In December last year while speaking to his Party comrades at a People’s Action Party (PAP) event PM Lee Hsien Loong commenting on the opposition’s intent to act as checks and balances on the Government said “that for every one more ‘checker’ in parliament there will be one less doer, thinker and leader in the government to serve the nation and the people.”

He cautioned:

“Eventually there will be no more PAP to check, there will be no more able team of ministers working and solving problems for Singapore, no progress for Singapore, no future for Singapore, and that will be the last check because that will be check mate for Singapore!”

More recently in speaking to the Time editors he seemed to contradict what he said last year by saying, “Criticism, any amount, we welcome it. Come, let’s have a discussion, in Parliament all the better.”

So which is which? Does the PAP want constructive criticisms, checks and balances in Parliament or not? The leader of the PAP seems to be saying what’s most expedient depending on what the circumstance is.

The Electoral Boundaries Committee Report is out. The next General Elections is expected to be announced soon. There are many issues at stake for the future. Can we expect the PAP to act in the best interest of Singapore and Singaporeans without proper checks on excesses?

If the PAP had their way, they will make us believe that the checks on such excesses will come from satire bloggers and ex-Parliamentarians who not only were selected (not elected), but who also no longer have a presence in the House.

The PAP will also try to assuage the citizens concerns about checks and balances in Parliament by saying that they know the importance of such checks, and that is the reason why they have the Non-Constituency Member of Parliament (NCMP) and Nominated Member of Parliament (NMP) Schemes in place, which ensure that there will always be Opposition in the House.

The voters should not be fooled by such rhetoric. Un-elected Members of Parliament, among other limitations, “cannot vote on a Bill to amend the Constitution“. There are many important challenges for Singapore in the near future.

For one, very recently a member of Research, Innovation and Enterprise Council, a high-level Council headed by the Prime Minister himself said, “Nuclear power is the option if Singapore wants to seriously address climate change and cut carbon emissions.”

The Singapore population is projected to increase to 6.9 million in 2030. One NUS study predicts that the population of Singapore will rise steadily to 8.7 million population by the year 2050. The rapidly rising population will put a great strain on the demand for energy, for which the Government will have to consider the nuclear energy option.

But how would you feel about a nuclear energy plant in or around Singapore?

The natural aristocracy of Singapore has proven that they will push through legislation in Parliament even when there is widespread opposition to it. The casino is one example. Instead of one, we now have 2 casinos in Singapore. The 6.9 million population projection is another more recent example.

They think that they know what is best for Singapore. But the Singapore skyline of the natural aristocrat is different from the skyline of ordinary Singaporeans.

Why, even one of PAP’s very own, MP Inderjit Singh, seems to think so to. He opined in Parliament in May last year that “today’s policy makers live in a different society from the average Singaporean.”

“During my MPS sessions I encounter a fair number of residents who question the rationale of government policies. They feel that the government does not understand their needs and concerns but instead craft policy while seated in, what effectively seems like a different world, an ideal clean and sterile policy lab or an ivory tower perched high up.”

Inderjit Singh was one of a handful of PAP MPs who did not cast their votes on the 6.9 million Population White Paper. The outspoken MP who has been a conscience of Singapore will be stepping down in the coming General Election, raising the risk that the PAP will be filled by more ‘Yes-Men’.

Do we trust such men (and women) to act according to the will and in the best interest of Singapore – the Singapore of the average Singaporeans?

A sizable opposition in Parliament to check on the excesses of the PAP is perhaps the only safeguard for the future of Singapore. A kind of future we will leave for our children and theirs!

Article first appeared on The Online Citizen.

<Credits to nyvrem>

Let's try to objectively understand the situation. 40% of people are unhappy with the current government due to certain policy that put them at a disadvantage. Some very concerning issues would be things like ;

1) High cost of HDB flats (i would say resale)
2) lack of job opportunity and progression
3) Stress level
4) Cost of food and basic needs
5) break down in public transport

By default, the white party are the ones controlling the government, hence all matter of faults would be their fault (who else can we blame really). But let's also see what the opposition has done over the last 5 years. We all agree they don't have the 'experience' since they have few seats to really make change, but they could show the country how they manage their own business. Some things that stood out;

1) their town council issue. mismanagement of funds.
2) thinking they can do things 'their own way' by getting their own people to run things without tender
3) lack of more vocal voice in parliament
4) lack of on the ground initiatives to support their promises from GE2011

Objectively, both sides have faults, both sides have 'screwed up'. WP on the 'regional level', PAP on the 'national level'.

