Why Singaporeans do not owe Goh Keng Swee or other PAP leaders a “debt” of gratitude
May 19th, 2010 | 
Author:
The demise of one of the so-called founding fathers of Singapore and PAP stalwart Goh Keng Swee expectedly brought about a wave of PAP propaganda in the state media to remind Singaporeans of the contributions of Goh and his fellow PAP colleagues.
In an interview with Channel News Asia on 14 May 2010, Community Development, Youth and Sports Minister Vivian Balakrishnan said every child in school, every soldier serving in the armed forces, and every worker with a job in Singapore owes the late Dr Goh Keng Swee a huge debt of gratitude.
While nobody can deny the fact that Goh had contributed tremendously to Singapore, questions must be raised if Singaporeans really owe him and the PAP a “debt” of gratitude.
It is only human to err and no leader is perfect. In assessing the political career of Goh, we should not ignore his shortcomings as well. For all his worth, Goh had made some mistakes, most notably his controversial streaming in primary school which was reversed years later. By then, irreversible damage has been done against many generations of Singapore students who are “late bloomers” and might have succeeded in life under a less stressful education system.
A former PAP minister Othman Wok described the late Dr Goh as the architect of the Singapore economy. As a matter of fact, the accolades should belong to Albert Winsemius, a Dutch economist seconded to the fledging PAP government by the United Nations. It was Winseminus who convinced Goh to develop Singapore’s export economy and to invite MNCs to set up their regional headquarters here.
Goh just happened to be the right leader at the right place and time. He was fortunate that Singaporeans are a bunch of thrifty, hardworking and most importantly docile people who ensured that his ideas and policies were successfully implemented on the ground. Had Goh been put in a more volatile environment like Vietnam, Indonesia and even Malaysia, it is doubtful if he is able to replicate his success there.
Though Goh is a pioneer of modern Singapore and is a key figure in its growth and prosperity, past achievements do not guarantee future success. The fact that Goh is a visionary leader doesn’t automatically mean that the present batch of PAP leaders have inherited his legacy. In fact, the current leaders should learn from Goh who was able to serve the nation tirelessly for so many years despite being paid “peanuts”.
History has taught us that no leader is indispensable to a nation, no matter how great he/she is. What is more important is to have an open, transparent and liberal political system which allows for a peaceful transition from one generation of leaders to the next and from one party to another.
Both the United States and United Kingdom have their fair share of competent and charismatic leaders. Even China has long stepped out of the shadow of its “Great Helmsman” Mao Zedong. It is time Singapore get rid of its burden of “gratitude” to the PAP and move forward as a confident and proud nation belong to all the people.
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Albert Winsemius gave the advice to other countries that he advised. S’pore listened, others did not. Taz why we owe Dr Goh , LKY and others some gratitude.
They took his advice which was against the grain of development economics then. Inviting in MNCs was heretical, it was neo-colonalism.
And S’pore executed the policy well. Again Goh etc deserve credit.
Juz because he was member of PAP and nibister shld not be held against him.
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your mother is imperfect. Do you own her a debt of gratitude? No right, its her choice to give birth to u..
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indeed well said, i was waiting for TR to post something interesting about GKS after countless news about him was reported in the press for the past few days. It’s obvious that all the praises made were propaganda
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What a bunch of ungrateful brats we have in TR!
Btw how come TR never post anything on the ‘peaceful’ demonstration that’s taking place in Thailand ah? Censorship and propaganda is it? Not showing the ugly side of protests?
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funny GKS is described as “GOD” by our PM over the news. what is he sniffin’ these days??? Looks like PAP MPs are now GoDS! wonder what will he describe his father once he kicks the bucket – equivalent to the JADE EMPEROR GOD???? Definitely can’t be BuDHA
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Again, TR shows incredible pad taste. Why don’t “Your Correspondent” publish his/her name?
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Jolin:***
Very simple and precise post and to those that HARP on Dr.Winsemius the Nation i.e.the govt. on behalf of the people had shown their appreciation and likewise to Brother Mcnally who had a road name after him.
We must learn to no matter how we may disapprove of PAP that if credit is due lets give and FCUK them for the errors and disasters they created.THAT’S DEMOCRACY for us though not for the PAP.
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Was it just me or have we been too used to the notion that Singapore would not be what and how it is today if not for those “founding” fathers?
Not a word has been said about any of the early generations of Singaporeans
Can those “founding” fathers achieved the results without the common people? Why nobody raised this question? Or perhaps nobody dared or cared enough to do so?
And referring them as the “founding” fathers seems to be a bit stretching the facts since Singapore was already very much a modern and booming economy, founded by Sir Raffles and British East India Company
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To DML May 19, 2010 at 9:44 am,
Some, yes. But not to the extent of hearing it repeatedly for ages while no credit is ever made to the generations of common Singaporeans
History is written by the (current) victor. It will be interesting when it is somebody else’s turn to interpret our history
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PAP’s prostitute mainstream media at it once again, trying to glorify PAP’s past by distorting the facts. PAP should focus on moving FORWARD, not show us trophies won in the past with the help of others like Dr Winseminus. It is troubling to see so many fatal mistakes in PAP’s policies made without advice or guidance from experienced people like W. These policies are obviously guided by PAP’s need for self-preservation rather than the country.
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Personally I am grateful to the early leaders of Spore for bringng better lives for Singaporeans. However I would not translate this gratitude to a debt to be repaid through blind subserviance even though I totally disagree with the current influx of foreigners.
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Anyone remember one of his final projects was taking over land from Punggol pig farmers and building flatted pig farms which discharged waste into Singapore/Johor Straits.
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well written TR.
we’ve had enough of PAP propaganda
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you forgot to add that the PAP have already extracted millions in salary from the system – this is more than ample compensation for any work they have done
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lol Jolin PAP is not my mother.
besides my mother has done much much more than any blasted PAP clown
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my mother also does not call me ‘daft’, nor does she ask me to be ‘cheaper, better faster’
she also does not extract millions in salary for her job
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There’s a slight tone of disrespect being placed here. I don’t agree with that. You do not go saying people whom had contributed to Singapore’s success that they’re just “at the right place and time”.
Just let the people know the fact that PAP is not Goh Keng Seng, and also the PAP has changed from what it was 25 years ago to this silly Party now filled with clowns.
Goh Keng Seng should be celebrated as one of the major contributors to Singapore’s Success, not PAP’s success, keep that in your hearts, remember all his deeds, both good and bad, and learn from there.
We don’t owe anyone anything, but he earned his rights to be commemorated by the citizens who know who he is. Don’t downplay that Honor he deserves.
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I’m usually a super mean critic of the PAPaya govt and very supportive of TR’s views. But seriously, common guys, this one went way too far.
Everyone knows of the agenda of Temasek Review and most of the visitors do enjoy adding to the PAPaya trashing (including me). But do you really have to be so quick and opportunistic as to profit from this so bloody soon?
This does not aid your (obvious) political agenda.
Take this disgraceful article down! Absolutely disgraceful!
Although I really don’t agree with the chow PAPayas, Temasek Review you stoop too low this time. Shame on you! Shame on the silly little people who posted msgs in support of this article.
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The only mistake PAP made was they neglected to instill gratitudes and kindness in the growing Singapore amidst building it up to a world class economy. If our leaders are incompetent, we will not be what we are today. Think!
