Yup, it's me once again. Have got some more fabulous things to share about the grandstanders - our 'public servants'! Quotable Quotes:

“Retrenchment is good for Singapore. If there are no retrenchments, then I worry for Singapore” Goh Chok Tong

“We started off with (the name) and after looking at everything, the name that really tugged at the heartstrings was in front of us. The name itself is not new, but what has been used informally so far has endeared itself to all parties.” Mah Bow Tan, spending $400,000 of taxpayer’s monies to rename Marina Bay as Marina Bay.

Straits Times report dated 26th Jan, 2003-

“More than 3000 Singaporeans have applied for a government assistance scheme in the first two weeks of the year …but no one has qualified.”

“Please do not assume that you can change governments. Young people don’t understand this” - Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew, post-2006 General Elections

“People support CPF cuts because there are no protest outside parliament.” - PM Lee

"If you want to dance on a bar top, some of us will fall off that bar top. Some people will die as a result of liberalising bar-top dancing. Not just because they've fallen off the bar top, but because it's usually a young girl with a short skirt who's dancing on it, who may attract some insults from some other men. The boyfriend starts fighting. Some people will die..." - Dr Vivian Balakrishnan, Minister of State for National Development

“I don’t think that there should be a cap on the number of directorship that a person can hold.” - PAP MP John Chen who holds 8 directorships.

“It’s not for the money because some of the companies pay me as little as $10,000 a year.” - PAP MP Wang Kai Yuen who holds 11 directorships.

“Cutting Ministers’ pay won’t trim fat. You’re getting a bargain for the ministers’ pay. As a surgeon, I worked half as much and made 5 times more.”- Ng Eng Hen, PAP minister (Ng Eng Hen alluding to how hard the PAP is working for our welfare, but not so hard that John Chen and Wang Kai Kuen can’t find the time to hold multiple directorships)

“Only 5% are unemployed. We still have 95% who are employed.” - Yeo Cheow Tong

“Singaporean workers have become more expensive than those in the USA and Australia.” - Tony Tan

Contrast this with a report from the Straits Times, 1st July 2005- “Nearly 300,000 Singaporean workers earn $1,200 or less in gross monthly income. Half of them, or one in 10 workers, earn even less - $900. They are the group most vulnerable to retrenchments and fallout from economic restructuring. Many already struggle to make ends meet and have little or nothing for their medical and retirement needs.”

“But that does not change the hard facts of the ground, which is that the average Singaporean, the 90 over per cent who retain their jobs, have had good income. And for most of them, their incomes have grown even in the most difficult years that we faced in the last five years.” Mar 2005 Budget Debate, Lim Hng Khiang.

Contrast this with a Straits Times report, 19th Feb, 2005-

“Monthly incomes for households in the bottom 20 per cent fell 3.2 per cent a year, from $933 in 1998 to $795 in 2003.”

“…I regret making the decision because, in the end, the baby continued to be in intensive care, and KKH now runs up a total bill of more than $300,000…”- Lim Hng Khiang. (Just think how the parents would feel after reading this!)

“We are not considering a casino, but an IP- an integrated resort. IRs are quite different. Infact, they should be called leisure, entertainment and business zones.” George Yeo

Anyway continue to support the PAP for more good years. Afterall we did have a huge increase in the number of millionaires in singapore. Besides the men-in-white are always generous every 5 years. (term for parliament is 5 years)

Labels: Government, PAP, Politico, Quotes