So what am I saying ?

Well, votes are won in the market place. A packet of nasi lemak and a free bus ride to Gardens by the Bay = win vote liao. don't need care about all this crap. So if you are a whitey, treat elderly to all this jhj items, tell them is PAP give huan. Tell the middle generation, if they don't vote for PAP, their CPF money dunno what will happen. Spread fear in them. They sure vote for PAP. Tell the young adults if they don't vote PAP, next time cannot get BTO riao. Cannot find decent jobs riao. FTs all take over.

PAP will win yo !

SBS Transit Management Team :

I'm writing on behalf of my cousin (Mr Pang Akau, Badge No 20692). The last bus service route he was in charge was Service 243W at Boon Lay Interchange. Mr Pang had been a loyal SBS Bus Driver.

He had been with SBS since 1980, and had been on the bus driver job for the last 30 years. He was schedule to retire 2 years ago at the age of 65, but had extend the employment by another 2 years, on request of SBS. He is schedule to retire next Mar, 2016.

However, 1 month back, his employment by SBS transit was terminated abruptly by the management of Boon Lay Interchange - reason : not stopping during a left turn at a traffic light on red. In fact - he still turning left, only when the light turned Red. I can understanding the important of abiding by the traffic rules on the road to keep drivers and pedestrians safe on the road.

But terminating a loyal 30 years bus driver, with his retirement 8 months away?? He lost all his retirement pension and bonus because of this.
That's how SBS treat a loyal 30 years employee.........

Gary Yeo
A.S.S. Contributor

Dear All Singapore Stuff,

I might be flamed by fellow opposition supporters for saying this, but I feel it's better if we opposition supporters voice out our concerns BEFORE the upcoming GE.

Firstly, not all opposition parties have the same status. The strongest opposition party at the moment is the WP which has 7 parliamentary seats and 2 non-constituency members of parliament. The WP is stable, has good leadership, party discipline, a strong brand name, strong grassroots network and has managed to attract a critical mass of skilled professionals. These factors explain why the WP has a better image and thus a better chance of winning than the other opposition parties. As was seen in the Punggol East by-election, in a multi-cornered fight, the WP candidate will attract a much larger share of votes than the minor opposition parties.

Next in the ranking of the opposition parties, is the SDP. Why? Because this is a party with a history, alternative policies and a clear ideology. SDP's grassroots potential is underused but not lacking, as it seems to be able to attract social activists and other liberals. Say what you may about the SDP but at least it does not give the image that it is an unstable party that lacks people. The party website is well designed and is kept up to date. SDP's decision to pull out of the Punggol by-election and avoid being a spoiler earned it goodwill from opposition supporters and thus the SDP's image was not tarnished by a great defeat. The SDP may have committed some blunders such as implying that they were unwilling to run a town council, but they have corrected that mistake! They realized that they have to turn their attention to municipal matters too. And thus, earlier this year, they published a paper detailing their plans on running a town council. The SDP is not perfect, but if your constituency is not contested by WP, it's your best bet if you want an opposition win.

Why did I not list the SPP which has 1 NCMP as the second pick for opposition supporters? Last GE, we saw a nationwide 6.5% vote swing AWAY from the PAP. Thus, every constituency that was also contested by the opposition in 2006 saw a larger percentage of the votes gained by the opposition in 2011. All constituencies save for one-Potong Pasir. SPP instead saw their votes in Potong Pasir drop by 6%, leading to their narrow loss of a safe seat to the PAP's Sitoh Yi Pin!

This is largely due to the choice of SPP to field Lina Chiam who was intended to be Chiam See Tong's successor. This is widely perceived to be the reason why SPP lost. Mrs Chiam was not eloquent enough at her rallies. Nor did she attack the PAP candidate sufficiently. Most importantly, she did not manage to convince the swing voters that she had a good chance of winning against the PAP candidate. That was why there were 242 spoiled votes. If just half these votes had gone to SPP, she would have won!

