Politics: President Nathan - The 3-Million-Dollar Man

To Nathan Sir - "What are you going to do with some much money now? Don't keep your fingers crossed leh... ..."

Much debate has been witnessed on the topic of ministerial hike. However it seems the Mass Media has been unusually quiet on the President of Singapore’s pay package and why it deserves to be on par with that of the Prime Minister and other important and so-called indispensable leaders of Singapore.

As such, it’s an opportune time to highlight the job scope of our elected President, according to his own words, after he was elected as President (uncontested) for a 2nd term in 2005 …

- To work more closely with the National Council of Social Service and the Community Chest to tackle social service problems such as autism and dyslexia, which do not qualify as Charitable causes
- To preserve the trust that the people had bestowed on him.
- To focus more on building up the community and social roles of the presidency.
- To support NTUC in assisting workers affected by globalization to learn new skills and to accept reality and take on jobs that are available.

All the above are extracted from the NTUC website here. Of course he will also be performing the usual ceremonious duties to the best of his capacity as a President.

Is there a way to gauge his performance since he has already revealed some challenges he likes to achieve? It’s entirely possible to place Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) on some of the things he has promised to carry out. Of course it doesn’t really look good on his resume if he finally manages to get recognition of charity status for autism and dyslexia just before he finishes his term in 2011.

However certain things like preservation of trust that people have bestowed on him seems to be intangible. How much percentage of people in Singapore is he trying to maintain their respect for him? How do you quantify the numbers? Also how is he going to assist a retrenched worker to face reality other than offering a nice, warm handshake? Provided the worker is wiling to meet him knowing well that the President probably makes much more in 1 day (more than S$8,000) than he could have possibly made in 6 months?

For most of the job scope mentioned, do you think that a very experienced and knowledgeable social worker cum grass-root leader might be up to the mark as well?

On the other hand, according to the Istana website, the President also has the following job scope which seems to be more significant:

“The President is empowered to veto government budgets and appointments to public office. He can also examine the Government’s exercise of its powers under the Internal Security Act and religious harmony laws, and in investigations into cases of corruption. The President, must, however, consult the Council of Presidential Advisors before he takes a decision on some of these matters.”

As you can see, it seems important decisions on Singapore will have to be made together with the advisors. So if that’s the case, is anything being done to reward these advisors properly (so as to prevent them from corruption?) to make sure a 3-Million-Dollar President can make a wise decision in the case of an emergency? I don’t really know, as this has never been done before.

This is surely one of my greatest achievements as President of Singapore. Come, join me to build a better Singapore!

Stop it, Nathan! I’m President of a Superpower, but don’t have superhigh salary. I don’t want to hear any of this no more!

Let me know your views and kindly comment. Does President Nathan deserve the 3 million? My blog will not crumble or fall regardless of what comments you make. All I request is FREE & RESPONSIBLE OPINIONS

Politics: Indonesia TV program slams Singapore, incites anti-Singapore sentiments

Hi fellow bloggers, would like to highlight a TV documentary “Sigi 30 menit” broadcast to the whole of Indonesia today (01 Apr 07), 1230 WIB (SGT 1:30pm) on SCTV channel, one of the leading TV stations in Indonesia.

As a Singaporean, I don’t feel comfortable with the 1-sided reporting, although it is true that significant environmental damage has been done to the regions neighbouring Singapore. So I decided to submit this blog first though I’m quite busy in Jakarta.

I actually missed probably the first 10 mins of this documentary and can only share what I have seen and understood with my grasp of Bahasa Indonesia… …

The program started by introducing the recent sand export to Singapore and describing in detail the various barges and vessels that have been apprehended in the waters off Southern Singapore. The Navy has since stepped up its monitoring activities.

It seems residents who used to make a living from the sand export are not pleased with the ban as it leads to loss of jobs and income. The central government however has remained oblivious to the exacerbating situation.

Several people from the province of Riau Archipelago were interviewed, including government officials, a Navy spokesman, an academic and residents/workers on the islands affected by the sand embargo.

It is interesting to note that the academic, a certain Professor, produced a masterplan of Singapore in the Year 2020, which showed several big islands in the Southern Waters of Singapore. The map was in English and also showed the western tip of Singapore to have protruded a significant distance away from the main island (a possible extension of the Jurong Industrial Area). He probably downloaded it from a Singapore government website. When compared with another map of Singapore in 1973, it became obvious that the southern islands of the masterplan had been enlarged to undue proportions.

Something like this… but think this is worse. Note the big patch of purple region. Taken from URA website. Luckily the Professor didn't show this version!

As compared to this:

The documentary seems to imply that if Indonesia had not taken quick action, Singapore would have continued to benefit tremendously from land exclamation projects using sands from Indonesia. It showed footages of Sentosa, Harbour Front and even mentioned the Integrated Resorts (the Casinos! Anathema to a great religion.) as future construction projects. The program sure has a way to incite anti-Singapore sentiments!

The plight of several islands which have experienced irreversible environmental damage due to sand exploration (or exploitation, depending on your viewpoint) was also highlighted, such as Pulau Sebaik. The islands look barren, lifeless and unfit for human settlement. (However this seems to be a small degree of damage as inflicted in other parts of Indonesia, such as the indiscriminate burning of tropical jungles in Kalimantan and the extensive mud outpour in Sidoarjo, East Java. Not to mention the unlawful dumping of industrial waste and other poisonous stuff all over Indonesia.)

The program concluded by mentioning the extradiction talks that were alleged to have been disrupted by Singapore, with one politician in Jakarta saying that Singapore had been uncooperative and irresponsible, citing an official letter to the Singapore Government on extradiction issues. (But it failed to mention or highlight if there was any reply from Singapore.)

My Views:

Environmental damage is unavoidable in the age of modernization, whether it’s to the benefit of Singapore or Indonesia. There has never been any talk of illegal sand exports as such activities used to be carried out with mutual consent. So what’s the motive behind the finger-pointing now? Any astute observer would have figured out the nature of this political game.

Indonesia, by its strong actions, will have to be responsible in sustaining the livelihood of thousands of residents in the Riau region who are now jobless and approaching bankruptcy due to the sudden ban. Furthermore, I don’t think Indonesia will be keen to provide funds to preserve or restore the damaged islands and surrounding regions.

Singapore, on the other hand, may soon get alternative suppliers or adopt new construction materials. We don’t really need too much sand to add to our small land area. Construction projects can be customized to minimize use of limited building materials. I sincerely don’t think we are keen to link up a short causeway just next to Batam like the Woodlands-JB Checkpoint.

NOTE: Those Singapore contractors and other parties who have been profiting from sales of sand and other construction materials due to excess stock in their inventories better be patriotic and donate 2% of their new-found income to the poor and destitute in Singapore. Senior Minister Goh already requested the rich to do something similar. Don’t wait for our multi-millionaire ministers to take the lead, because they may be busy preparing new guidelines and charts to assure people they can be paid better still.