People are just too spoilt to appreciate what they are given. Try staying in a developing nation and you will know how lucky we are in Singapore.
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Looks like there is so much hatred and obsession in putting the govt down irregardless. We must be ultimately suppressed in real life that the cyberwar is getting out of hand.
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finally you have come to join us down here…
can you see your other old gone friends down here?
have been waiting for you for so long
and we are waiting for the Other one also but he is always delaying his time to come down here
But in the meantime, now you can enjoy this sumptous dinner of red candles.. meant only for the elite down here !!
Eat…
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the word “gratitutde” is taken too far in politics.
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I do not agree with the writer, Dr.Goh Keng Swee is truly a magnificent man nobody could ever be comparable to him, with his belief that he created a sound fundmental foundation for the future of Singapore so that the future of Singapore will have a stable foundations to hold on, and yes, we should be greateful to Dr.Goh for his endless task in doing it. Who can have a portfolio like him?
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The reason why PAP is in the mess that they are now is precisely because they lack people like GKS and the old guard…. those are the ones who went through the trial by fire and emerged worthy leaders of S’pore.
Nowadays all we have are people who treat their work in government as just another regular job, that’s the biggest problem.
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Yeah right, you ask an honor to bestowed upon him, yet you do not know his name. LOL
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The key point to me is in this sentence: “It is time Singapore get rid of its burden of “gratitude” to the PAP”
The achievements of the past PAP leaders led to the trust of majority in giving them a mandate to rule with two oppositions on record.
The trust given to the past PAP leaders are returned in full. Singaporeans prospered under their reign. Deservedly they deserved our gratitude. Not a debt which implies an obligation. But a trust that transcend all obligations.
I cannot give this trust to the current PAP leaders.
For that reason, i feel that the phrase ‘debt of gratitude to the PAP’ is extremely manipulative. Because it creates an impression that the PAP leaders of today are to be given the same degree of gratitude.
Where in the days of Goh Keng Swee, the people prospered. In the hands of today’s PAP leaders, the Singapore identity has diminished, today’s PAP leaders gave themselves high salaries, today’s PAP’s architect provide a vision of a new Singapore that does not benefit the Singaporeans of Goh Keng Swee’s time.
Singaporeans are neither dummies nor idiots.
There is therefore no debt of gratitude to the PAP. There is however an acknowledgement of gratitude to Dr Goh Keng Swee.
Thank you Dr Goh Keng Swee. May today’s PAP leaders follow in your footsteps.
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Yes yes…with What PAP is trying to portray, singapore is built by its group of pioneers with little help from the people? the hard working people owe them a debt of gratitude? come on…who do they think they are? Are they able to do “let there be light and there is light”
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This guy created the damn NS, he is evil.
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@Bad Taste, so what if the author publishes his name? ISD come knocking huh?
So funny you, who wrote the article is not important, if you buy what the author is selling, then so be it. If NOT, then give your own opinion lor, why Sinkaporeans cannot learn how to agree to disagree?
This article is NOT critical of Dr Goh but instead acknowledges his contributions and achievements, didn’t the author?
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Generally, Dr Goh Keng Swee was one of the better PAP ministers. So we have to give some credit to him. As to whether we should feel gratitude towards him, this is a personal matter for Singaporeans – each citizen will decide for himself, but none should feel obligated to thank him.
In my opinion, the biggest blemish to his service record was the ‘graduate mothers’ scheme which was introduced in August 1983 while he was the Education Minister. Graduate mothers who had a third child were given a $10000 reduction in taxable income and their children were given priority for primary one registration. This must stand as one of the most misguided policies by the ruling party. But, since no one’s perfect, we should all forgive this one mistake.
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In this world, nobody owes nobody a gratitude, let alone a great debt of gratitude.
Just like a corporation. Our leaders need us as much as we need them. Is a fair exchange. Have our leaders not gotten their dues (of big fat salary)?
Do we still to owe them anything?
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Credit must be given where credit is due; truth must be told or there would be no worthwhile discourse.
Dr. Goh did give his best to Singapore and his reward was seeing the nation state takes its place in the developed world. He did not expect any gratitude knowing human nature as he did. However, he considered it his duty to dedicate his talent and his diligence to nation building.
Like many he would be sad to see the political immaturity of today’s PAP ‘leaders’ having done much to speak out against greed and thirst for power and aggrandisement. I am certain he left the PAP when he saw how LKY was determined to hog all power for himself and his son.
He was a gentleman and he decried poor behavior and human greed.
The least we can do for a man who did do much to help develop this nation is NOT to sully his memory. Many, I know here, can stoop to anything but respect for a good man is never misplaced. Also respect would always beget respect.
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By the way, no Singaporean owe the million-dollar nerds anything as main-street men of Singapore also own nothing in this mercenary and soulless countrty! Just a quick-example, work whole life to purchase a paper of 99 lease!
As all these bunches of million-dollar nerds are paid very, very well to run and manage the country, if they are doing a decent job, it has been their duties as they are being paid lavishly. However, if they are doing a mediocre job then, they should be removed from the office immediately and punished severely so as to demostrate accountabilities to the taxpayers whom funded their operations!
But is Singapore moving in that prospective? The answer is a definite “NO”! Just a shrewd example, the “XXX” ran away case! Anything happened to WKS? Life still goes on as usual with “fatter” paycheck for him, year on year! Just another nimble example, losing billion-dollar of “state fund”! Anything happened to HC? Life still go-on as nothing has happened but with “better, bigger, larger” paycheque for her, month on month!
It is so funny and hilarious in association with Singa-corporation!
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Are you not ashamed to have trivialized your own mother at least? Didn’t she suffer NINE months to love and behold for life’s sake. Isn’t “love” a gift of God to man for a reason to be living. You do sound like the hairy one you know. Indeed you didn’t ask to be born. But so DIDN’T both YOUR PARENTS too and so on! Do you want to be married one day and have YOUR daughter or son say EXACTLY the same thing TO YOU? Today you’ve shown your darker side. Its a shame but do learn from it for you own meaning in life girl! I am a grandpa here!
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mindfully that …………. there are now MANY institutions named after LKY and he’s NOT gone yet. WHY? He’ll tell you & I that IT IS others who wanted to “name” them after him! Would that be a truth or a lie?
As why is it now for Singaporeans to suggest about naming this and that after DR. GOH KENG SWEE and only when he IS gone? And with his past Pm now in Shanghai and elsewhere in China? IS THIS NOT Very Telling of WHAT harry is really all about? WAKE UP guys!
And to “Evil” ….. if you were so fed up NS for protecting OUR land, then I suppose I can say that you don’t deserve citizen anymore then those newbie PRC, etc foreigner do. Not even as a PR.
Would you not protect your own house/flat/property? YOU “ARE” the true evil one! Learn your lesson today. Let’s not be insane and emotionally incorrect against pap!
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it seems strange that PAP says ppl owe GKS a debt of gratitude but yet the young have not been taught to know him and MSM only glorify him when he dies (after his retirement)
isn’t it hypocritical by PAP leaders to now expect us to do what they don’t do?
We only heard of LKY,nothing but LKY.
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Let’s give credit where credit is due.
Even if it were soemone from another seemingly good party,habitual skeptics would condemn the good works done.
It is not mere feat to govern a nation without natural resources except LABOUR.Singapore has no other natural resource and for someone like DR GOH KENG SWEE to take heart and made Singapore into what it is,is no simple or enviable task,really.