I'm not against SPP but I'm just saying that SPP has to deal with these REAL perceptions if they intend to field Mrs Chiam in Potong Pasir again. A party only stands a decent chance if it can generate hype among its supporters. Supporters and swing voters have to be convinced that the party can win. Remember, Sitoh Yi Pin has been the incumbent MP for Potong Pasir for 4 years now and he has a huge advantage over Mrs Chiam. It is no longer 50-50 as was the case in 2011. Even other opposition parties like the DPP are doubting Mrs Chiam's ability to win again. That is why these opportunists want to cause a multi-cornered fight in Potong Pasir.

SPP can still win back Potong Pasir if they field someone younger, whose appeal to the voters is stronger. If they wish to revive Mr Chiam's legacy while renewing SPP, then why not field Mr Chiam's daughter? As Nicole Seah proved in the last GE, it is possible for a young, eloquent and inspiring female politician to generate sufficient hype to shift the vote towards her party, even against a strong incumbent from the ruling party.

SPP has been gifted with the entry of strong opposition personalities like Ravi Philemon and Jeanette Chong-Aruldoss, who is poised to give the PAP a tough fight at Mountbatten SMC once again. So why not build on that to renew the party's overall image? I hope SPP can see the bigger picture and try to attract back swing voters.

All the other opposition parties are not main contenders. NSP received a lot of bad publicity after GE2011 because they went through a change of 5 secretary generals in such a short time and furthermore lost almost all their top candidates in the last GE to other political parties. Singfirst and PPP are new parties with no history and swing voters usually stick to established parties when they vote. RP and SDA have been discredited by their secretary generals losing their deposits in the Punggol by-election. These parties will be entering the upcoming GE with voters perceiving them to have a low chance of winning. They have a lot of hard work ahead of them. It will be an uphill
task for them to win a seat in parliament.

Harold
A.S.S. Contributor

In 1984, founding PAP member, Dr Toh Chin Chye, spoke out against a report recommending that the PAP government increase the withdrawal age limit for Singaporeans from 60 to 65 years old.

In an impassioned 25 min speech that drew loud applause when he concluded, he asked for an assurance from the Ministry of Health that they would not pass a law that CPF savings could not be withdrawn until the account holder died.

Dr Toh added that the Howe report, as the recommendations were called, had caused uneasiness in the minds of the people.

30 years later, we are all seeing the effects of the people's blind trust in the PAP government. Withdrawal age is up, and the amount that people can withdraw is so little that it can barely feed many Singaporeans, forcing them to work by collecting used card boards.

When I first joined the workforce, I subscribe to the scheme and agreed with the plan that I will get ALL my CPF monies when I turn 55, not part of it... all of it.

Neither do I agree to set aside a portion of it into "medical insurance scheme" or what not.

The CPF that I subscribe to before has morphed into something different that is unrecognisable ... I didn't subscribe to part CPF withdrawal and CPF minimum sum.. that was not the plan when I join the workforce.

Vote wisely.

Zulkifli
A.S.S. Reader

Social media has done it again. In the past six months at least, Singaporeans have been buying up South Korea’s extremely spicy Samyang Flaming Chicken Noodles (Buldalk Bokkeum Myeon), better known as Fire Noodles.

The reason? A viral fad on social media called the "Fire Noodle Challenge" appears to have made the fiery hot noodles just as popular as last year's ALS Ice Bucket Challenge - with Singaporeans joining a host of other countries, including originator country South Korea, in video-ing themselves trying to finish a bowl of the noodles as fast as they can.

According to a Sheng Siong spokesperson, the noodles have been a hit among its customers since the supermarket chain started selling them in March this year.

There was even a “sold-out situation” at several branches in April, which lasted two to three weeks, the spokesperson told Yahoo Singapore.

For NTUC Fairprice, they first started selling the noodles over a year ago and have seen sales double in the last six months.

Singaporeans have also gone to Korean minimarts in the country as well as major local supermarkets such as Cold Storage and Giant Hypermarket to buy them.

