‘Leaders must be able to take criticism, acknowledge mistakes’: PM Lee

[stardawn]

Originally Posted by jacky43

4 yrs later a group of people will voice out she is not elected into the highest office in this country. With this she dont have the executive power to hold the keys to our reserves.

Which is a right thing bec she is not fit in the first place. Probably we return to no voting presidents. An interesting thing my Malays colleagues were talking of which I overheard.

It will be even worse. They can appoint anyone they choose who will do their bidding.

[strikeback4]

Originally Posted by stardawn

If this report is true so how on earth can anyone certify her to be a presidential candidate ? Can any opposing parties verify this ? I thought one of the criteria is to be able to manage funds of about S$500 million ?

Well, if the person hold key position in the government, they need not have a portfolio of managing a companies with net worth of $500m

And guess who can hold key position in the government?

[TheMentalist]

I wonder how many malays in the country who qualify for the election? 10, 100, 1000?

[skyleon]

Election reaffirms nation’s ‘regardless of race, language or religion’ pledge: PM



By Siau Ming En

Published: 4:00 AM, September 15, 2017




SINGAPORE — President Halimah Yacob’s ascent to the highest office in the land symbolises Singapore’s perseverance towards a dream first espoused by founding Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew more than five decades ago: A multiracial and multi-religious Singapore.

This was a point made by Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong yesterday at Mdm Halimah’s swearing-in ceremony, as he revealed how the Government had an eye on external developments when it decided to make Constitutional changes to the Elected Presidency scheme.

The Republic’s steadfastness to its founding principles has become all the more urgent given the trends in the region and the rest of the world. “In an age when ethnic nationalism is rising, extremist terrorism sows distrust and fear, and exclusivist ideologies deepen communal and religious fault lines, here in Singapore we will resist this tide,” PM Lee said. “Here, the majority will make extra efforts to ensure that minorities enjoy equal rights. That is something special, precious and fragile.”

Held at the Istana, the ceremony in the State Room was attended by Cabinet Ministers, Members of Parliament, top civil servants and foreign dignitaries among others. After the national anthem was played, Mdm Halimah, 63, took the oath and was sworn in as the country’s first Malay President in 47 years.

In his speech, which was delivered before Mdm Halimah gave her address, PM Lee noted that the need to ensure minority have equal rights drives the Government to make sure that Parliament always has representatives from all ethnic groups.

“Indeed, that was the compelling reason the Government amended the Constitution last year,” he said.

Following changes to the Elected Presidency scheme which were passed into law last November — these include a hiatus-triggered mechanism to ensure minority representation in the office of the president — Singapore will regularly have a Head of State, the symbol of the nation, from different races, PM Lee said.

He cited past Presidents Dr Benjamin Sheares who was Eurasian, S R Nathan who was Indian and Mdm Halimah’s predecessor Dr Tony Tan who is Chinese. With Mdm Halimah occupying the office, Singapore now has a President who is Malay and a woman, he added.

Describing Mdm Halimah’s swearing-in a “significant moment in our history”, PM Lee pointed to how she is the first Malay to become Singapore’s President since the country’s first president Yusof Ishak, who died in office in 1970. “You are also the first Malay to be elected President since it became an elected office in 1991, and the first President elected since the major constitutional changes last year. You are also our first female President,” he added.

Harking back to the events of Aug 9, 1965, PM Lee said Mdm Halimah’s presidency reaffirmed a pledge made by the late Mr Lee in the first hours of the country’s independence: Singapore would not be a Malay nation, a Chinese nation or an Indian nation, and everybody would have his equal place regardless of language, culture and religion.

“When Mr Lee made this pledge, we had a Malay Head of State. President Yusof symbolised, visibly, that though we had been forced out of Malaysia primarily because we were a Chinese-majority city, independent Singapore would never in turn suppress its own non-Chinese minorities,” said PM Lee. “We chose the nobler dream: A multiracial, multi-religious Singapore.”

The way that Mdm Halimah overcame hardship and achieved success, without forgetting the poverty of her childhood, “reflects the Singapore story”, said PM Lee, adding that she has gone out of her way to help those in need and enabled many others to succeed.