See thigns from a wider perspective if we can and not just take to hardcore unreasonable criticsims for criticism’s sake.
Yes,we need to show gratitude even if there are some thigns we don’t things were carried out to our complate satisfaction.Could anyone here do as DR GOH has done for the majority of our fellow singaporeans? HARDLY,i WOULD SAY SO.
let’s not mix up the good with the bad.LET’S put both fo them into the right perspective and then,we can see more clearly.
Sacrifices were made in wars that were considered justifiable for the sake of the majority of the peoples despite some families have their sons killed?
We too must understand that sacrifices need to be made and some among us happened to be sacrificed for the good of all.
But,having said that,we must realise that good policies are tose that cater to the needs of the majority of the citizenry and not pamper the likings and amusement of a few.
The oOLD GUARDS,some times may have caused hardhips to some of our people,still made and implement decisions that were mostlt for the good of most of us.
Not so the NEW GUARDS,who pay themselves many times over the real contributors-the old guards- but merely destroy what have been painstakingly built over the last 40-50 years.
LET’S PUT THE BLAME ON THE RIGHT PERSONS AND SAVE THE GRSTITUDE FOR THOSE WHO HAVE SACRIFICED THEMSELVES FOR THE MAJORITY OF US ALL.
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not true DML,
when PAP first took power in 1959, they didn’t pursue export oriented industrialisation as advised by Winsemius. they pursued import substitution just like everybody else did at that time.
it was only in 1963, when singapore broke off from malaya which made import substitution not feasible anymore that PAP finally took heed of Winsemius’ advice.
so we should thank the separation which forced PAP to take up Winsemius’ advice without which PAP may not have listened to Winsemius.
hence we should be grateful to the separation, not to PAP.
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Jolin,
your mother gave birth to you, not PAP. neither GKS not LKY gave birth to you. neither gave birth to singapore either. singapore already existed since 1819, a good 140 years before LKY took power.
so who gave birth to singapore? sir stamford raffles.
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Ungrateful brats:
be careful who you call ungrateful. you might not even realise that you’re actually being grateful to the enemy of your own people.
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Seow:
do not be blinded by the rhetoric that early leaders of singapore brought better lives for singaporeans. if you look at the whole world after the war, which country experienced specatacular growth? it wasn’t just singapore. there was also hong kong, taiwan and korea. why are these four places so special? what is common amongst them that separated them from the other developing nations?
they are all east asian. it is the quality of the east asian people that is at the heart of our success.
remember, no matter how a smart a leader is, he cannot lift a country of idiots to lofty heights. a country can only be as successful as its people are.
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randomnessinmind:
the perception of disrespect is yours, don’t impose on others. he is at the right place and at the right time.
imagine if he were in malaysia where he came from. what would he have amounted to?
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I know, I just woke up when I type that, and there is no edit button.
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En Garde:
your mind is too steeped with decades of propaganda like so many others that you will never be able to step out of your years of programming about good and bad.
no one is doubting that GKS did a lot for singapore. but it is also true that behind this architect is actually another architect. there was a person behind the person of GKS. who do you think is the bigger person?
and yet singapore can go so crazy over one but not the other one who is in fact the true architect. simply because one is singaporean and the other is not.
if you really want to show gratitude, learn to recognise who your true benefactor is first.
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Good Job!:
no, the greater mistake is controlling the press and brainwashing the people so that they are now as fanatic as north koreans in worshipping their kim jong ll without realising that the country was simply built by they themselves.
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@not logical
“who can have a portfolio like him” referring to GKS.
Can we possibly know since its already history? Can you argue that maybe a much much better man could have been BETTER than GKS and vice versa worse. A much better man could have took Albert Winseminus plans and made it better, faster and cheaper.
I think the gist of the story is to remind Sillyporeans that
1. PAP is no longer the past PAP who worked for the people.
2. That the word “gratitude” used by the MSM is again washing the public’s brain.
3. That we must not forget 1 GKS does not make a future PAP nor Singapore. But the citizens does.
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after @SilenceIsGolden
he/she has new allies
@Ungrateful brats:
@Bad Taste:
half ally
@En Garde: (going to join the lighting logo side soon)
@randomnessinmind: (going to join the lighting logo side soon)
@not logical: (not sure which side ???)
Among the five former presidents who have died, Ong Teng Cheong is the first president who did not receive a state funeral . He received a state-assisted funeral instead, as his family rejected the offer for a state funeral.
(not sure the above statement is true or not)
nowadays not sure who is telling the truth and lies
A reminder to all (A great policy like a tsunami is coming )
GST will definite increase to 10%-15% or 25%
and other FINE policy coming soon
after the PAPayas elected (SURE WIN)
Singaporepools bet ODDS
PAPayas win $1 pay $0
PAPayas lose $1 pay 1 trillion sing dollars
Prepare to get screwed another 5 no should be 10 yrs as said by the old man.
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As the dominant ruling Pro-foreigners PAP party, the FamiLees and incompetent multi-millionaire ministers had through our revered parliament help themselves to our state funds of tax payers monies by paying themselves anually millions of dollars in salaries and increments.
These ruling party members should owe a debt of gratitute to us daft citizens instead.
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As the dominant ruling Pro-foreigners PAP party, the FamiLees and incompetent multi-millionaire ministers had through our revered parliament help themselves to our state funds of tax payers monies by paying themselves anually millions of dollars in salaries and increments without our consent.
These ruling party members should owe a debt of gratitute to us daft citizens instead.
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I believe that vivian was asked by the master to promote the propaganda of PAP while the election is coming. Also, GKS left the cabinet due to differences between him and his master. It is strange and pitiful that PAP make use of this dead man for their own benefits. In fact they treat our country as a corporate. As a corporate, all dealings between govt and citizens are business dealings. As such, we said for their “goods and services” and we don’t owe them anythin. In fact we have overpaid for it!
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The PAP should be owing a debt to the people of Singapore for being giving the opportunity to govern and to pay themselves millions of dollars year after year.
The people owes them nothing.
It’s about time for them to exit.
Time For Change. TOTAL Change!
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@ruly singapore:
May 19, 2010 at 2:01 pm
not true DML,
so we should thank the separation which forced PAP to take up Winsemius’ advice without which PAP may not have listened to Winsemius.
hence we should be grateful to the separation, not to PAP.
HI,truly singapore,that is true of your observation.
however,it took more than jus the separation to bear fruits if we don’t have good singaporeans like a DR GOH or HON SUI sen to see through things and made thimgs happened.
CAN SEPARATION MAKE THINGS HAPPENNED the way it was done by the peoneer group of loyal citizens who laboured for our future good?
If after separation,we have had daft and selfish people like some of our current elites,singapore would have been in a worse scenario that it was before separation rather than what it was-the singapore SUCCESS STORY- until recentl policies by the NEW GUARDS turn it into a hub for prostition and gambling and low “productivity” foreign- no-talents or what i would term FNT!
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You can feel gratitude for past work done, without agreeing with present performance of current generation of leaders.
Please be able to distinguish between this two, and don’t just keep barking one-sided… or you will end up just like the MSM lap doggies, except on the other side of the fence.