Our editor conducted a taste test and found that the noodles were spicy, but not as spicy as local spice chili padi.

For our Muslim friends, be warned though - the Islamic Religious Council of Singapore (MUIS) says the product has not secured a halal certification as the product is not manufactured in Singapore.

In January, however, Samyang Foods reportedly said they have "obtained a halal certificate for Buldalk Bokkeum Myeon (from the Korean Muslim Federation) in November last year and the company is making every effort to open up more markets to Muslim countries”.

Samaritans of Singapore (SOS) released its report yesterday. In the report, the suicide prevention group revealed that 292 men and 123 women had committed suicide last year.

It added that in the past decade, there have been more men than women who committed suicide. 7 out of 10 people who committed suicide were men, and the number of men who committed suicide rose by nearly 30%, while the number of women fell by 20%.

SOS executive director Christine Wong says that this is because men tend to keep quiet about their problems and find it harder to seek help.

"(Men) feel the continuous pressure to solve issues faced on their own, and suppress feelings of distress," she said.

"Help-seeking is often associated with loss of status... loss of control and autonomy, and incompetence."

Ms Wong noted that most of the people who seek help at SOS are female.

The difference between the genders, she added, is clearest for those aged between 60 and 69. This is likely to be because the elderly tend to adhere more strongly to traditional gender roles.

Problems such as loneliness and mental health issues were common to both genders. However, many men faced financial or debt issues, while more women faced problems at home.

The Singapore People's Party (SPP) has not ruled out its secretary-general Chiam See Tong from contesting in the upcoming elections.The 80 year-old Chiam was recently spotted at party walkabouts despite haing suffered 2 strokes in recent years.

Mr Chiam was member of parliament for Potong Pasir for 27 years until 2011, when he moved out of his constituency and led a team to contest Bishan-Toa Payoh GRC in the general elections then. His team garnered 43.07% of the popular vote.

Yesterday, his wife and non-constituency MP Lina Chiam, who also contested in 2011, neither denied nor confirmed his participation, saying that "everything is fluid."

“There could be changes here and there, so I would not like to comment at the moment,” said Mrs Chiam, who is SPP chairman.

Around 2 weeks before 18 year-old Denyse Tan fell 7 stories to her death at the foot of her HDB block, her father recalled Denyse telling him that she could see a monster and hear children crying her room.

When her father noticed that Denyse also appeared groggy, he asked her if she was on drugs. When she replied no, he believed her.

A coroner’s inquiry into her death yesterday confirmed that she was on drugs, with State Coroner Marvin Bay saying that methamphetamine, better known as Ice, was detected in her blood.

Recording a verdict of misadventure, he found that her fall had occurred “in the wake of a likely drug-induced psychotic or delusional episode”.

PRC parents are known to dote and spoil their children to the extreme - but this incident clearly takes the cake.

PRC parents in Henan province, central China have taken "revenge" against a famous primary school in their district after their children failed the school's rigorous entrance exam - by locking the main gate and dumping debris and rubbish at the school's entrance.

A logistics staff member said the school accepts only one-fifth of applications: "We enrolled about 100 students out of 500 this year."

After clearing up the first round of rubbish, the parents came back on 18th July and dumped two truck loads of garbage at the same spot in front of the gate, a school employee said.

Once the school cleared the waste again, the parents returned for a third showing by offloading a big pile of concrete debris outside the main entrance.

Dear Editors,

Election is coming already and all Singaporeans need to do the right thing. This is Singaporean's one in five year chance to teach the PAP a lesson. After five years of no results and no improvements to our lives, it is time to make a strong stand and vote against the incumbents.

There are some quarters worried that the Opposition is not unity and will fight among themselves. But don't worry I am sure most rational Singaporeans realize the need to have a big change. Even if a dog stands for election this GE, I will vote for the dog rather than the PAP candidate.

I urge my fellow Singaporeans to do the same, vote for anything anybody any animal except the PAP. This is the only way to ensure Singapore's survival. As for those brainless citizens who still insist on sleeping and voting for the incumbents, after the Opposition wins big, you will finally have a taste of your own bitter medicine.

