Following Desmond Lee’s calls for transparency and accountability, I believe it is in line with his concerns that we have to vote in more non-PAP for the same.
While CPF is a bugbear and a big nail in PAP’s needs to explain, the FTAs there have been signed and could be signed hold a big question mark for all Singaporeans.
Remember the India CECA? How is it that few Singaporeans heard or even understand what it is until its effects explode in our faces? How many more of these betrayal FTAs have been signed? How are Singaporeans benefiting from them? Have these benefits to Singaporeans (not companies) materialized? Nobody is answering all these questions.
PM kept saying that growing the economy is the key to our survival and improved living conditions. But we have not heard how, how long, how far are we in the goods that we are supposed to receive. We don’t even know what we are supposed to get for what we are giving up. Singapore is already in the world’s top rank for just popping in to find a job on a tourist VISA (name me how many other countries allow you to do that without reciprocal agreement!), and ease of firing people.
How many of us even vaguely understand the ASEAN Economic agreement coming into effect in 2015? The free flow of labor clause. Is it going to flood Singapore with more FTs? Are we ready for it? We just realized we don’t have enough police after the Little India riot! Our hospitals are overloaded! And our trains are sardine cans!
Singapore is one of the top proponents for the TPP. Transpacific Pact led by Obama. The TPP is shrouded in secret. Nobody knows what it is. It is even more secret than the India CECA that was signed. Should we not be interested to see what is this thing we are signing? What are we giving up and for what we should receive? Given PAP’s track record in the FTAs signed and the actual things that happen, do you still want to give the PAP a blank cheque to sign FTAs?
So in line with Desmond Lee’s calls for transparency and also his need for checks, let’s vote more non-PAP into Parliament. Let’s hear from them what are they signing away on our behalf for what we should receive, and ensure that we receive those benefits. No more blank cheques for PAP.
Bino