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This typical trumpet blowing of self praise is always being used by them to distract or impress us.We,common folks should wake up and not to be treated as morons.Whether a person is worthy of respect or not,is for the people to judge and further at that time they’d inherited an orderly systems from the British.At that time it’s fortunate that they’d the right environment and timing inorder to get some fortunate results.Right now we should ask ouselves whether they can deliver the same things as done previously in view of their having so many high calibre ministers.A good person will never proclaim himself as good as he knows he should be such.
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Pay tribute to GKS. Long live PAP!
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Without PAP, there will be no modern Singapore today! Can you imagine the fact there is nothing to eat in the 60 and 70? Ppl have to survive on eating tree root..etc. For those who never suffer hunger and poverty before, you got no right to comment on PAP policy!
Long live PAP!
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I am sure goh keng swee is in hell now being given a super painfull blanket party by all the NS slaves that was murdered by SAF NS policy started by the retarded so call economist.
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this thing about gratitude, the fucker pigs expect us to repay them in the ballot boxes which allow them to receive high pay doing nothing.
the funny thing is if the pigs are so full of gratitude how come they didn’t keep gks as sm or mm….
maybe s’pore could have avoided losing monies in the banks.
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So do you mean we have to feel indebt to you? Somebody who did nothing for Singapore but just write nonsense!
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i was a fan of this website untill i come across this post. I am sure this writer must be an ingrate who goes home and blames his parents for their every imperfections.
i am not hardcore pro PAP but please, stop posting anti PAP propagandas just for the sake of doing it. This is bad taste to the max.
Who is to say sg will not be a third world country if his choice of government is running this country?
Be grateful with what you have and stop lamenting like a spoilt brat. Loser.
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We do owe people like Lim Chin Siong, Lim Hock Siew, Chia Thye Poh, Poh Soo Kai etc a debt… The people jailed and totured during Operation Coldstore have made a tremendous sacrifice…
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I agree with many of the statements by many posters here – we don’t owe the PAP anything.
In the past they stood tall on our shoulders to create a country they wanted, seen through the eyes of LKY.
We who sacrificed, and without whom none of that vision would have been possible.
We who toiled, shed blood and tears.
We who gave up two and a half years of our lives.
We who paid income tax every year to keep our economy going and growing.
We who by the sweat of our brow enriched those ingrates who rewarded themselves lavishly.
We don’t owe them anything.
Acknowledging a person’s contributions and being thankful are not the same as a debt of gratitude, which implies being bound to someone or group. That is what the PAP want to impress on everyone, which is so typical of their condescending paternalistic attitude.
What is right is for Singaporeans to acknowledge Goh Keng Swee’s contributions and his sacrifices, but not forget that he was imperfect too. His primary school streaming idea really screwed up many young lives.
The new generation of PAP MPs and ministers don’t deserve anything from us. Everything was given to them on a silver platter.
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I actually admire GKS for being able to be so sucessful as a minister under an iron hand.
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we owe PAP LEADERS ABSOLUTELY NOTHING!
every success in Singapore that PAP attribute to itself will never have materialised if the few million singaporeans then didnt work hard.
you wont be able to repeat the Singapore success if you replace Singaporeans with others… but you can still have repeated the Singapore success if we had Barisan Socialis or David Marshall’s Labour Front
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Dr Goh Keng Swee was a brilliant pragmatic thinker and a prodigious worker. LKY and PAP needed him more than he needed them especially during the trying and tumultuous period of the 60’s and 70’s. The PAP and Singapore benefited tremendously from his contributions and service to the nation.
What is the difference between him and LKY? The Strait Times early this week quoted Dr Goh’s school mate, one Cecil Wong, as having said that Goh had a mind equal to Lee but only that Lee could articulate his thoughts far better than Goh could. I can’t agree more.
Dr Goh was never a politician in the conventional sense. He was detached from the ground to some extent and was not too comfortable mixing with and meeting ordinary people. He could not have won in Telok Ayer and retained the seat for many years until he stepped down, if not for LKY and the PAP election machinery. He lacked the natural bonding and personal touch with the electorate that leaders like Goh Chok Tong and the late Ong Teng Cheong had.
But Dr Goh was an able, honest and loyal deputy to LKY. Rumour mill had this story: There were last ditch efforts to keep Singapore within Malaysia and one of the solutions proposed by Tengku was for Dr Goh to replace LKY as Singapore’s PM and for the latter to go to US as Malaysia’s representative to the UN. But it was said that Dr Goh rejected the offer outright. Perhaps he knew his limitations –that he had no political clout and would not be able to carry the ground in Singapore.
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Thanks GKS for not promising us a Swiss Standard of living.
Thanks for not predicting a GOLDEN period in 2007 ,months before the worst recession in our history.
Thanks for not putting any of your son or daughter-in -law in govt–and proclaiming they are the best–whatever that means.
Thanks for retiring when the time is up and realizing that there is more to life than money.
Thanks for not letting ego and power make you into a demi-god
Thanks for not turning our island into a huge gambling den and importing 3rd world labour to boost GDP–for the sake of GDP. Guys–care to add on? We have plenty to be thankful for.
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DEFINITELY GOH KENG SWEE IS VERY MUCH BETTER THAN LKY. PAP is no longer the original PAP after Goh Keng Swee stepped down.
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hey MR i-dont-owe-anyone-no-fcuk, why dont you blame your ancestors for not making it big and u didnt inherit their billions? why dont u blame god for all the imperfections on planet earth? BRAIN DEAD
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To truly singapore
Are you really “truly singapore”? The way you wrote show that you really hate this country not the PAP govt, you juz wan to see singapore fall from the grace
Btw, as a singaporean and come from an low-income family, i nvm felt that singapore own me a living but im gratitude that i was born here. So why there are so many complaining, one shld work and live by their own efforts and not to shift blame to others.
And TR, you really stoop loo low this time,force me even i have to write this comments… Dr. Goh deserved all the credits,i only start to know more abt him after his death, but i am really grateful what he had done for singapore.
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19/5/10
The present PAP Minsiters are well paid and upon their demise, they are history as they were paid very high salaries and the best we as Ordinary Singaporeans of Modern Singapore can do is just to sign their condolences book. I am not against high salaires being paid to our PAP ministers as Ordinary Singaporeans, we pay like a duke and owe them nothing. Further, let us remember, everyone is dispensable and these include our present so called Elite PAP minsters and MPs (the same applies to the so called Elites in our Singapore Opposition including KJ who inherited his late dad’s party ie Reform Party-let us ask ourselves this question “has he really struggle to become Secretary General, he is just the same as our PM Lee and this is nothing new. Now, what our Modern Singapore needs is Ordinary Singaporeans to lead her and make her a better place for all Singaporeans or inshort a better tomorrow. Perhaps, time for us to say no to Elites in the Singapore Opposition (perhaps, they are spent force)
Regards
Andrew Chuah
Ordinary Singaporean-Local Born
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Andrew Chua:
Show me some ordinary people that can rise to the occasion Ong Ah Heng ordinary and yet damn his contemporaries for faster,cheaper,not necessary better FWs.
We don’t need Elites but RATIONAL self sacrificing Singaporeans willing to give their all without expecting $$$$ returns but the satisfaction of work well done for fellow citizen.It may seem a tall order but I am sure there are some within OUR NATION to heed this call.
They may even be within the system but owing to circumstances beyond them that curtails their TRUE CALLING.
