Roy's Interview with Apple Daily: S'poreans Have the Power

[Pic Credit: Apple Daily]

I gave an interview to the Apple Daily from Hong Kong recently.

"But Roy Ngerng found out that low-income workers in Singapore earn the lowest wages among the developed countries, yet the government wants Singaporeans to use their Central Provident Fund (CPF) to pay for education, healthcare and other uses, but because the government increases the fees to manage the fund, the two sovereign wealth funds and government companies get to earn high returns but give back low returns to the citizens.

The statistics show that currently only 7% of the elderly have enough in their CPF to support their retirement while 80% of the people are unable to maintain a moderate standard of living.

He pointed out that over the past 50 years, the Singapore government has never stopped oppressing Singaporeans. From 1963 to the 1980s, the government kept using the Internal Security Act to detain opposition politicians, student leaders, trade unionists and news reporters. From the 1990s, the government then started using the defamation law to sue opposition politicians and international media. In recent years, the government has also expanded on the restrictions on Internet use, and are asking online websites with 50,000 unique visitors to be licensed.

Roy Ngerng said that he does not hate the Lee father and son. Moreover, in the first 20 years of Singapore's history after independence, Lee Kuan Yew had a good team of people who built Singapore up. However from the 1980s, the quality of the new team started declining and Singapore's development started facing problems. "Singaporeans are actually very angry", but there is a lot of silent resentment.

Even among the silence, he believed that there is hope because Singapore has a democratic structure, "if Singaporeans are willing to vote right, to vote out the government, and are willing to go to Hong Lim Park to protests, we can change things." He also has strong feelings for the Umbrella Movement. He remembered that a father once said in Hong Kong said, "for my children, I will fight"; but a father in Singapore would say, "for my children, I will not fight".

"I hope that over the past few years, Singaporeans will realise the power that they have, if we can take to the streets and protest at the Hong Lim Park, if we can vote in a right government, we have a chance for change, to have a government which will take care of and protect Singaporeans. It is time for us to put aside our fears and give ourselves a chance."

He is envious of the protest movement in Hong Kong. "Against the Chinese government, chances are slim, but they would fight, I really hope that Singaporeans can do the same." He also hoped that the people in Hong Kong would continue to fight for democracy, "there is still a chance and it can also influence Singaporeans, so please do not stop."