The time for change is now, stop being a stupid Singaporean.

Charlie Tong
A.S.S. Contributor

Dear Editors,

My earnest plea to the other Opposition parties. Please leave the WP alone to take down the PAP in these 5 GRCs and 5 SMCs. At least be gracious like the SDP, who decided to pull out of PE by-election the last time. I salute the SDP for its gallantry and genuine concern for the greater good of Singapore.

Please understand that the one single objective that must unite all opposition parties is to take down the PAP, because of the many ills that it has inflicted upon ordinary “plebeian” Singaporeans.

I understand that each party has its own ideals and philosophies and a burning genuine desire to get a proper channel to speak out on our behalf in Parliament. However, every party must, at this point in time, recognise the bigger picture. This is no time to have any multi-cornered fight : such will only benefit the PAP and defeat the very purpose of the mission.

Please please, all the party leaders, get together and have an orchestrated plan to defeat the enemy !! If they, the smaller fishes work in coordinated manner, we can defeat the great white shark. If they chase and fight each other, everyone will be eaten in no time.

Please out side personal pride, ambition, ego and any ulterior motives (this last bit I hope not).

Lastly : if each opp party truly believes it has what is best for the people, then no matter which constituency it takes up, it should have the confidence to win the residents over. Even if you lose to the sharks in those constituencies, all Singaporeans will respect and pay tribute to you.

But if anyone of these oppos are narrow-minded and too arrogant and insist on going ahead with a multi-cornered fight, only the great whites will benefit. And you will be remembered as fools and idiots who thoroughly disappoint the people.

Please give a thumb up to support this proposal.

The Other Hard Truths

They had permit, for period between 1x Nov 2014 to 1x Dec 2014. That is the only HDB reno permit that I ever saw outside their unit. From then until now, many things happened, like they complained my toilet leaked, got to get my own contractor to settle. It was around May that still not settled. I asked my contractor if he knew why their work dragged so long, he said that guy told him something like their contractor kena accident, blah blah blah.

Even until today, every day, there are sawing, knocking, drillings from that unit. Last I saw, their aircon not up yet. The sound, sometimes, are really annoying. There was twice, both occasions on Saturday, they did some heavy drilling, that lasted more than half an hour non-stop. We had to call and ask TC for help. TC also told us not to confront them ourselves. TC sent people down, and drilling stop not long after that. Many times, their work will start after lunch hour.

It seems to me that, the contractor, due to the delay and bohbian have to complete the work, does not want to commit too much resources, so just send people here do that work bit by bit.It is, really annoying, disturbing to us sometimes that we have to working from home, or when we have toddler at home want to have afternoon nap but cannot due to the noise.

What will you do?

I was eating lunch and I was looking through some GE2011 articles and the Potong Pasir (PP) by-election petition (I remembered that and I was really disgusted with the petition back then) and I was equally disgusted with the people behind the petition, not because they support Chiam See Tong or anything.

In GE 2011, Lina Chiam lost PP to Sitoh by a very minute margin. Iirc it was less than 400 votes. It was very close but both sides (Lina's side) agreed with the results after hours of delibration. IIRC, the results was only released at 5am?

So when the results were released, emotions were running high, I heard anecdotes of people smashing their living rooms cause Lina Chiam lost. That is clearly understandable. If Low Thia Khiang lost or if Hougang was lost in this GE, the same situation will occur. I have no doubts about it.

But what really disgusted me was the call for the petition to have a by election and to have Chiam running against Sitoh again.

Firstly, there was no legal grounds for a by-election to be called. It was not as if Sitoh did a Palmer or a Yaw and pew pew his seeds into other women. It was not as if he uplorry or resign.

Secondly, the petition and the comments by some of the people supporting the petition clearly does not respect the process. Alex Au and other commentators have said that the vote counting and voting system is fair, nothing shady about it. No magic like in a certain country up north. More importantly, whether you like it or not, the majority who voted in PP voted for Sitoh, surely you have to respect their decision? It is a democracy after all. What is worse is you have some supporters calling for the 'traitors' to be shot. I mean seriously?