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We should respect our Country’s leaders for their foresight,time,sacrifice and contribution over the years. What i see around me is definitely worth defending. Had we been privileged to serve our people, would we have done as good or even better given our resources and position…well, the bar has been set pretty high, hasnt it. The passing of one of our leaders deserves such respect. Without a country, there is no family so in peacetime, let’s work together to keep our country going. I choose freedom, peace anytime than any credit due to the people for our progress.
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Wow can see a lot of people
saying DR GKS is good and those who say him bad either get screwed or blast.
Whether he is good or not
Only the Lord knows.
66.6% becomes 99.9%
COMING ELECTIONS WE ARE DOOMED
(sign…. when change will come)
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> ‘what’s the difference between Dr Goh KS and LKY?’
For starters, one tried his best to serve Spore and its people while the other has proven beyond doubt, he has been and will always be self serving. Character wise, it is easy to see who is ego centric, speaks with fork tongue, has difficulty being truthful, has insatiable lust for power + wealth, has no sense of honour, shame, fairplay, and most importantly, cannot be trusted….not with a track record of having served the enemies.
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GOH KENG SWEE deserves all the accolades bestowed upon him for his total devotion to Singapore his country as part of the Straits Settlement RULED BY GOVERNERS and not Sultans.
Sitting at the top of the heap may it be Dung or Gold with only LKY as his immediate superior though he is on Par if not Better,he stepped down with no interest to cling onto power or $$$ unlike others.His retirement benefits is deserving for the $$$ he amassed during his term which later set the perimeter for the BILLIONs later to be lost by INCOMPETENTS.
When asked by LKY to persuade GKS to stay,the speech by Eddie Barker in parliament another good man with simple wants tells all that he deserve his retirement in 1984 after all that he had done.
GKS EPITAPH says all that is needed to say and should be food for thought for any Politician.
” THE LORD IS MY SHEPHERD,I HAVE EVERYTHING THAT I NEED ” he does not hang around for MORE.
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Labour Leader Gordon Brown lost to Conservatives David Cameron and he resign gracefully. The people in UK want a change of Government.Let the people vote the right candidates this coming election in Singapore.If the opposition is good enough vote them in. Singaporeans will vote wisely.
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To those who thinks we owe the PAP a gratitude, think again.
True enough in the very beginning, they performed good deeds for the country but again, those guys like LKY and GKS are ambitious people and they wanted to start a country they can rule and control. They wanted to make a mark for themselves. On the surface they seem to be attracting foreign investments, creating jobs and building public housing, but the truth is, they wanted to make a mark in their careers for themselves. No one in the PAP is truly and purely altruistic. There must be at least some small component of selfishness.
Right now, they are so well paid so what gratitude do they expect from us? And do you really think they care if we are grateful to them or not? Please don’t be naive and wake up.
Those people in grassroots and civil service should think carefully too when voting in the coming General Election. You guys are just “meat-shields” for the PAP. If you think you have a secure future, think again. You may have it for now, but your children and their children’s future, I can assure you, is already gone a long time ago when the PAP decided that Singaporeans are not hard-working enough and foreigners are faster and cheaper.
To the PAP: confess and repent to the Creator now or judgment will fall upon you soon. Natural disasters are coming our way and they will be a time where the PAP can’t cope and have to concede failure in governing this country.
KR
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We must distinguish the vast difference between a “VOCATIONAL” POLITICIAN and a “CAREER” POLITICIAN.
A vocational politician is devoted to the cause of wanting to make a difference for the betterment of the lives of others and is truly determined to make personal sacrifices to attain the cause.
A CAREER POLITICIAN is originally devoted to fighting any cause for the good of his fellow ctizens and in our case,is mostly CO-OPTED by some senior politicians with the attraction of some ‘CARROTS’ ir order to lure them into the fold.
The current PAP govt has mostly CAREER POLITICIANS in their ranks and that is what make the difference between the OLD GUARDS and the NEW GUARDS whose performance,despite the EXPENSIVE ‘CARROTS’,leave much to be desired.
Some amongst the OPPOSITION parties are truly VOCATIONAL POLITICIANS and if they are fighting for a good cause for the interests of SINAGPOREANS at large,we,the VOTERS, should offer them a chance to stand up for us and the downtrodden singaporeans.
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SORRY,CORRECTIONS:
‘A CAREER POLITICIAN is originally devoted to fighting any cause for the good of his fellow ctizens and in our case,is mostly CO-OPTED by some senior politicians with the attraction of some ‘CARROTS’ ir order to lure them into the fold.’
should read as:
A CAREER POLITICIAN is NOT originally devoted…..
thanks.
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Dr.Goh Keng Swee is truly one person that does not need monetary gain to do what he have to do.
He could have go on to become our PM, but he choose to stick to his gang and to retire and became a very private person that even some people thinks that he is already dead long ago.
He does not need anybody to glorify his work or telling people what he have done, he simply put it : a holy order.
He serve the people with his heart and he go against all odds to fight for his belief, and true enough, Singapore have a solid foundation to hold on, and for these sacrifice, he truly deserved our respect.
There will never be another Dr.Goh Keng Swee around, we should cherish his good memory generation to generation.
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I am 100% sure that GKS will go to hell instead of heaven as he has to face up to the judgement day!
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remember, no matter how a smart a leader is, he cannot lift a country of idiots to lofty heights. a country can only be as successful as its people are.
i guess u r saying the North Korean people are dumber then south korean and its not the fault of KIM Jiong II and family. the leader plays not part in the country’s glory or shame.
Yes, the success of singapore is due to this hard working ppl and leaders. this 2 are inseparable. give credit when tis due moron.
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LHL again played politics – the last one was over the MT issue. He made political capital from GKS’s passing when he said that the party is still carrying on with what GKS had laid down. The issue is not whether this is true or not, but the fact that he mentioned it this way to chari points for the current pap leadership!
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# MSG
You took the words right out of my mouth. Concur with you 100%
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Respect by all means, but don’t KOWTOW to them!
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Why would the Japaness only want Singaopre if we were just nothing before PAP came to power? Where they stupid looking or what?
Why did our great founding father LKY worked for the enemy? He should have been a good citizen and should have joined Lim Bo Seng?
Why was everybody from his family were spared by the Japaness unlike all the other families?
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Can we ask PM to make a Payout to MM say about $300million to give his position.
Then maybe PM might be able to do a better job.
Believe me it is not easy with Yoda watching your every move.
Poor PM, bad choice to be PM when dad is still around. No Peace at Office and Home.
Wish you the Best PM.
I will have more good words when you….like GKS.
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wat gratitude ??? go fly kite larh !!! it’s all about money in this country. Our best example – our leaders need more money for their salary so that corruption will be deterred. So no money no talk. majulah stinkapolah ….
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August Man,
yes, a smart leader cannot raise the people higher than they are capable of. but a dumb leader can destroy the country.
so the best thing a leader can do is to simply give the people the freedom to pursue their chosen endeavours. in the case of north korea, it is a classic example of the failure of the communist economy. no smart leader in any communist economy could create the kind of prosperity that capitalism could. and that’s precisely what capitalism is, the freedom to buy, sell, work and be the best that one can be.
so yes i say again, a country is only as good as its people can be. only if the people are allowed to be the best that they can be and not restrained in any way by communism or war or dictatorship.
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Remember what the mai hum said about GKS being an inspiration for public service.
By paying yourself 7 times Obama pay, you have lost all moral right to use the words ‘public service’.
In fact you are a disgrace to all those that choose to serve in the public sector throughout the world.