“Your life story symbolises the sort of society that we aspire to be, and reminds us that the Singapore Story is one of hope and opportunity,” he added.


continue reading here : http://www.todayonline.com/singapore...gion-pledge-pm


The correct version :

[skyleon]

President notes disquiet over election, but vows to serve each and every one


By Faris Mokhtar

Published: 4:00 AM, September 15, 2017




SINGAPORE – In the face of an uncertain and troubled world, Singapore must continue to uphold the principles of multiracialism, meritocracy and stewardship as it deals with challenges ranging from terrorism threats, an ageing population to ensuring jobs for workers, said Madam Halimah Yacob.

In her first speech as the Republic’s eighth President following yesterday’s swearing-in ceremony at the Istana’s State Room, Mdm Halimah described the Presidency as “a key institution in our democracy”, and unifies the nation by embodying its shared values.

Paying tribute to the country’s founding fathers and its first President, Mr Yusof Ishak, for establishing the country’s multiracial foundations, she said they understood that multiracialism did not mean “ignoring or forcibly erasing differences between ethnic groups”.

Noting that the founding fathers had also entrenched multiracialism in key national policies such as housing, education and security, Mdm Halimah, 63, added: “I am proud that I belong to a country that does not just say it is diverse, but lives out this diversity every single day.”

Despite the progress made, she stressed that building a multiracial society is a “constant work in progress”, with every generation facing new challenges, needing “champions who care deeply about multiracialism and fight to uphold and realise this ideal”.

And even as she lauded the changes to the Constitution to ensure multiracial representation in the highest office of the land, Mdm Halimah acknowledged public unhappiness over this year’s reserved presidential election, which turned out to be a walkover after she emerged as the sole eligible candidate.

“I know that some Singaporeans would prefer to achieve this without needing reserved elections. I respect their views,” she said.

“Like them, I look forward to the day when we will no longer need to rely on the provision to have reserved elections, and Singaporeans naturally and regularly elect citizens of all races as presidents.”

In the meantime, she reassured all citizens that as President, she would serve “every one of you, regardless of race, language or religion”.



continue reading here : http://www.todayonline.com/singapore...-and-every-one


We all who know who you truly serves . By the way You Are Still Not My President .

[skyleon]

President-elect Halimah Yacob’s Nomination Day was over before it started

Here are some things we observed though.

By Martino Tan |Chan Cheow Pong |Tan Xing Qi |Jeanette Tan | September 13, 2017




It’s all happening so fast that it’s hard to take in — on Monday, we learned that there would be no presidential election, and on Wednesday, as the only qualifying individual, Halimah Yacob was declared President-Elect of Singapore at the People’s Association (PA) headquarters.

Come tomorrow (Thursday), Halimah will be sworn in as Singapore’s eighth president — and also our first female, as well as our first elected Malay-Muslim head of state.

The hours of Wednesday morning passed as a blur for us — we were there, encountering the 300-plus supporters from various unions, women’s organisations, and residents, listening to her wave, speak and bow to them in hot sun, many shielded by bright orange umbrellas bearing her campaign H-shaped logo.

But what actually happened? It all moved by really quickly, but here’s what we stepped back and noticed:


1. Orange is the new Black

Orange is the colour of choice for most of Halimah’s supporters this hot Wednesday morning.

It also happens to be, we understand, the overall campaign colour for her — it came with orange umbrellas, polo T-shirts with silver collars and badges, all of which were emblazoned with her logo (see point 2).

We noticed some supporters were wearing white and blue tops — they were not supporting the ruling People’s Action Party (PAP) or the opposition Workers’ Party though.

According to an NTUC spokesperson, an estimated number of 500 unionists from more than 45 unions pledged to turn up to support Halimah.

In other words, those decked in blue and white represented the various unions and were there to mark attendance and show their union bosses their might.

There is another layer of significance to the colour orange, though.

Orange is used by One.People.sg, the body that supports multi-racialism and strong race relations in Singapore, in their annual run. One.People.sg termed it the “Orange Ribbon Run”, a race against racism.

Maybe the first race-elected/selected/nominated President can be its guest-of-honour this year?

2. H, H, H everywhere

There are much memorabilia in circulation that were created to support Halimah in her Presidential election campaign.

