He has ‘extremely important roles and powers’

He has ‘extremely important roles and powers’ [ Yours Truly Singapore Blog ]

Presidential Election Watch Part V - Value of Fairness

As Law Minister Shanmugan created a "mini-storm" with his remarks at the IPS Seminar that "The President can speak on issues only as authorised by the Cabinet; and he must follow the advice of the Cabinet in the discharge of his duties.", DPM Tharman Shanmugaratnam seemed to agree with at least one of Tan Kin Lian's tenet of 5 values - FAIRNESS.

The DPM was speaking speaking at a grassroots National Day dinner at Bukit Batok, as reported by Yahoo at this link, "Next 3-4 years will be tough: DPM Tharman".

He highlighted four broad strategies which could help Singaporeans stay afloat during this troubled environment and look forward with optimism.

These include the need for Singaporeans to keep the spirit of consensus and avoid divisiveness.

He noted that the country needs to avoid the problems seen "vividly" in the US and Europe, where although they have mature democracies, they also possess "dysfunctional politics".

"The debate in the US over the debt ceiling was a symptom of that -- a divided Congress unable to agree and willing to take a risk with the American economy and people."

This, he said, is the reason why it will be of extreme importance to sustain "a tone of openness, respect and understanding" in discussions in the mainstream media and online.

The second key point which he pointed out is that Singaporeans should continue to deal with the crisis with a spirit of fairness.

"We come together and take care of the interests of low- and middle-income Singaporeans, and of businesses and we prepare for recovery," he added.

"When we recover, we share prosperity, again with a sense of fairness. Those who have sacrificed more should get more, especially those with lower incomes."

I am sure Singaporeans will give due weight to such advice by the DPM but maybe not what the Law Minister had said during the IPS Seminar ....."Whether the President actually wields influence - depends on who the President is. If he is someone who commands little or no respect, then influence will be limited."

In all fairness, let's substitute the word "President" with "Minister" in the above sentence he made at the IPS seminar.

HOW TO PLAN FOR YOUR FINANCIAL FUTURE? "Live" Ustream with Mr Tan Kin Lian

Free desktop streaming application by Ustream

Date: Sunday 7 August 2011

Time: 10pm - 11pm

Tan Kin Lian will be taking Q&A during this USTREAM session.

Location: http://www.ustream.tv/channel/​tan-kin-lian-for-president

Do attend this talk in the comfort of your own home!

Pose your question on planning your financial future for Mr Tan to answer during Q & A session at 10:45pm via the following methods.

a. Type in the chat feature on Ustream
b. Email your questions to Mr Tan directly at kinlian(at)gmail.com
c. Tweet with the hash tag #tkl2011 on Twitter
d. Leave a comment on our Facebook Events page

http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=261707313843146

TODAYonline | Voices | Where can Tony Tan contribute more?

TODAYonline Voices Where can Tony Tan contribute more?

Law Minister’s veiled threat to the electorate?

Law Minister’s veiled threat to the electorate? [ Muhammad Ridzal (马锐兆) Abdul Hamid 's Blog ]

'No requirement that President should be dumb'

'No requirement that President should be dumb' - [ Yahoo News - FTP ]

Presidential election a referendum on PAP

Presidential election a referendum on PAP [ The New Straits Times ]

TODAYonline | Voices | Should President be 'voice of the people?'

TODAYonline Voices Should President be 'voice of the people?'

THINK HAPPINESS: NTUC President should have held tongue

THINK HAPPINESS: NTUC President should have held tongue: "NOTE SENT TO NTUC PRESIDENT JOHN DE PAYVA I write to you as your union member. You disclosed recently that you invited one of the presidential candidates to speak to fellow union members. The NTUC has always supported values of fair treatment and equal opportunities. It is therefore unfortunate that it has not invited others in similar situations to do the same....."

Singapore Election Watch: NTUC says Tony Tan "fits the bill"

Singapore Election Watch: NTUC says Tony Tan "fits the bill": "President of NTUC John De Payva told local media that while he personally believes Dr Tony Tan fits the bill, he added 'We are mindful of who we think should be President, but we have not decided whether to endorse or not to endorse.".....

Video streaming of Financial Planning Talk | Tan Kin Lian's Blog

Video streaming of Financial Planning Talk Tan Kin Lian's Blog

Financial Planning for young people

This 1 hour talk, which includes Q&A, is targeted at young people who have just started work. It gives them important tips on financial planning that are useful to help them to make the right decisions on savings and investing their savings. More importantly, it tells them about what are the financial products to avoid - so that they do not tie their long term savings in a financial product that gives them a poor return.

http://www.tkl2011.com/  TAN KIN LIAN for President Web-site

Presidential Election Watch Part IV - Why “Voice of the People” is a good platform for Presidential Election?