More appropriately, the public service vocation here should be labelled gold-mine digging.That is why many scholars choose gold-mine digging as a career choice–disguised as public service.
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Question,
you must first recognise the difference between singapore and pap. this article is about pap, not singapore. when you hate pap, it doesn’t mean you hate singapore. conversely, when you love pap, it doesn’t mean you love singapore.
so the question i have for you is this:
do you show your love for singapore just by expressing your love for pap? no, you only end up showing yourself to be at best a follower, at worse a dog of the pap.
remember, during nazi germany’s time, many people swore loyalty and allegiance to the nazi government. history has shown that the nazis were the enemy of the german nation and all those who supported the nazis very quickly turned their backs on once they lost the war.
so just like yourself, i too didn’t come from a well to do family, i too never felt singapore owe me a living, i too am grateful to be borne here.
but i m grateful to be born here doesn’t mean i should be grateful to pap. yes, i should be grateful to sir stamford raffles for setting up this place and putting in place all the right institutions which the pap inherited. i am grateful that this country is full of bright, hardworking people who carry the burden of running this country on their shoulders day in day out.
but that doesn’t mean i should be grateful to the pap who has been leeching on us.
and what i say are not complains, as much as you don’t like to hear them, they are the truth. go read up history yourself, do some research, you will find that there is nothing here that i have written that is not the truth. and if you are put off by the truth just because it stains your beloved pap, then you are simply not being true to yourself. you don’t even want to know the truth because your heart is forever closed to the idea that the pap is the saviour, even if the truth may be otherwise.
TR has stooped low at all. you and many, many singaporeans have become very low indeed in their appreciation of the truth, simply because our controlled press over the last four decades.
nearly all germans rooted for the nazis, believing that it stood for the good of the nation. they are turned out to be wrong.
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Question,
you must first recognise the difference between singapore and pap. this article is about pap, not singapore. when you hate pap, it doesn’t mean you hate singapore. conversely, when you love pap, it doesn’t mean you love singapore.
so the question i have for you is this:
do you show your love for singapore just by expressing your love for pap? no, you only end up showing yourself to be at best a follower, at worse a dog of the pap.
remember, during nazi germany’s time, many people swore loyalty and allegiance to the nazi government. history has shown that the nazis were the enemy of the german nation and all those who supported the nazis very quickly turned their backs on once they lost the war.
so just like yourself, i too didn’t come from a well to do family, i too never felt singapore owe me a living, i too am grateful to be borne here.
but i m grateful to be born here doesn’t mean i should be grateful to pap. yes, i should be grateful to sir stamford raffles for setting up this place and putting in place all the right institutions which the pap inherited. i am grateful that this country is full of bright, hardworking people who carry the burden of running this country on their shoulders day in day out.
but that doesn’t mean i should be grateful to the pap who has been leeching on us.
and what i say are not complains, as much as you don’t like to hear them, they are the truth. go read up history yourself, do some research, you will find that there is nothing here that i have written that is not the truth. and if you are put off by the truth just because it stains your beloved pap, then you are simply not being true to yourself. you don’t even want to know the truth because your heart is forever closed to the idea that the pap is the saviour, even if the truth may be otherwise.
TR has stooped low at all. you and many, many singaporeans have become very low indeed in their appreciation of the truth, simply because our controlled press over the last four decades.
nearly all germans rooted for the nazis, believing that it stood for the good of the nation. they all turned out to be wrong.
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JH,
you need to first of all clear your mind of preconceived ideas without which you cannot possibly appreciate the truth that is being written here.
many of us were brought up to think that the PAP gave us prosprity. myself included. i was like you, nearly all my life i thought the pap brought prosperity to us because this was what our parents and elders told us. but when i grew up and had the opportunity to think about issues which led me to do further research, i realised another truth that is so different, yet no less authentic. they are all written, the evidence is there, but it is seldom publicised, it is seldom heard, seldom discussed, seldom understood.
to many people here, the pap pioneers are sacred. but if you read and research deeply enough and not just depend on what you were told when you were a kid but read about what actually happened during those times, the picture can be very different.
that is if you bother to spend time to do research. if you’re not prepared to spend time, you don’t have the right to insist you are right.
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PAP,
you are talking nonsense. it is nonsense like this that gets ingrained in people’s hearts and minds.
the time of no food is during the second world war when we were under japanese rule.
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LIONS ROAR,
let’s go back to the root of the argument which is that we owe GKS for taking the advice of dr winsemius. but since the truth is otherwise, that the PAP didn’t take dr winsemius’ advice until they had no choice, we should not thank GKS for taking the advice of dr winsemius, we should thank the separation for making things happen instead.
as for the country’s administrators doing a good job out of a good blue print, no one is denying that. but that was never DML’s selling point to begin with.
also, we must recognise that the country’s administrators do not equate the PAP. the many civil servants who made this country work, who carried out winsemius’ plans were in fact part of the civil service that was actually inherited from the british.
so once again, if you want to say that the great many civil servants helped make this place tick, once again, they are the product of the british, not pap.
so no matter how you look at it, pap doesn’t count as much as what they have taken credit for.
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Another difference between GKS and LKY. GKS is frugal and will not eat a dish again if he finds the price too high. LKY does not mind blowing $50K on a sushi dinner with all the fanciful stuff thrown in.
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PAP robustly promoting their propanganda daily via state control media in conjunction of GKS deceased.
One thing for sure that GKS and family regretted was that he didn’t make a will to prevent MM and famiLEE to make his death as a propaganda tools.
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PAP owe our Singaporeans forefathers and all of us born and breed in Singapore.
I have only this to bring out. How would you like to dekit 3 days before your ROD in 1977 and when you get your reservist handbook on your ROD, you were served with SAF100 to report for reservist on the following month. I do not have the chance to even apply for a job!
I have done 15 high key in camp till I was 36yo. My SME busines loss Sgd 20K to 30K sales during my reservist. Now who is going to pay me for my loss.
The PAP govt knows how to claim we owe them. Now who is owing who to make our life tough as the years goes by????
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The caption is of bad taste. Period.
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LHL is a politician, he dun play politicis then wat he play? Marble…
Even the Pope need to get voted in pls.
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Dont argue lah. We owetang the Tunku. Tunku Abdul Rahman. The first premier of Malaysia. He could foresaw Singapura can be prosperous so he gave it independence.
So now Singpore can not be so selfish. It must share and help Malaysia to properous also.
Thats what neighbour are for.
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For one sure thing, GKS never asked for himself be paid millions or otherwise he will become corrupt. How come PAP Ministers never follow GKS’s legacy to be thrifty but chose to pay themselves millions instead ?
Does it not make our PM’s pledge to follow what GKS has laid down sound so fake and insincere especially after making sure he himself and his Ministers got paid millions in annual salaries and bonuses!
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How stupid can people be.
Ministers’ pay don’t even add up to 0.5% of our GNP or GDP.
Ministers here don’t moonlight submarine deals, tanks, etc., and blow up people.
Ministers’ pay here is open and transparent. No private airbus or mini-hotel at Camp Seletar.
Good ministers TODAY don’t come cheap.
If I were earning millions outside and enjoying life like Tony Tan or Shamu why shd I serve you blockheads and get scolded as Ministers?
If I pay one Minister more than another then what is the obvious outcome?
Think lah. Use our brans.
Easy to talk cock. Get Real brother.
