Hammer Online
Issue No: 0801CPF Changes: For Better Or For Worse?
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In a dialogue with ruling party activists in Oct 2007, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong threw a challenge to policy makers: “If a policy cannot be explained in five minutes, it is probably too complicated.” (Straits Times Interactive, 13 Nov 2007). He went on to assert that the Central Provident Fund (CPF) changes announced in August/September 2007 passed the “5 minute test” as they centred on a simple idea of “Living longer, must work longer, must draw down later, must save more, and must take care in case you live beyond 85.” Contrary to his assessment, many people do not find the message simple. Some of my friends, who had tried their utmost to follow the Parliamentary debates in September, still ended up asking me: “Hey, what’s going on, ah?”
Who is your MP?
It was a Wednesday evening at the void deck of Block 310, Hougang Ave 5 – where Hougang MP, Mr Low Thia Khiang, has been holding his Meet-the-People sessions since 1991.
There were proper lighting, 2 wooden tables (one for registration and the other for Mr Low to use), about 10 plastic chairs for residents to sit on, and of course the occasional refreshing night breeze. Who said that Meet-the-People sessions have to be held in classy, air-conditioned places with higher maintenance cost?
The residents registered themselves, wrote down their particulars and sat waiting for their turn to meet their MP. Some had come from areas such as Jurong, Bedok, Tampines and of course, Hougang.
After the session ended at around 10pm, Mr Low offered to give me a lift home, as my house was located en route. “Mr Low! Mr Low!” I heard someone shouting, as we were making our way to the car park.
It was a young chap, probably in his early twenties; he was waving frantically as he ran towards us. His face was filled with beads of perspiration and anxiety. Without further ado, we turned back to find out what was happening. And yes, this was a young chap calling out to his MP as though he was calling out to a friend. Amazing! I thought to myself.
“Mr Low,我的朋友不要回家，他已经好几天没回家了。你可以去劝劝他吗？”,the young chap was panting as he spoke.
Without any hesitation, Mr Low asked,”你的朋友在哪里？”With that, the young chap, whose name is Daniel, pointed to another young chap who was seated alone, staring blankly into the air.
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Youth & Politics
This article is dedicated to all the youths who have come forward to find out more, in one way or another, about the Workers’ Party Youth Wing.
A lot of discussion over the last year and a half has centred on how and why youths in Singapore today are politically apathetic, and what can be done about it.
Few youths I’ve spoken to today are as idealistic as those who grew up in the 80’s. Today’s youths are a more practical lot, with wider interests than mere friends or boy-girl relationships that their predecessors were preoccupied with. But yet, for a majority of the youths of both yesterday and today, some twenty years down the road, something remains the same – zilch interest in politics!
Could this be due to the environment around us? I, for one, grew up believing that policemen would come and take you away at 3am in the morning if you did anything wrong, including making fun of the government or talking bad about them. Ostensibly this has to come from a home environment where the primary caregivers (parents and grand-parents back then) nursed and passed on such beliefs. Is it only a belief? Or is there truly no smoke without fire? Or perhaps it’s a leftover “figment of imagination” from the communist / marxist crackdowns?
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