2 July 2004
Dear Sir,
Thank you for taking the time to read my letter. I am a male Singaporean and like all other Singaporeans, I have grown to hate this PAP regime government of ours by the day. I can still remember the past election; I attended a SDP election rally at Yishun. That was the ONLY time I felt like I was truly Singaporean, a proud one at that! No NDP can bring me the same patriotic feeling that I felt. Everybody was cheering and venting their frustrations and for the first time, I saw Singaporeans smile at other fellow Singaporeans! That is such a rare sight these days!
But unfortunately, although I am well over voting age, I still CANNOT vote because my constituency got a WALKOVER! Naturally I felt depressed because I had been waiting to vote so that I can do my part as a citizen but the PAP, of course with its dirty tricks decides to splice our already small country into smaller parts!
My father is a hardworking man and my heart aches to see his hard earned CPF money, money which is supposed to be used for his retirement, being made to pay for our overpriced HDB flat. One of the reasons that I and many of my friends refuse to settle down is because we refuse to be eternally in debt to the HDB! And the worst thing is that I do not have any cheaper, feasible, options! And the public transport can kill you too! I have a diploma and earn $1500 and I can easily spend $300 on buses and MRT alone! I do agree with the COE to keep our roads free from traffic jams but public transport should be made AFFORDABLE for the people!
And the talk about foreign talent? I am an engineer and most of the engineers my company hires are from the Philippines. No, not because they are better, its because they are cheaper! I m not against them, heck I made a couple of good friends but the reality still lies that my Singaporean friend who is still job hunting could take their place. We dont need foreigners to do jobs we CAN DO! Is this the foreign talent that the PAP is talking about? Where is the Singaporean first policy when it comes to hiring employees? I guess there s none. And what is Singapores minimum wage, I have heard teenagers and aunties work $3.20 per hour at Mac Donalds?! That is downright exploitation!
And I do feel sorry for my Malay and Indian friends too. If you think its hard to get a job, its even harder for them. Just flip the newspapers and you will see Mandarin speaking/Chinese only job ads pasted everywhere! And the result? Throngs of my Malay/Indian buddies line up to work in CISCO, Police, SCDF or any government agency. Most of them don t want to but then again, they lack opportunities.
And to top it all off, let us take a look at the ministers pay. Even higher that George W Bush? I wonder how do these men in white sleep at night? Do they not know the suffering that they have inflicted and the climbing suicide rate? Or has greed blinded them?
The reasonable thing everybody is opting thing to do is to migrate and I had the chance to do just that. I was offered a job through a relative and I left and went West. The weather was cooler, environment was beautiful, people smile and said hello and I was paid better BUT I realize, deep inside, I still miss home. I was all alone abroad and I was missing my parents, family and my friends. I did have friends over there but it was just not the same. And after 2 years I came back. Instead of running away, I want to confront this PAP cancer. But in a country ruled with fear, those who take a stand lose everything. Leaders I respect and admire either went bankrupt, seek refuge in another country or hauled to jail!
You may have read and heard the problems that I have mentioned above so many times but what we lack is a clear solution. There is no room for compromise any longer but what can we do? All we have been doing is grit our teeth and complain in silent breath and what did it brought us? NOTHING but a further increase in GST.
Ive read countless complaints, the people venting their frustrations against the government for their policies in the local papers but it seemed to be fallen onto deaf ears. Most of the people that I know agreed that there is no room for diplomatic talks because it just doesnt work with the PAP! And voting DOES NOT WORK because your constituency will have a walkover, so elections are futile.
The solution everybody knows but too afraid to speak up is to have, a downright REVOLUTION. Yes, you heard me, an UPRISING. The people need to gather and to resist and topple this corrupt regime. Like how the Indonesians toppled Suharto, the Iranians toppled the Shah, we Singaporeans need to topple the PAP! May God help us all!
Vengeance on the 9th of August
SDP: Dear Vengeance,
Your anger and frustration at seeing so much social, political, and economic injustice in Singapore and the inability to do anything about it is shared by many Singaporeans.
Many of the issues you raised above have been repeatedly brought up by the Singapore Democrats. Unfortunately, as you have pointed out, without a free and open society, the PAP will continue to ignore our voices.
But we are not helpless. There is much that we can do. The first of these is to come together and work for the common cause of bringing about democracy for Singapore. The only way the PAP can continue to perpetuate its control is to keep right- and democratic-minded citizens such as yourself and countless others from coming together.
Resist the PAPs control and join the many who have already taken the bold step of being part of the Singapore Democrats and the campaign for democracy. Be unafraid and be strong. Justice and courage never failed humankind.