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To GKS, I acknowledge that he has some contribution to Singapore, I give him my silent respect. But nothing more. For whatever he has done, he is still a pap man, and for that my respect for him must be limited.
I agree with the views of “J” who said that
“We do owe people like Lim Chin Siong, Lim Hock Siew, Chia Thye Poh, Poh Soo Kai etc a debt… The people jailed and totured during Operation Coldstore have made a tremendous sacrifice…”.
These are the people whose sacrifice may not even be known or acknowledged by many. These are the people I have the utmost respect. These are the people we owe a mountain of debt. These are the people who we must loudly and repeatedly voice our respect and gratitude. And may I also add to the list the more recent people who have made big sacrifices like JBJ, TLH, CSJ, etc.
Lastly, I thank TR once again for a well written article that served to balance out the strong stench of propaganda out there.
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I like TR alot, but I must disagree with this article. To choose to follow the right advice can be very difficult – you can see alot of countries who do not follow good advice becoming bad. For that alone, we must thank Goh Keng Swee.
Yes he did make alot of mistakes, but who wouldn’t. I do not agree that his mistakes outweigh his contributions – and I do think that he did alot, probably alot more than LKY himself.
And lastly, I think that people should know by now that the PAP today and PAP of the old guard are quite different. The old guard would share the pain, now they only want to share the profits
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Without the PAP there will be no SINGAPORE today. Period.
And that’s a FACT.
Pay peanuts you get monkeys and you get dead Mongolians, subs that don’t dive, tanks with long turrets that can maneuver inside the jungles, etc.
Bring in top class bankers like Tony Tan, top class lawyers like Shamu and pay them a fraction of what they get as CEOs in the private sector for the continued survival of this tiny, resourceless island.
Ministers are equalised in remuerations otherwise others will run off. Right? Can parents be biased to some of their children? Think lah bodoh. Why are we complkaining when the PAP (short of the great man & founder of modern Singapore himself are all but scholastic Singaporeans like you and me serving Singapore). No bull shit please.
If we can’t survive here then it’s worse elsewhere. How do you compete with the Hong Kees in HongCover aka Vancover, Canada?
Think lah blockheads . . .
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An ingrate to the core of his bones n who does not know what he’s talking about! The late Dr Goh need not have to take Dr Winsemius advice then! Even if he did, he n the pioneering generation of govt could have just pocketed all the money n built sub=std institutions & buildings etc. Our forefathers n the population at large then were generally uneducated n unenlightened lots! The govt then had all the opportunities to line their own pockets n enrich themselves n our forefathers n we today will still be none the wiser for it!
A great leader does not have to know everything! One of the hallmark of a great leader is the ability to induct n enlist talents! This was what the late Dr Goh did in enlisting Dr Winsemius advice who was recommended by UN to develop Singapore.
We don’t have to look far! Is the writer blind or deaf? Just look at our neighboring countries. No need look far! Open yr bloody eyes n ears. More importantly, open yr cold blooded heart!
N the late Dr Goh did make some mistakes?
Let those who have not sinned cast the first stone!
Seek perfection only when one is perfect himself!
INGRATE!
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The only thing that PAP did to GKS that was correct was to honour his contributions after his death. Goh Keng Swee was after all forced into retirement by LKY at the age of 64 after serving the government for 25 years. It is clear that his talent outshine the contributions of LKY. GKS did his best to revive Singapore’s stability, whereas LKY’s only notable action was to hold on tightly to his royal throne.
It is obvious why people like GKS was forced to retire at the age at 64, whereas our Senior Minister Goh Chok Tong and DPM Shanmugam are still holding to their political power at the age of 70+. And definitely we should not forget the existence of our longest serving Minister Mentor who has held onto his power for 51 years at the age of 86. Our own government uses the word ‘talent, best man for the job’ to justify the extravagant wages our ministers received but yet they forced away a talent whose existent very much undermine the contributions of our ministers today.
The social studies and history textbook of our schools are filled with propaganda on how LKY managed to save Singapore from its wormhole. It is a pure disgrace that our education content is being used to perform PAP brainwashing instead of stating the contributions that GKS did for the country.
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No August Man,
You simply don’t get it. there is no difference between north and south korea in terms of human potential and culture. the very big difference between them is that one is communist and the other is captialist. one good example is china. the moment china went from communist economy to capitalist economy, their economy shot up just like that. the same country, the same people, the same leaders. but once the shackle of communism is shaken loose, things started to fly. the country starts to fulfil the potential of its people.
no smart leader in any communist regime has been able to over come the inhibition of the communist planned economy. it simply doesn’t work.
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Gurmoot Sing:
before you ask why people can be stupid, ask yourself how stupid you can be.
if minister’s pay deserve to be 0.5% of our GDP, then all of us deserve 0.5% of GDP too. if 5 million of us deserve 0.5% each, we will need 2.5 million % GDP to make everyone happy. how to find 2.5 million % GDP?
ministers here don’t moonlight. but what they take in broad daylight is more than what other people moonlight. 8 years of corruption by chen shui bian is still cheaper than PAP salaries.
minister’s pay is openly and transparently daylight robbery. no private airbus or mini-hotel, everything is in cold hard cash.
good ministers don’t come cheap. lousy ministers are even more expensive.
if you were earning millions like them, you would think that millions is peanuts and so you would want even more millions. as long as you are in for the money no amount of millions is enough for your greedy appetite.
you don’t serve blockheads because you are a blockhead yourself.
if you can’t pay one minister more than the other, then lower their salaries equally, blockhead.
no need to think, simply hopeless. can’t even use the brain because there isn’t any.
easy to sing song. get rid of the block in your head.
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chye,
when you call others ingrate, you risk being an ingrate instead. the people’s contributions are the most important so when you brush them aside and steal their contributions to give to the PAP, you end up being an ingrate to the early generations of singaporeans who all worked hard to build singapore up together.
you say dr goh need not take winsemius’ advice. that’s your conjuncture, show your proof. if you can’t show your proof, you are merely talking nonsense. talking nonsense doesn’t help prove your point.
on the other hand, it is an undeniable fact that dr goh took winsemius’ advice and that is only after separation when his original idea became untenable. so like it or not, dr goh took winsemius’ advice and that advice turned out to be the one most important thing that made all the difference. that is a fact, that is not conjuncture.
i know you love dr goh, i know you respect him. i respect him too. much more than i hate lky. but a fact is a fact. for all the good work that he has done, the source of his ‘genius’ really comes from winsemius. that is a fact as recorded in history. i didn’t make it up. it didn’t think so. it just is.
you said the early leaders didn’t pocket money. i think the most important reason for that is the excellent british institutions and civil service we inherited. if you look at world rankings in terms of govt honesty today, two cities always stand out – singapore and hong kong. somehow, our british inheritance has left and indelible mark of honesty. of course british institution alone is not enough because most other ex-british colonies didn’t end up as good as us or hong kong. so the people that comprise these two places are also very important.
you said the hallmark of a great leader is to enlist talents like winsemius. unfortunately, neither pap nor dr goh enlisted winsemius. when the british was going to pull out, they didn’t just heck care this place. they made sure that this place could survive and prosper after they left. so before they left, the british together with the local administrators sought assistance from the UN. the UN gave us winsemius and the rest is history. but it nearly didn’t end up this way if not for our separation from malaysia.
now if you look at our neighbours, it doesn’t show that our govt is therefore better. there is no reason to suggest that even if our govt goes over to our neigbhours, they would suddenly become prosperous.
so no one is casting the first stone. all we are doing is to leave no stones unturned so that everyone can see all that was once hidden and have a better overall perspective and appreciation of truth and history.