Over the past weeks, the media and Internet has been engrossed in active discussion, as well as "noise"; on the Constitutional Roles and Responsibilities of the EP vs Expectations and Prediction of Candidates' Performance.

Objectively, or not; there are those who argued against an "activist" EP [View this Link - An activist President will destroy the Office, divide the Nation].

Those who argued that the EP has no consitutional power, to be the "Voice of the People", have actually lowered their own expectations of the EP. It is easier to keep quiet (silent diplomacy) than to speak up.

Just see how potential PE candidate Tan Kin Lian is running a "hands-on" by identifying and raising issues in the form of publicised "statements" and has to face the grind of public scrutiny from both the mainstream and new media. See how negative an attack it  could be painted out to be by his critics here at this Link, even when there were hardly any substantiated truths. [TKL’s election manifesto in action].

TKL runs a "Hands On" Campaign with Supporters

Tan Kin Lian wrote in his Blog :

Somebody made this observation, "If you give views that support the government's views, you are not politicizing, but if you give views that are different, you are politicizing".

I want to encourage Singaporeans to be broad minded, and to accept alternative views, without applying labels such as "politicizing", "anti-PAP" or "pro-PAP". There is no need to label each view.

He must be referring to this post here at this link. [  Double Standards of the PAP on the role of the Elected President ]

This is not just from the perspective of and on the PE candidates himself. Usually, the critics had politicized themselves. They chose to use words unfairly to favour / dishonour candidate(s) they are supporting or not supporting...BIAS. This is against the scenario of supporting or not supporting a candidate fairly based on real facts or his past deeds.

Obviously, for a EP candidate who has not even taken office yet, but only campaigning; it is not fair to use "personal yardstick" and "prediction" to gauge his would be performance and to "measure" him.

For roles and responsibilities of the EP, these could be and are defined by the Constitution.

While the role of being the "Voice of the People" is not stated in the constitution, it is also not excluded. It is up to the people to decide if they wish to elect a President who promises to play this role in a constructive manner.

Obviously, the EP will be intelligent enough to reflect the "Voice of the People" only relating to his "Roles and responsibilities". Certainly, this should not be a "minority" voice. Whether or not the EP will "go wrong" whilst speaking up, the EP should be judged on his actual performance. Choose one who is logically with the right "values".

Due to "structural issues" within our political process, is it then necessary to see where the thin line falls between the role and responsibilities of the Govt with "executive powers" and those of the EP with "custodial powers"? Our Govt now wants to keep them separate, distinct and possibly intact.

But if our elected MPs and the Govt as a whole, which has been given the "executive powers", had chosen to remain silent, less vocal or ended up eccentrically ineffective on certain issues genuinely affecting the common people; should the EP then speaks up as "Voice of  the People", whilst also representing the majority?

Next is whether the Constitution should give the EP a "leeway" to say more outside his "authorised" roles and responsibilities which are defined by the Constitution. Again, if the Govt refuses to amend the Constitution in this respect, can the EP raise this up openly?

The EP need not be an assertive activist on the Govt, but be the people's voice in real needs. As the Chinese saying goes, like "a dragonfly skimming over water". If the Govt is intelligent enough, it should act. If not come the next GE, voters will be intelligent enough to act. If the Govt does listen up, it is all for the better for all Singaporeans.

The real practical issue is the Govt should not view an "activist" EP in the defensive as if he is an "opposition". This will not only be an obstacle in view of the EP process, but also the political process, just like the way it wants to view the opposition. In rebutting online rumours about his son, Presidential hopeful Dr Tony Tan was reported to have said, “I am confident that Singaporeans are savvy enough to see through these distractions and will make up their minds based on solid facts and focus on the real issues at hand”. This is one real issue to tackle.

The previous weekend, I dropped in at TKL's Supporters' Gathering / Town Hall Meeting at Bay View Hotel. There was a motivational talk for supporters by Mountaineer David Lim. A lesson was borrowed from the Everest Team.

Borrowing a Lesson from Singapore Everest Team

Certainly, David Lim's  Key#4 - 1% Rule would be handy. Not just in moving the campaign each day in the positive direction but also to guard against the "crankiest" of abuses and distractions in the social media. As David Lim had put it, the media owes you no favour. I am sure this would certainly apply for the more out-spoken "activist" candidates.

Key # 4 : 1% Rule - Certainly very useful.

..... The media owes you no favour.

"The media owes you no favour." - Mountaineer & Motivational Speaker David Lim

It is still relatively easier to keep quiet and face lesser expectations. I would certainly take my hat off to an EP candidate who opts to be more vocal on a platform to represent the “Voice of the People”. The least during campaigning, he would have to work harder to demonstrate his true characters and values while addressing issues and voters are given the opportunity to judge.