There is an “H” badge, an “H” polo T shirt, an “H” umbrella,


continue reading here : https://mothership.sg/2017/09/presid...re-it-started/

[skyleon]

A Halimah Yacob presidential residence in Yishun Ave 4 will be like this. For 6 years.

If you live anywhere near her, fun times to come.

By Belmont Lay | 14 hours




The mainstream media in Singapore has so far avoided publishing the exact HDB block number that newly-crowned Singapore president Halimah Yacob resides at.

This is perhaps due to privacy reasons or out of respect for the first woman president of Singapore who lives like 85 percent of the population.

All that has been mentioned so far is that Halimah’s flat is at Yishun Avenue 4, on the sixth floor, a corner jumbo unit, and she has lived there for the past two decades.

But not as if the block number cannot be easily found online with some googling.

Perks and downsides

There are perks and downsides to this arrangement of allowing Halimah to continue to live in Yishun — with some of these downsides downplayed.

Other than the fact that the block will become the safest place in Singapore and how all of this is so very novel, here are some other consequences of a Yishun presidential residence that have yet to be addressed:

1. The president’s coming and going will be scrutinised by the whole estate


Past presidents of Singapore have all chosen not to stay in the Istana as they remained in their own private property residences (except Yusof Ishak).

But comparing staying in an HDB estate and a cocooned landed property estate is vastly different. A HDB estate is highly public, while a private property accords privacy by virtue of having fewer neighbours around.

For one, the number of people who can witness first-hand the coming and going of the president is much larger in an HDB estate, owing to the officious congregation of the security detail and the presidential motorcade below the block that takes up a lot of car park space.

You can see it for yourself: Before Halimah was even sworn in, plenty of photos have already been taken by the public of how it is going down in the Yishun estate as security has been stepped up.

And since this is a high-rise estate, there are plenty of vantage points.

This high visibility can be a sore point if one’s job is to keep the president safe.

Knowing the exact schedule of a president is not a big deal, because at the end of the day, the president is a public figure.

But being able to keep tabs and chart down precisely the movements of the president on a day-to-day basis is troubling from a security perspective, because that information becomes predictive.

There is a reason why you cannot directly look into the Istana from Plaza Singapura.



continue reading here : https://mothership.sg/2017/09/a-hali...s-for-6-years/

[skyleon]

On a lighter note :

Will the properties in that block of flat will see a rise of values since there is a president staying there ?



Is this what the 70% voted for ?

[strikeback4]

The reason why the Istana is for the president is security reason

Now this joker because insists on staying at her Yishun Flat that police have to fortify the surrounding area for her protection.... what a waste of tax payer money

[whatrubbish]

I can understand why many people are angry .

[CherryQQ]

However I do not understand why people are so emotional over Singapore President after all the Singapore President Post is just only ceremonial and guarding Singapore's reserves ?

[USB2vega]

Originally Posted by CherryQQ

However I do not understand why people are so emotional over Singapore President after all the Singapore President Post is just only ceremonial and guarding Singapore's reserves ?

The problem is that all Presidents except for Me Ong Teng Cheong does not bother to guard Singapore's reserves, and the criteria for this elected President is specially chosen so that Mr Tan Cheng Bock is unable to stand for election.

[strikeback4]

Originally Posted by CherryQQ

However I do not understand why people are so emotional over Singapore President after all the Singapore President Post is just only ceremonial and guarding Singapore's reserves ?

If PAP has too many Yes man in the government, than they can do whatever they like... for example Population White Paper

[YellowSky]

I thought that Tan Cheng Bock used to be PAP man . Why they don't want him to be President ?

[jacky43]

Tan is too old to contest alone. After he left the man in white he can't made it. I guess a reason no by election at Bishan is because they cannot give empty promises.

To win in election is nothing more the giving. New citizens and PR trusted them in exchange FTs can enjoy the lifes in this red dot. However, Kelong cannot b open and, till now born local is the biggest group of all.

I need to copy from our founding fathers. All born locals r smart in times to come. Compare to new comers who may take more then 30 yrs to come to their senses. Is allreally too late, they r screwed to take up stay in this country.