INCORRECT!
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This TR article is a waste of time and bandwidth. The correspondent is a pitiful nimcomput filled with hate.
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that is not true Alan Sim,
singapore is already there for 140 years even before PAP came about. so with or without the PAP, singapore was already there. period. that is a fact.
your assertion that there would be no singapore without pap is simply conjecture. period. it is not fact. it is conjecture. unless you can prove it, you have no case.
pay more peanuts and you get even more monkeys and more dead mongolians, more subs that don’t dive, more tanks that tank.
bring in top crass lawyers like shamu and we end up with sham speeches so very often. pay them a fraction of CEOs when they are not even worth a technician. for the continued survival of tiny singapore hardly depend on them. this can be proven easily. shoot all of them and you see if singapore won’t continue to prosper.
you can equalise their pay by keeping all of them low. let them run because we don’t want greedy politicans who are here for the money rather than for the nation and the people.
parents should not be biased to some children. but parents can be strict to all their children and cane them if any of them ask for too much.
think lah bodoh bodoh.
i don’t see any complains. i see only facts, facts and not complains. nowadays there are so many scholars, you throw a stone you hit five of them. for every scholastic singaporean serving us in the govt, there are probably five more amongst us.
no shit.
if we can’t survive here, it’s only because all the resources have been sucked up by the govt machinery and used to pay million dollar salaries to ministers.
why should we even have to compete with hong kong when we can have a fair standard of living in singapore? why can’t we have a fair standard of living here in singapore?
i don’t expect you to think. yours is not even block head, it’s an empty head.
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Alan,
yes it’s difficult to follow the right advice. even goh keng swee didn’t follow the right advice. he chose import substituion like all other countries instead of winsemius’ advice of export industrialisation. it is only when we were separated in 1963, which made GKS’ strategy unworkable that we have no choice but to take up winsemius’ advice. for that we must thank the separation, not PAP or GKS. for without the separation, we would simply have followed GKS’ wrong strategy of import substitution like everybody else.
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I can see a lot of ‘ungratefuls’ and disgrunted folks out there. Yes, agreed that the govt still needs the ppl to support their policies, good and sometimes not so popular but somebody has to make the decisions. I have not heard of any country that has a perfect govt or governance. Why do ppl job hop? For better pay being the majority of the reasons. U pay peanuts you get monkeys and we hav a lot out here complaining etc. If one don’t like the system, emigrate or do something about it. Can start by volunteering your services to community service for ‘no pay’. We are what we are thru sheer hard work, determination and good governance (not all policies are fair). Look further and one will understand why unpopular decisions had to be made. One or 2 might fail but at least we admit it and try to rectify the problem. Our govt must be doing a lot of things right or else we will still be cycling in rubber plantations, walking miles n miles to attap-built schools. Nobody owes nobody a living. You do what is right for the community and majority. You don’t like it, nobody is stopping you from emigrating. Might be greener pasture abroad but don’t come crawling back when all you saw abroad are bush fires & flat lands. Be reasonable. Be grateful that we have billions in reserves and still have a job when all were hit recently by the financial crises caused by rich greedy people and poor governance! We survived with minimal casualties, and we are on the ‘rise’ again. You can always pass me year-end bonus when our GDP reads 8%. I will donate it to SPCA, animals are more grateful.
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Any corrspondents who hide under a woman’s skirt to make criticism deserves no respect. He is nothing but a coward!
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I think the author’s time could be better spent on helping those in need instead of writing articles that only seek to criticize and complain.
Get a life.
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[...] as a giant of a person. Quite rightly so. I was surprised that Temasek Review put out an article “Why Singaporeans do not owe Goh Keng Swee or other PAP leaders a ‘debt’ of gratit… which to my mind bounded on historical revisionism. It was at the very least rather petty to [...]
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“In an interview with Channel News Asia on 14 May 2010, Community Development, Youth and Sports Minister Vivian Balakrishnan said every child in school, every soldier serving in the armed forces, and every worker with a job in Singapore owes the late Dr Goh Keng Swee a huge debt of gratitude.”
Haha. What a joke. Vivian Noballskilan actually had the guts to say this.
Every NS slave and Reservist should be cursing the motherfucker Goh Keng Swee for wasting 2 and a half years of our lives for no discernable purpose, and then wasting 1-2 months every year for 10-15 years after that.
Every child in school subjected to the ridiculous poorly thought out bilingual system, streaming idiocy, mind numbing exam based regurgitation and regimented brainwashing should be cursing the motherfucker Goh Keng Swee.
All our middled aged PMETs who can’t find a job, all the private sector workers being exploited by the employers, the trade unionists of old, the voiceless workers, the former pig farmers in Punggol, the vegetable farmers from Lim Chu Kang and Ama Keng should be cursing this motherfucker Goh Keng Swee.
Burn in hell as you deserve you self aggrandizing PAP dog.
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“In an interview with Channel News Asia on 14 May 2010, Community Development, Youth and Sports Minister Vivian Balakrishnan said every child in school, every soldier serving in the armed forces, and every worker with a job in Singapore owes the late Dr Goh Keng Swee a huge debt of gratitude.”
Haha. What a joke. Vivian Noballskilan actually had the guts to say this.
Every NS slave and Reservist should be cursing the motherfarker Goh Keng Swee for wasting 2 and a half years of our lives for no discernable purpose, and then wasting 1-2 months every year for 10-15 years after that.
Every child in school subjected to the ridiculous poorly thought out bilingual system, streaming idiocy, mind numbing exam based regurgitation and regimented brainwashing should be cursing the motherfarker Goh Keng Swee.
All our middled aged PMETs who can’t find a job, all the private sector workers being exploited by the employers, the trade unionists of old, the voiceless workers, the former pig farmers in Punggol, the vegetable farmers from Lim Chu Kang and Ama Keng should be cursing this motherfarker Goh Keng Swee.
Burn in hell as you deserve you self aggrandizing PAP dog.
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not only your head are big square block, it is also co-joint (if you are not the same person) and it is filled with sperm and human waste.
so you are suggesting Obama, Hu Jintao and other G8 leaders all should take a % of their GDP as salary? do you know how much? also, go find out more fact about the ‘plane and camp’ before you cough out all the waste from your mouth again.
(However, no disrespect to Mr GKS, one of the old guard whom I admire and respect, but the same can not be said to the current team and I wish their days are numbered soon)
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Can i assume that he was well compensated for his service?
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I just wonder what Dr Goh in his time at home thought of his comrade ministers paying themselves those huge sums of money? Bet he was sad.
But there is talk that much will come out after the passing of MM.
The truth will be out.
But alas..we wont read it in the lap dog ST.
It will be in this internet column.
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sin wont be what it’s tdy if not for what old guards had done. be grateful and thank past leaders be glorified, tears are and wud be shed. why so much complaint and grouses from old and new generations now? Don’t call us ungrateful swine. Don’t forget mission is, to serve. please don’t let our daily be a struggle, at least not let our basic be a strain and chore for survival. my old auntie just dislocate her arm and told earliest appointment one month later, incredible! tdy go see Mount-E Pay-And-Pay! we the citizen of singapore are just working class, if got job.
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