Skip to main content

Rethink Committee or another NUS-Yale or Feedback Unit?

A rethink or re-look committee to be headed by Heng Swee Keat has just been announced.   It is too early to judge its effectiveness. But from the past experience, it will more look the liberal thinking or looking of NUS-Yale College or worst the rubber stamping of Feedback Unit.    

“Singapore's Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong announced that Education Minister Heng Swee Keat will chair a committee of younger ministers to take a fresh look at current policies in his National Day Message today.
In a separate statement, Mr Heng said his team will engage Singaporeans in a "broader conversation" on where Singapore should be in the future, rather than specific tweaks to particular polices. 
While what the committee would cover - or what it would be called - has not been specified, the aim of this initiative is to foster a shared understanding of the challenges and aspirations for the country. “(8 Aug 2012 asiaone.com.sg)
Is there any national committee that the government set up in the past does not have the meaning of “a shared understanding of the challenges and aspirations for the country.”? From Economic Committee in the 1980s to the recent one, which one is not calling for understanding, challenges and aspirations?

The question is: how do we finally reach the shared understanding? And are these understandings really the challenges and aspirations for the country? A shared understanding or national consensus can be another PR or even the manifesto of the PAP in the next election. The best it could be is just like another option for voters to decide.  As a result, whether voters buy the idea of ‘shared understanding’ or not is a challenge to the government.   

NUS-Yale wants to bring in the shared understanding of liberal arts education to Singapore. It has restricted political activities, even local politics. Can it help to produce a shared value and understanding for Singapore under a restricted environment?

Not to mention the Feedback Unit or People’s Association, the shared understanding they collected are all one-side stories. Hence, the shared Singapore understanding cannot ignore the 40% in GE2011 or 65% in the PE2011.  

Will Heng’s committee have the shared understanding including:

Different and share
“National Day is an important time for us to reflect and think about how we have evolved into the Singapore we have today. It is especially important to remember our pioneer generation… Every Singaporean has something special to contribute to Singapore. We are all different. But what we share, is Singapore as our home. And home, is where the heart is.” (WP National Day Message)
Active role and different direction
<…Today, health care and housing costs are spiralling; retirement in Singapore is getting harder with an ever increasing CPF minimum sum; the elderly are expected to work well past the normal retirement age, often on low salaries. And yet we Singaporeans are expected to get things done as cheaply as possible. We cannot expect productivity to grow like this.Is this the kind of Singapore that our forefathers worked so hard for? Is this the kind of Singapore you desire for yourselves or your children?We Singaporeans must play a more active role to influence national policies. At times, we need to fight for a different direction for our country. For a start, you can speak up about dated policies that no longer work….> (SPP National Day Message)
Work harder for caring and democracy
<In this year’s National Day message, the Singapore Democrats call on Singaporeans to work even harder for a caring and democratic nation.> (SDP National Day Message)

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Sub-standard PAP and the Singapore education system

I make a 'policy shift' when I hear the debate of right politics, constructive politics and sub-standard opposition. My original aim is to discuss about “Su Dongbo, Zhang Juzheng and Singapore education system”. The discussion will end with a sub-standard PAP, in particular from the assessment of the quality of PAP potential candidates. Another policy shift is to discuss it like a play, a drama and make it more entertainment rather than a sub-standard political discussion. Act 1 Gangster’s demand Imagine a sense in the Hong Kong's gangster movie (or a godfather movie), the gangsters' master is shouting at his poor opponent and demand him to give a price for his wrong act. The poor guy without any resources can only offer his body or his service to work for the master. Back in his own chamber, the master is still not satisfied and continues to shout 'don't play, play, you think you are hero, you think you are tiger, or superstar or acting ...

EBRC objectives: Stop “Out of Aljunied”, Stop SDP Breakthrough and “Negative-Asset” Ministers.

First of all, we have to congratulate the Electoral Boundaries Review Committee for creating more competitions, especially, multi-cornered competitions in the East. When making changes, EBRC aims to achieve 3 goals: To prevent “Out of Aljunied” for Workers’ Party.  This is the most important objective. To prevent Singapore Democratic Party making any breakthrough in the North and Central.   To look for a solution to retire “negative-asset” ministers or reduce PAP damages. From the reported claims from different political parties, we will expect multi-cornered contests not only in single constituencies but also in group representative constituencies. The PAP hopes to have a repeat of 2011 Presidential Election. Then Tony Tan won the Presidency when he got only 35% of the votes, a narrow win.However, a win is still a win. He did in even in the very last minute, after recounts of votes.    How to achieve multi-cornered contests? By i...

Is Prism Project Another Central Planning of the PAP?

There are 3 scenarios under the Prism Project#1 of Institute of Public Policy.  However, it looks more like the central scenario planning of the People’s Action Party. From the instructional menu of Prism Project Primer #2, participants were guided to a situation in 2022 and they have to imagine, within the Primer framework, to come out with 3 possible scenarios in Jun-Aug 2012.  2022. What a coincidence! Not long ago, PM Lee declared that he would like to hold the prime minister post for another 10 years. The other coincidence is the similarity between the 3 scenarios and the candidates of PE2011. How competitive and sustainable are the 3 scenarios to the people of Singapore and to the PAP?   Will the scenarios produce competitive and sustainable Singapore, Singaporeans or the PAP?  Perhaps, as what the Chinese say: planning cannot always catch up with changes.   And planning sometimes turns out the wrong, bad and unexpected results, espec...