Lest we forget, it was Lina who was fighting Sitoh not Chiam. It was Lina who lost. If anything, the petition should be Lina fighting Sitoh again and not Chiam. Chiam was busy contesting in another GRC with his former protege. Chiam could have easily stood in PP but he chose not to and the electorate reacted accordingly.

Lastly, the fact that Lina and the Singapore People's Party gang all agreed that the system was fair and that Sitoh won fair and square and that people should move on instead of attempting to divide Potong Pasir residents because of their voting behaviour. That should have been clear that the Chiams have accepted the results and they were not going to contest it.

I hope for this upcoming GE, whoever wins or loses, people should stop creating these petitions just because their party lost. Respect the decision of the electorate, unless there is something shady with the voting system (none of the opposition candidates kpkb about the vote counting in 2011). In politics, you win and you lose, be a gracious winner and loser.

In before PAP IB

Geforce3

100,000 POSB cardholders will get unlimited free rides on MRT, LRT and buses on every Fridays until the end of 2015. To enjoy these free rides, cardholders will have to link their POSB Everyday Credit Cards or their PAssion POSB Debit Cards with EZ-Reload, which allows them to be topped up automatically.

The first 50,000 commuters to do so will benefit from this initiative, launched which the aim of encouraging them to go cashless. Another 50,000 cardholders who are already signed up with EZ-Reload will also get the free rides on Fridays. The 100,000 commuters will get a full refund on the amount they spend on public transport every Friday.

"Fare Free Friday", as the initiative is known, is part of the bank's S$100 million contribution to celebrate Singapore's Golden Jubilee.

This is our current electoral prediction based on ground sentiments and 2011's results. We predict that the PAP would win the Western half of Singapore owing to the lack of a strong opposition presence.

The WP is expected to retain Aljunied, Hougang and Punggol East by a comfortable margin.

Potong Pasir and Fengshan are close fights but the opposition are expected to win both SMCs.

East Coast, Bishan-Toa Payoh, Marine Parade, Mountbatten, Tampines and Sengkang West are expected to be tough fights and the results could go either way.
Nee Soon, Bukit Panjang, Mac Pherson and Bukit Batok will be close fights but the results will still be in favour for the PAP.

Note: This is a very early prediction as both the PAP and the opposition have yet to determine their candidates. Based on the current prediction, the PAP would comfortably secure over 50% of seats in Parliament, forming the next Government. However, they could lose the 2/3 majority if the Opposition wins enough swing constituencies.

‪#‎Singapore‬ ‪#‎Elections‬

Last week, Vietnam's Civil Aviation Authority raised a query with Singapore after the island-republic turned away several Vietnamese women who came to Singapore on different occasions dating back to last year.

The Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA) has responded to the query, stating that the women did not meet entry requirements. It added that Singapore welcomes all visitors of all nationalities, but noted that "every visitor's entry into Singapore is neither a right nor automatic, and each entry is considered on its own merits."

ICA said visitors can be subjected to additional interviews and checks, adding: "The granting of visit passes to visitors is assessed and determined by the ICA officers at the Singapore checkpoints upon their arrival."

Vietnam News Agency reported Vietnamese officials as saying that the women were turned away because they were found to be using different passports, with one woman reportedly having three passports with three different identities. The women were reportedly also unable to explain to officers why they wanted to enter Singapore.

Prior to the 2011 Presidential Elections, the last multi-corner electoral fight occurred took place in 2001 in the then Bukit Timah SMC. A 3-way contest saw the PAP eventually securing 77% of the valid votes, while independent Tan Kim Chuang lost his deposit with a ‘mere’ 4.92% of the votes.

Given that such multi-cornered fights work to the advantage of the PAP due to the splitting of opposition votes, alternative political parties such as the NSP and SingFirst have called for unity to avoid such scenarios. Working out a common ground, however, seems to demand a different level of commitment.

Brinkmanship occurred in the 2013 Punggol East by-election where the SDP had publicly offered the WP a deal: the SDP would send its elected MP to parliament as an alternative voice while the WP would manage the town council. In the absence of a reply, the SDP stood down altogether.

