cyberspace and on the internet.
5. The EP debate. Honestly I am not convinced of the need to have a framework that we must have a minority as EP. Not sure if there are cries from the minority about this since we had minority EP in Nathan, the Indian. Tony, the Eurasian. And President Wee is an Eurasian too?
PM Lee's example of the most recently crisis where the cabinet asked the EP for permission to use the national reserve is not convincing as it is hard to see that the CPA (the Council of Presidential Advisers) and the EP have that type of insights and resources to study and then present the proposal to the EP and his CPAs to consider.
Could the EP had 'disapproved' the cabinet's proposal? Seriously!!
6. The 'old' PMETs finding another job switching careers or upgrading, everyone single one of them who tried but did not succeed means real pain if they had not sorted out their finances at this stage of their lives. Once there is no income, it can be a really stressful existence. Resilience will be an important quality to have. How to survive and live through 'restricted finances' will be key. These will include: 'less is more' for consumption, medical expenses covered by medical insurance besides those only claimable when hospitalised i.e. non-hospitalised medical expenses can be insured too (?), if still have young kids due to late marriage and having kids late, etc.
The way forward is going to be tough though he mentioned about 'disruptive technologies' also create opportunities. If the loss is much greater than the new opportunities created, we will still have a problem. Learning to live in an extended very lean time may be what we need to learn in SkillsFuture?
Majulah Singapura.
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