The SDP thus deserves some credit to its name even though it may seem to have acted conceitedly. Had it pushed ahead with its proposition, the opposition votes may very well have been split into those who preferred a more radical alternative in the form of SDP and a more moderate alternative in the form of the WP.

Reassuringly, the voters gave their support to the WP by an astounding margin causing both the RP and SDA to lose their deposit. Taken together with the Presidential elections 2 years earlier, the electorate has shown a new found maturity when it came to 3-cornered contests: only want alternative parties who act reasonably will secure votes.

Yet, it would seem that multi-cornered fights seem to have inevitably emerged again in a hotly contested atmosphere of increased resentment towards the PAP. The DPP, for example, have stood up to contest in the Mountbatten, Hong Kah North, Potong Pasir, Bishan-Toa Payoh and Tanjong Pagar constituencies.

As a likely scenario emerged, even netizens from the core opposition group have been quick to condemn the actions of the DPP with one saying on TRE: “Guaranteed to lose terok terok if you enter into a 3-cornered fight. Don’t tiew Lian ok”

Another said: “fly-by-night parties that ‘wake’ up during GEs gunning for multi-cornered fights better understand their own strength before they jump. Opposition supporters will vote for only credible and viable candidates, not the more vocal or those with dubious track record.”

Despite an absence from the electoral scene, this is not the first time the DPP has done so. In 1997, a 4-cornered fight in Chua Chu Kang SMC saw DPP’s Tan Soo Phuan lost their deposit with a mere 1.9% of the valid votes. This set a new record for the lowest share of popular votes until 2013 where SDA had less than 1% of the votes.

Will 2015 prove to be Déjà vu?

A 51-year-old Singaporean was arrested under the Internal Security Act (ISA) after he was caught trying to join the terrorist group Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS), according to a Ministry of Home Affairs statement today.

In late May, Mustafa Sultan Ali left Singapore and went to an unnamed regional country before flying to Turkey. He had taken that travel route in the hopes of hiding his tracks, MHA said, adding that he had planned to cross into Syria from the Turkish border.

He was detained by local authorities in Turkey and subsequently deported to Singapore in June, MHA said. In July, Mustafa was issued with a two-year Order of Detention.

Investigations showed that Mustafa had been “deeply radicalised by the terrorist ideology of ISIS and other radical ideologues he had come across online”, MHA said. He tried to make his way to Syria in order to “participate in armed violence by fighting alongside ISIS”, and was prepared to carry out ISIS-directed terrorist attacks against Western establishments in Singapore.

In May, a 19-year-old Singaporean M Arifil Azim Putra Norja'I was detained for participating in terrorism-related activities and planning to carry out violent attacks in Singapore. Another radicalised 17-year-old Singaporean was also arrested in May under the ISA for further investigations into the extent of his radicalisation.

MHA urged members of the public who may be aware of any involvement in terrorism-related activities to inform the Internal Security Department (1800-2626-473) or the Police (999).

“The Government takes a very serious view of any form of support for terrorism, including but not limited to the use of violence, and will take firm and decisive action against any person who engages in such activities,” it said.

PRC tourists have been known to cause trouble while on holiday, and this latest incident serves only to remind host countries about the kind of havoc some PRC tourists can cause.

According to the South China Morning Post, 6 PRC tourists reportedly tried to storm a plane and beat up 7 ground crew members after their flight bound for Beijing was delayed for more than 6 hours.

The 7 Hong Kong Airlines crew members - 3 men and 4 women - suffered injuries and were sent to North Lantau Hospital, according to Hong Kong police.

The tourists, 3 men and 3 women aged 21 to 42, were waiting to take Hong Kong Airlines flight 304 in the airport’s departure hall when the incident happened at about 2.30am.

The flight was originally scheduled to leave for Beijing at 8.10pm yesterday, but was delayed because of air traffic control in Beijing, a Hong Kong Airlines spokesperson said. The group became agitated and started to react violently.

“Among the group, a woman tried to run to the gate but was stopped by seven staff members,” a police spokesman said. “Another five people came forward and they pushed and shoved the airline staff.”

Police arrested all 6 of the PRC tourists and are treating the case as "common assault".

The Hong Kong Airlines flight eventually departed for Beijing at 4.45am.